


^0 
















^-'^:: 






x^ f 






vV "=^. 






\^ % ', V «* a'^^' 



xV. 









^ %^ ^°^. 



.•■V- ■^ .8.,s>. 



, -^^ .A* ^"■"■^■'b. 






A^^' 



'„V.* ,x 



"^A V^' 



' , ■'^■Xk^V^ 



.,VV •'.,. 









\ ''^fj. -^ 



'^,<^^ ^ ,>^ 



C- ^''^^.f 
->-^.. 



'• ,\\ 



'<r. y ^ " (^■ 



.0 o. 



-^^^^ 



"f,^ v^' 



%. .^^ 



"<^v. .^' 



%. V^' 









o5 -<>. 






>v" . 



-^ ,,^"^ 



^ '^'^ 



,0 o^ 



<y''r-, 






The Home Auxiliary 



AND REFERENCE 



FOR PIPILS i)F 



Grammer School Grades 



EDITED BV 
WM. L. NEILL 

WITH REFERENCE TO THE WORKS OF 



Washington Irving, L. M. Prescolt, John J. Anderson, Robert John Lossing, 

Joseph M. Rogers, W. A. Peters, Capt. Geo. R. Herbert, Geo. D. l.iiid, 

John McGovern, Wm. Matthews Handy and others 



Compiled Especially with the \'iew to the Needs of the Student, in Pleasing 

Story Form 



Thoroughly Indexed in an Alphabetically Arranged and Tabulated Manner, 

for Easy and Direct Reference to American History, Biographies, 

Geography, Composition or Essay, Civil Government 

and the \'arious Natural Sciences 



COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME 

PUBLISHED BY 

THE AUXILIARY SYNDICATE 

PHILADELPHIA, PA. 



■N^l 



Copyright 1912 
By Wm. L. Neill 



£CI.A310400 



A CHAT WITH THE 
PUPIL 



We want to have a little chat with you. regarding the great necessity that 
you have a proper reference in your home, to use in connection with the school 
book, for a better nnderstanding of vour studies. 

The school book, which we shall call the text Ijook, has not the space to de- 
vote to detail, but is confined to a brief outline of llic important facts, or 
events, that you should know or understand, to benefit 1)\ \our studies. 

You can perhaps memorize the text l)ook, and may rejieat the same, word 
for word, yet have little understanding of the subject. To succeed with your 
studies you should not only know the fact, but understand clearly whv it is a 
fact. That you should have further information than is given by the text book, 
is shown by the editors notes in the same. You should be self-reliant, look up 
this information for yourself, and not depend for help or information upon the 
brief lectures of the instructor in the class room. 

By securing a clear understanding of the subject, as you prepare your 
studies, you will find a growing interest in your work. There will be no hard 
tasks, and your daily lessons can be correctly prepared in one-half the time it 
would take to memorize the text book. .Ml the worry and doubt as to whether 
your lessons have been prepared properly will disappear, leaving ease of mind 
and confidence in your work, insuring advancement and success. 

In this volume, we believe, we have provided you with the best possible 
help and reference. Compiled especially for your needs, covering those sub- 
jects that you have the most need for reference. Written in a pleasing style, 
easy to understand, concise, causing no unnecessary reading, yet giving those 
details necessary for a clear comprehensive grasp of the subject. Thoroughly 
indexed, so that questions can be answered quickly, clearly and satisfactorily. 



CONTENTS 

BOOK onp: 

A M 1^: R I C A N HISTORY 

UNITED STATES 

FIRST PERIOD 

EXPLORATIONS AND DISCOVERIES. 

Wcslcni Continent— Native or American Indian — Norwegian Discoveries— Europe 
toward tlic close of the Fifteenth Century— Story of Cohimbus and Discovery of 
America— Americus Vespuccius and naming America— The Cabots and North America 
—Juan Ponce de Leon and Discovery of Florida— Balboa and Discovery of the Pacific 
Ocean— Magellan and Discovery of the Philippines— De Soto and Discovery of the 
Mississippi River— Narvaez's Expedition to Florida— Spanish Explorations from Lower 
California to Oregon— Verazzani's voyages to North America— Cartier and the St. 
Lawrence— Other French Explorations— Menendez and Founding of St. Augustine— 
Frobisher— The search for the Northwest passage — F'rancis Drake and his voyages- 
Sir Humphrey Gilbert and Walter Raleigh— Their settlements in Virginia— Gosnold. 
Pring and Weymouth's Voyages— Tlie London and Plymouth Companies Chartered— 
dc la Roche and Champlain— The Founding of Quebec— Hudson and his Voyages. 

SECOND PERIOD 

SETTLEMENTS. 

Virginia— Settlement at Jamestown — Capt. John Smith— Troubles of the Settlers 
—Captain Smith and Pocahontas — Arrival of New Emigrants— Marriage of John 
Rolfe and Pocahontas— Dawn of Prosperity— Tobacco Planting — Representative Gov- 
ernment Established— Massachusetts— Naming New England— Puritans— The May- 
flowers-Plymouth Rock— Massasoit and Treaty with the Indians— Miles Standish and 
Priscilla Mullins— New Netherland.s— Block and the "Onrust"— Naming New Nether- 
lands—Treaty with the Iroquois — Dutch West India Company Chartered— The French 
in the Hudson— The Walloons— Purchase of Manhattan Island — Settlement and Naming 
of New Amsterdam— New Hampsliire and Maine— Naming New Hampshire — Ports- 
mouth— Saco— Naming JNIaine- Maryland— Sir George Calvert— Naming Maryland — 
Charter granted allowing Civil and Religious Liberty— Treaty with the Indians— Set- 
tlement of St. Mary's — Representative Governtnent Established — Connecticut — Inter- 
course between Dutch and English— Charter granted to Earl of Warwick— English 
settle on the site of Windsor— Pequod Troubles— Settlements at Wethersfield, Hartford 
and Springlield — War with the Peciuods- Settlement of New Haven— Convention at 
Hartford— Rhode Island— Roger Williams— Providence— Settlement of Portsmouth- 
Charter Obtained— Delaware— The Patroons— Settlement at Lewes— Settlements by the 
Swedes— Christiana tWilmington)— New Jersey— Dutch Settlements — English Settle- 
ments — Berkeley and Carteret — Pennsylvania— William Penn— Naming Pennsylvania- 
Delaware Annexed— The Welcome — Penn's Treaty with the Indians — Controversy of 
Lord Baltimore and Penn over the boundary line — North and South Carolina— First 
Settlement!;- Albemarle and Clarenden County Colonies Organized— Traffic in Lumber 
and Turpentine — Settlement of Charleston — Introduction of Negro Slaves — Carteret 
County Colony Organized— Constitution founding an l".nipire Rejected — Georgia— 
Oglethorpe— Naming Georgia — Settlement of Savannah— Treaty with the Creek In- 
dians—Scotch Highlanders — John and Charles Wesley. 

THIRD PERIOD 

COLONIES. 

Virginia — Representative Government Organized — African Slavery Introduced — 
Women sent to the Colony — Schools Established — A Written Constitution — Massacre 
by the Indians— Virginia becomes a Royal Province — Berkeley and the Banishment of 
the non-Conformists — Indian Confederacy — Virginia named the Old Dominion — 
Berkeley again appointed Governor — Effect of His Intolerant Conduct on the Colony 



CONTENTS 



— Indian Troubles — Nathaniel Bacon — The Atrocities of Berkeley — Culpepper made 
Governor — Progress of Colony Under the Reign of William and Mary — New Nether- 
lands (New York) — Governor Minnit — Indian Wars — The "Patroon" Privilege — Inter- 
course with Settlers at Jamestown — An English Vessel Warned not to Interfere with 
the Dutch on the Hudson — Stupidity of Governor Van Tvtiller — Troubles with the 
Swedes — Emigrants Invited to Settle in New Netherlands — Kieft's Troubles with the 
New Englanders and Indians — The First Assembly -at Fort Amsterdam — Treaty with 
the Indians — Treachery of Kieft and Massacre by the Indians — Peter Stuyvestant — 
English in the Colony — Colony Surrendered to the English under Nicholls and named 
New York — Andros appointed Governor — The lirst General Assembly — Leisler made 
Governor by the People — Troubles with the Indians — Execution of Leisler and Others — 
Governor Fletcher — Military Expedition against the French — Bellamont and His Pros- 
perous Rule — Captain Kidd — Friendship with the Five Nations Restored — Settlements 
by the German Lutherans — First Newspaper — Sons of Liberty — New England — Wm. 
Bradford — The First Thanksgiving — Indian Troubles — Endicott Commissioned Gov- 
ernor — Government in Religious Matters — John Winthrop — Boston Founded — The 
United Colonies of New- England — The first Mint — King Philip's War — King William's 
War in America — Massachusetts Bay Colony made a Royal Province — Witchcraft — 
Queen Anne's War — King George's War — Maryland — Representative Government 
Established — Troubles with Wm. Clayborne — War with the Indians — Civil War — Tol- 
eration Act — Political and Religious Troubles — Death of Lord Baltimore — Naming 
the City of Baltimore — Capital Changed to Annapolis — General Prosperity — Connecti- 
cut, Rhode Island and New Jersey — Connecticut Joins the Confederacy — Saybrook 
Annexed — Charter Granted — The "Charter Oak" — Growth of the Colony — Rhode Island 
— Charter Granted — Attempt to revoke charter — Andros Governor — Representative 
Government Restored — New Jersey — First Assembly at Elizabeth — Refusal to Pay 
Quit-rents — Philip Carteret Compelled to Resign — Dutch Take Possession — Return 
to English Rule — East and West Jersey — Quakers in West Jersey — First Popular As- 
sembly in West Jersey — Carteret's Interest Purchased by William Penn and Others — 
Becomes a Royal Province — Separated from New York — Pennsylvania — Philadelphia 
Founded — New Charter Granted — Great Increase in Population — Schools Establishe<l 
— Delaware Secedes from the Province — Penn Deprived of his Rights — Penn's Rights 
Restored — Penn Returns to his Colony — New Constitution — Death of Penn — North 
Carolina — The Settlers Resist the Attempt to Enforce the New Government — Naviga- 
tion Laws put in Force — John Culpepper — Seth Sothel as Governor — Freedom of the 
Settlers — The First Church — South Carolina — First Assembly — Danger from the In- 
dians — Great Increase in Population — The Huguenots — Seth Sothel in the Colony — 
Introduction of Rice — Religious Dissensions — German Settlers Massacred by the Indians 
— Indians Subdued — Expedition against St. Augustine — War on the Appalachian and 
Mobilian Indians — Spanish Att£ck on Charleston — War against Indian Confederacy — 
South Carolina Becomes a Royal Province — Georgia — John and Charles Wesley Re- 
turn to England — George Whitefield — Treaty with the Spanish at St. Augustine — War 
against Spain — Oglethorpe's Expedition against St. Augustine — Spanish Campaign 
against Georgia and the Carolinas — Slave Labor — Georgia becomes a Royal Province.' 

FOURTH PERIOD 

FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 

The French and the Jesuits in America — Alliance with the Hurons — Explorations 
of Father Alloiiez — Marquette's Exploration to the Mississippi River — Death of Mar- 
quette — de la Salle's Explorations — Father Hennepin — The French Resolve to Possess 
all the Country between New Foundland and the Gulf of Mexico — Nations who Settled 
the English Colonies — Manners, Customs and Pursuits — Navigation and Custom Laws 
passed by Parliament — Education in the Colonies — Newspapers Hrst Published — Popu- 
lation — Conventions and Congresses held by the Colonies — The Ohio Land Company — 
Christopher Gist's Journey to the Ohio River — The Western Indians — Troubles with 
the French — George Washington Sent on a Mission to the French — Washington's 
Return Journey — Preparations for War — Washington's Campaign against Fort Du- 
Quesne — Treaty with the Six Nations — Benjamin Franklin — Indian Raids on the 
Frontier — Washington Resigns — War Preparations — Campaign in Canada — Banishment 
of the Acadians — Braddock and his Campaign against Fort DuQuesne — Expeditions 
against Forts Niagara. Frontenac and Crown Point — Indian Atrocities — Capture of 
Fort William Henry by the French — Louisburg Taken — Ticonderoga and Fort Fron- 
tenac — Washington takes Fort DuQuesne, naming it Pittsburg — W^olfe takes Quebec — 
Montreal Surrenders — W.ir with the Cherokees — Treaty of Peace — Pontiac and the 
War with the Indian Confederacy. 



CONTENTS 



FIFTH PERIOD 

THE WAR FOR AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE. 

George the Third and his Cabinet — Earl of Bute Prime Minister — Secret Agents 
sent to the Colonies — James Otis — Taxation — Franklin, Agent for the Colonies in 
England — Stamp Tax — Patrick Henry — Retaliation of the Colonial Merchants — Pitt 
made Premier — French Agent in America — Troops Sent to Boston — Faneuil Hall, the 
Cradle of Liberty — Union of the Colonies — North Carolinia Regulators — Lord North 
made Premier — Boston Massacre — Gaspee Destroyed in Narraganset Bay — Boston 
Tea Party — Boston Port Bill — Post Office Act — First Continental Congress — Minute 
Men — Indian Troubles — Franklin Returns to America — Events in and Around Boston 
-Battles of Lexington and Concord — Events in Virginia — Mecklenburg Declaration of 
Independence — Washington appointed Commander-in-Chief — Battle of Bunker Hill — 
Washington at Cambridge — Britisli Evacuate Boston — ^Hessians sent to America — 
Army in Canada — Battle of Charleston Harbor — Conspiracy against Washington — 
Declaration of Independence — Nathaniel Hale — Negotiations with France — Battle of 
White Plains — Arnold on Lake Champlain — Washington in New Jersey — Surrender 
of Burgoyne — France Recognizes the Independence of the United States — Valley Forge 
— British in Philadelphia — Capture of Stony Point — Naval Affairs — Events in the 
South — Treason of Arnold — Capture of Major Andre — Surrender of Cornwallis — Treaty 
of Peace — Adoption of the Constitution — Washington elected first President. 

SIXTH PERIOD 

ADMINISTRATIONS. 

Washington 

Washington Notified of his Election — Journey to New York — Washington's Inau- 
guration — Acts of Congress — Indian Troubles — Early Troubles — ^Presidential Cam- 
paign. 

John Adams. 

Pride of the French — Refusal to Receive an American Minister — Gerry and Talley- 
rand — War on the Ocean — Outrage by a British Naval Commander — Downfall of 
the Federal Party. 

Thomas Jefferson. 

War witli Algiers — Louisiana Purchase — Lewis and Clark E.xpedition — .-Xaron Burr 
— England and France — Depredations on American Commerce — The "Chesapeake" 
and "Leopard" — Embargo Act. 

James Madison. 

The "President" and "Little Belt" — Battle of Tippecanoe — War Declared with 
England — Events during the War — The "Hartford" Convention — Creek Indian War — 
Treaty of Peace — Barbary Powers Humbled. 

James Monroe. 

Era of Good Feeling — Republic of Liberia Founded — The Acquisition of Florida 
— Missouri Compromise — Monroe Doctrine — Lafayette the Nation's Guest — Tariff of 
1824. 

John Quincy Adams. 

Georgians and tlie Indians — The Erie Canal — Deatli of Jnlm .Xdams and Jefferson — 
South American Republics. 

Jackson and Van Buren. 

Troubles with the Cherokees — Black Hawk War — South Carolina attempts Se- 
cession — Jackson's War on the United States Bank — Osceola and the Seminole Indian 
War — Insurrection in Canada. 

Harrison and Tyler. 
Death of Harrison — Political Parties — Oregon Boimdary — Texas Controversy. 



CONTENTS 



James K. Polk. 

Treaty with Great Britain — Annexation of Texas — Wilmot Proviso — War with 
Mexico — Events during the War — Treaty of Peace. 

Taylor and Fillmore. 

California seeks Admission to the Union — Omnibus Bill — Death of Taylor — Ac- 
cession of President Fillmore — Compromise Bill Passed — Invasion of Cuba — The Mor- 
mons — The Fugitive Slave Law — Kosuth and his Cause — Relations witli Japan. 

Franklin Pierce. 

Union Pacific Railroad — The Sandwich Islands — Kansas and Nebraska Terri- 
tories — Raids in Central America — War with the Indians — Gadsden Purchase — Con- 
flict over Question of Slavery in the Territories. 

Buchanan, Lincoln and Johnson. 

Dred-Scott Decision — Panic of 1857 — Mountain Meadow Massacre — Lincoln and 
Douglass Debates — John Brown's Raid — Election of Lincoln — South Carolina Secedes 
• — The Confederacy Established — Inauguration of Lincoln — Fort Sumter Evacuated — 
The Civil War Opens — Battle of Bull Run — Surrender of Fort Donelson — Battle of 
Antietcm — Capture of New Orleans — Fredericksburg — The "Trent" Affair — The Ala- 
bama and Kearsarge — Monitor and Merrimac — Battle of Chancellorsville — Battle of 
Gettysburg — Fall of Vicksburg — Chickamauga — Grant at Chattanooga — Sherman's 
March — Surrender of Lee at .'\ppomatto,x — Assassination of Lincoln — Cost of the 
War — .'\ndrew Johnson takes Oath of Office — The Thirteenth Amendment — Recon- 
struction of the Southern States — Impeachment Trial of Johnson — Purchase of Alaska. 

U. S. Grant. 

Virginius Aflfair — Tribunal of Arbitration — Alabama Claims — Weather Bureau 
.'\uthorized — Yellowstone Park — War with the Modocs — Custer Massacre— Colorado Ad- 
mitted to the Union — Centennial Exhibition — Electoral Commission — Election of Hayes. 

Hayes, Garfield and Arthur. 

Removal of Federal Troops from Louisiana and South Carolina — Reform in the 
Civil Service — Bland Silver Bill — Resumption of Specie Payment — Election of Gar- 
field — Assassination of Garfield — Trial of Guiteau — Arthur takes the oath of Office — 
South American Affairs — Star Route Trials — Silver Convention — Mormon Question — 
Chinese Immigration. 

Grover Cleveland. 

Tariff Revision — Attack on Civil Service Reform — "Cutting" Affair — Inter-State 
Commerce Act — Deaths of Grant. Manning, McClelland, Tilden, Hancock and Logan 
— Charleston Earthquake — Bartholdi Statue — Fisheries Question. 

Harrison's and Cleveland's Second Term. 

Centennial of Wasliington's Inauguration — McKinley Tariff Bill — The Sherman 
Act — Troubles with Chile — Revolution on Brazil — Sealing Troubles — Johnstown 
Flood — Chinese Exclusion Act — Cleveland Elected President — World's Fair at Chicago 
— Panic of 1893 — Sherman .'Kct Repealed — The Wilson Bill — Venezuela Controversy. 

McKinley and Roosevelt. 

Dingley Bill — Cuban Revolt — Destruction of the "Maine" — Cuba Declared Free 
and Independent — War with Spain — Voyage of the "Oregon" — Dewey's Victory at 
Manila — Troops sent to the Philippines — Cuban Blockade — Sinking of the Merrimac 
— Seige of Santiago — Capture of San Juan Hill — Destruction of Cevera's Fleet — Sur- 
render of Santiago — The Porto Rico Campaign — The Treaty of Paris — Hawaiian An- 
nexation — National Bankruptcy Law Passed — Troubles in the Philippines — McKinley 
re-elected — New Canal Treaty — Treaty with Panama — Bo.xer Rebellion — Affairs m the 
East — Aguinaldo Captured — Cuban Affairs — Assassination of McKinley — Roosevelt 
President — Panama Canal — St. Louis Exposition — Roosevelt re-elected — The Russian — 
Japanese Treaty of Peace at Portsmouth, N. H. — Lewis and Clark Exposition — Balti- 
more Fire — San Francisco Earthquake — Insurance Investigation. 



CONTENTS 



Christopher Cohinibus. 
Alexander Hamilton. 
Salmon P. Chase. 
George Washington. 
James Monroe. 
Charles Sumner. 
Benjamin Franklin. 
^Andrew Jackson. 



BOOK TWO 

BIOGRAPHY 
(See Also Index) 

Robert E. Lee. 
John Paul Jones. 
John Quincy Adams. 
Wm. T. Sherman. 
John Adams. 
Henry Clay. 
Ulysses S. Grant. 
Oliver Hazard Perry. 



Daniel Webster. 
Thomas Jonathan Jackson. 
Patrick Henry. 
John C. Calhoun. 
Thomas Jefferson. 
Abraham Lincoln. 
James Madison. 
Wm. H. Seward. 



BOOK THREE 

GEOGRAPHY AND ACHIEVEMENTS 



The Earth. 

The Sun. 

The Moon. 

The Planets. 

Explorations. 
Polar Explorations. 
Lewis and Clark Exploration 
Fremont E.xploration. 



Agriculture. 
Mining and Metals. 
IVIarvelous Machinery. 
Transportation. 
Communication. 



Light and Photography. 
Mound Builders and Cliff 

Dwellers. 
Engineering. 
Modern Warfare. 
African Explorations. 
Australian Explorations. ' 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

THE NATIONAL CONSTITUTION 

WITH EXPLANATORY NOTES 



COMrLETK GENERAL INDEX 



AMERICAN HISTORY 

UNITED STATES 

FIRST PERIOD 
EXPLORATIONS AND DISCOVERIES 



In the story of the "United States of 
America," the student will find the 
most absorbing interest. The great 
unknown world with its savage na- 
tives, the discoveries by the white man. 
the tales of the conquests by those 
hardy adventurers, who braved the 
perils of the sea and the unknown in 
their thirst for gold. 

The courage and perseverance of the 
pioneers to conquer the wilderness in 
building for themselves homes, in their 
perseverance against tyranny and op- 
pression, in fact, to follow the growth 
and rise of our country, from an un- 
known, almost uninhabited, land, to 
its present great proportion and its 
millions of homes and people, leading 
the world with their industries and 
achievements, creating a nation in its 
civilization and power second to none 
among the countries of the world. 

This grand Continent on which we 
live, known as the Western Continent, 
extending in length ten thousand miles. 
Stretching from the regions of the 
north, where snow and ice forever 
abound, to the rocky cape in the far 
south, that lifts its head out of the 
waters of the Antarctic Ocean. In the 
remote past there was not a house or 
human being on the face of this great 
continent. When or how did the first 
man get here? None among our 
learned men have been able to tell. 
Very many years ago, just how many 
no one knows, there was a people, or, 
to be more correct, there were several 
peoples, that lived and prospered here. 
This we know from the remains of 
temples, bridges, etc., built by more 
skillful hands than those of the inhabi- 
tants of which we have any clear 



knowledge. Many of these structures 
were built of immense blocks of stone, 
some of which were carved with fig- 
ures of men, animals and other objects. 
These ruins found in South and Cen- 
tral America, one of which a temple, a 
]ierfect circle in form, showing skillful 
knowledge of architecture. 

High up on the mountain tops of 
Peru, where neither tree nor shrub can 
grow, are stone wall inclosures, thous- 
ands in number, which, according to 
the tradition among the Peruvians, are 
the remains of structures that were 
built "before the sun shone." 

In our country, the United States, 
there are numerous evidences of a for- 
mer civilization, though of a different 
kind from those of Mexico and South 
America. 

Instead of great ruins in which are 
beautiful blocks of cut stone, we have, 
as a rule, mounds of earth, or earth 
and rough stone. These, found mostly 
in the valleys of the Ohio and Missis- 
sippi, are of various sizes and shapes. 
Some are round, some are square, 
others have the form of animals. We 
call these people Mound Builders, (see 
Mound Builders.) 

Perhaps we may think that the 
mounds were made by the ancestors of 
the people whom we call Indians. 
Learned men, who have carefully stud- 
ied the subject, deny this. They tell 
us that the mounds were constructed 
by a people who occupied the country 
long before the Indians or their fore- 
fathers came here; and their decision 
seems to be supported by the character 
and habits of the Indians, as well as 
by other facts. It was these people 
whom we call the Indians that we 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND RI'FKRENCE 



found here when the ccmntry was dis- 
covered. The origin of these people 
is a much vexed and unsettled question. 
The theory having the balance of re- 
pute in its favor derives them from 
Asia, ferrying them across Behring 
Strait. 

The number of human inhabitants 
of the entire continent of Americ:i, 
from the Frozen Ocean to Cape Horn, 
did not exceed five million, it is sup- 
po.sed, vk^hen Columbus sailed from 
Spain ; and that within the present do- 
main of our Republic — The United 
States of America — there were only a 
little more than one million souls, or 
one to each three and a half square 
miles of territory. The people of the 
latter region seemed to have all come 
from the same original stock, e.xcept- 
ing some on the borders of the Gulf 
of Mexico. They had high cheek bones 
and broad faces; heavy dark eyes; jet 
black hair, lank and incapable of curl- 
ing, because of its peculiar structure ; 
and skins of a dull, copper color. They 
spoke more than a hundred dialects, or 
peculiar forms of expressing language, 
all springing, evidently, from a com- 
mon root. 

They were all by habit, silent, or 
would talk but little in society, and 
could endure great mental or physical 
suffering without visible emotion. 
Their plan of government was simple, 
and there were very few breakers of 
the law. Their religion was as simple 
as their " civil government. They be- 
lieved in a great Good Spirit and a 
great Evil Spirit, each supreme in its 
sphere ; and they deified, or made God, 
the sun, moon, stars, meteors, fire, 
water, thunder, wind and everything 
else which seemed to be superior to 
themselves. There were no unbelievers 
among them. They had no written 
language, excepting rude picture-writ- 
ing, made on rocks, barks of trees or 
the dried hides of beasts. Their his- 
torical records were made upon the 
memory from parent to child, as were 
their legends, and so transmitted from 
one generation to another. Their 
dwellings were rude huts made of poles 
leaning to a common centre, and cov- 



ered with bark or the skins of beasts. 
The men were engaged in war, hunting 
and fishing, whilst the women did all 
the domestic drudgery. The women 
also bore all burdens during long jour- 
neys ; put up the tents or the wigwams, 
as their dwellings were called ; pre- 
pared the food and clothing; wove 
mats for beds, and planted, cultivated, 
and gathered the scanty crops of corn, 
beans, peas, potatoes, melons and to- 
bacco, wherever these products were 
raised. In winter the skins of wild 
beasts formed the clothing of these 
rude people, and in summer the men 
wore only a wrapper around their loins. 
They sometimes tattooed then. selves, 
that is, pricked the skin in lines to 
form shapes of objects, and making 
them permanent by coloring matter, put 
in the punctures ; and they were gen- 
erally ornamented with the claws of 
bears, the pearl)- parts of shells and the 
plumage of birds. Their money con- 
sisted of little tubes made of shells, 
fastened upon belts or strung on little 
thongs of deer's hide, which was called 
wampum. These collections were used 
in traffic, and in giving tokens of 
friendship. Their weapons of war 
were bows and arrows, tomahawks or 
hatchets, war-clubs, and scalping 
knives. Some wore shields of bark and 
also corselets of hides, for protections. 

The civil governor of a tribe or na- 
tion was called a Sachem ; the military 
leader was called a Chief. They were 
natural, proud and haughty, and had 
great respect for personal dignity and 
honor. The Indians had many of the 
nobler traits of human nature, but with 
a few notable exceptions, such as the 
five nations who formed the Iroquois 
Confederacy, within the present do- 
m.ain of the State of New York, and 
the dwellers in the softer climate 
around the Gulf of Mexico; they were 
as a whole, cruel savages, throughout 
the entire country, north of the parallel 
of Alabama, when the Europeans came 
and made permanent settlements here. 

\\'hen the white man came early m 
the sixteenth century, to make perma- 
nent settlements in our country, he 
found the dusky inhabitants, as we 



FIRST PERIOD— KXPl, ORATIONS AND DISCOVERIES 



have observed, speakiiiL;" alxnit a hun- 
dred different dialects, tiut there were 
only eight radically distinct nations. 
They are known as the Algonquins, 
Iroquois Confederacy, Cherokees, Ca- 
tawbas, Uchees, Natches, Mobilians or 
Floridians, and Dakotahs or .Sioux. 
Of the numerous nations whicii occu- 
pied the great .-Vmerican continent ar 
the time of the discovery by the Euro- 
peans, the two most advanced in power 
and refinement were undoubtedly those 
of Mexico and Peru. The .Vztecs, of 
Alexico, and the Incas, of Peru. 

ALGONOUINS. 

Algonquins was a name given by the 
French to a large collection of families 
north and south of the great lakes, who 
speaking dialects of the same language, 
seemed to belong to the same nation. 
These inhabited the territory now in- 
cluded in all Canada, New England, a 
part of Xew York and Pennsyhania, 
the States of New Jersey, Delaware, 
?^raryland and X'irginia, Eastern North 
Carolina, above Cape Fear, a large por- 
tion of Kentucky and Tennessee and all 
north and west of these States eastward 
of the Mississippi River. Within the 
folds of the Algonquin nation were the 
Huron-Iroquois, in Canada, New 
N'ork, Pennsylvania and Ohio : a few 
families in southern Mrginia and up- 
]ier North Carolina, and the Iroquois 
Confederacy in the State of New York. 

IROQUOIS CONFEDERACY. 

The Iroquois Confederacy was a re- 
markable fact in history. It was com- 
posed of five large families, each hav- 
ing the dignified title of a nation. 
These nations were named Mohawks, 
Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas and 
Senecas. They were sub-divided into 
smaller families or tribes, each having 
its symbol Coat-of-Arms, such as the 
bear, the wolf, the eagle, the heron, the 
beaver, the deer, the turkey or the tor- 
toise. They occupied a belt of country 
extending across the present State of 
New York, from the Hudson River to 
Lake Erie, south of the Adirondack 
range of great hills, and north of the 



Kratsbergs, or, as thev are commonly 
called, the Catskill Mountains. 

When Europeans became acquainted 
with the nations of this league and the 
form of government, they were filled 
with admiration on account of its wis- 
dom and strength. They called these 
nations "The Romans of the New 
World," because they seemed to have 
many things in common with that an- 
cient people, especially in military af- 
fairs. As in old Rome the soldiers 
were honored above all other citizens, 
so they were among the Iroquois ; and 
the warriors, under tlieir chiefs, were 
all-powerful in public affairs. What- 
ever was done in the civil councils of 
the separate nations, or of the Confed- 
eracy, was subjected to review by the 
soldiery, who had the right to call 
councils whenever they pleased, and ap- 
prove or flisapprove public measures. 
.And so careful were the civil authori- 
ties to pay deference to the warriors 
that general answers to questions of 
state policy were postponed until the 
soldiers might be known. Therefore, in 
nearly every such council, decisions 
were made by unanimous consent. 

As each of the confederated nations 
was divided into several tribes, there 
were thirty or forty Sachems in the 
league. These had inferior officers un- 
'ler them, answering to our magistrates 
in towns ; and so the civil power of the 
government was quite widely distri- 
buted. There was not a man who 
gained his office otherwise tllan by his 
own merits, and he held it only during 
good behavior. An\' vmworthy action 
was attended by dismissal from office 
and the penalty of public scorn. They, 
as well as the military leaders, accepted 
no salary, and gave away any perquis- 
ites of their office in time of peace, and 
their share of plunder in time of war. 
They felt themselves amply paid by the 
confidence and esteem of the people. 

Each canton, or nation, was a dis- 
tinct republic, entirely independent of 
the others in what may be termed the 
domestic concerns of the State ; but 
each was bound to the others of the 
league by ties of honor and of general 
interest. Each had an equal voice in 



14 



THE HO?irK Al'XIT.TARY AND REFERENCE 



tlie General Council or Congress of the 
league, and each possessed a sort of 
veto power, which prevented any ah- 
solute ruling by the central power. 

The powers and duties of the chief 
magistrate of the Confederacy were 
similar to those imposed upon the 
President of the United States. He 
had authority to "light the great Coun- 
cil Fire" — to assemble the General Con- 
gress- — by sending a messenger to the 
Sachem of each nation, calling him to 
a meeting. With his own hand he 
kindled a blaze around which the repre- 
sentatives gathered and each lighted 
his pipe. He had a cabinet of six coun- 
cillors of state, whose powers were only 
advisory. In the council he was only 
the moderator or presiding ofificer. He 
had no power to control, directly, mili- 
tary affairs, nor interfere with the in- 
ternal policy of the several states of 
the league. There was really no coer- 
cive or compulsory power lodged any- 
where, that could act upon a state or 
individual, excepting that of despotic 
public opinion. There was a third 
))arty in the government who exercised 
great influence. These were the ma- 
trons or elderly women, who had a 
right to sit in the councils and there ex- 
ercise a negative or veto power on the 
subject of a declaration of war, or to 
propose, or demand, a cessation of hos- 
tilities. Theirs was a highly conserva- 
tive power. They were pre-eminently 
the peace-makers of the league, for 
their personal happiness depended 
upon peaceful pursuits. They mod- 
estly refrained from making speeches 
in the legislature, but they furnished 
materials for masculine orators, and so 
it was in that notable confederacy of 
barbarians, formed long before their 
contact with Europeans, woman was 
man's co-worker in legislation — a thing 
unheard of in civilized nations. It was 
a government the nearest to a pure 
democracy, and yet highly aristocratic 
— a government of the best people — 
that the world has ever seen. It had 
all the essential elements of our form 
of government. 

\Ve have said that the soldiers of the 
league controlled the legislators. The 



n;ilitary leaders, like the Sachems, de- 
rived their authority from the people, 
who recognized and rewarded their 
jibility as warriors. They held the rela- 
tions to the civil heads of the nations, 
similar to that of Roman generals to 
emperors, whom they elevated to and 
deposed from office. The army was 
composed wholly of volunteers, for 
there was no power to conscript men. 
Every able-bodied man was bound, by 
custom, to do military duty, and he who 
shirked it incurred everlasting disgrace. 
The ranks of the army, therefore, were 
always full. The war-dance and the 
assemblages for amusement were the 
recruiting stations, for there the vet- 
eran warriors, painted and decorated, 
recounted their brave deeds in wild 
songs, as they danced around great 
fires singly or in a ring formed by 
clasped hands. These stirring war- 
songs inspired the young men with de- 
sires to emulate their example and win 
the honors of war. 

There is no positive proof as to the 
time when the Iroquois "Confederacy" 
was formed. It was probably at the 
beginning of the fifteenth century, or 
.ibout a hundred years before Colum- 
bus crossed the Atlantic Ocean. When 
Europeans found it, it was powerful 
and aggressive. Like old lome, the 
state was constantly increasing in area 
and population, by conquests and an- 
nexations. Had the discovery of Am- 
erica by Europeans been deferred a 
century longer, no doubt that republic 
would have embraced the continent : 
for the Fhe Nations, as the league was 
called, had already extended their con- 
quests from the great lakes on our 
northern border almost to the Gulf of 
Alexico. 

CHEROKEES, CATAWBAS, 
UCHEES AND NATCHES. 

The Cherokees inhabited the pictur- 
esque and fertile region in the upper 
part of Georgia, and its vicinity, where 
the mountain ranges that form the 
water-shed between the .Atlantic Ocean 
and the ^lississippi River melt into the 
lowlands, which border the Gulf of 



FIRST PERIOD— I-:X1'L0KAT10XS AM) DISCOVERIES 



^lexico. They were called the moun- 
taineers of the South, and were the 
most formidable of all the foes of the 
conquering Iroquois. Their neighbors 
on the borders of the Yadkin and Ca- 
tawba Rivers on both sides of the 
boundary line between North and 
South Carolina. The Iroquois made 
incursions into their country, but the\- 
never brought the Catawbas under the 
yoke of that confederacy. 

The Uchees were only a remnant of 
a once powerful people. They were 
living in the beautiful land in Georgia, 
between the sites of Augusta and Mil- 
lidgeville, along the Oconee and 
around the headwaters of the Ogee- 
chee and Chattahoochee. They claim 
to be descendants of a people more 
ancient than those around them, and 
they had no traditions, as all the others 
had, of having migrated from another 
country. 

The Natchezs, who occupied a ter- 
ritory east of the Mississippi, stretch- 
ing north-eastward from the site of the 
City of Natchez, along the borders of 
the Pearl River to the headwaters of 
the Chicasahaw River, claimed to be 
an older nation than the Uchees. Like 
the other Indians of the Gulf region, 
they were "'fire and sun worshippers, 
and made sacrifices to the sfreat lumin- 



MOBILIANS OR FLORIDIANS. 

The Mobilians, or Floridians, occu- 
pied a very large territory that bor- 
dered on the Gulf of Alexico. It 
stretched along the Atlantic coast from 
the mouth of the Cape Fear River to 
the extremity of the Florida peninsula 
and westward to the ^Mississippi River. 
They also held jurisdiction up that 
stream to the mouth of the Ohio River. 
Their domain included the States of 
Florida, Alabama and Mississippi, all 
of Georgia not occupied by the Chero- 
kees and Uchees, and portions of South 
Carolina, Tennessee and Kentucky. 
The nation was divided into three con- 
federacies, known respectively as the 
Creek, Choctaw and Chickasaw. 



These people had the same general 
iiue of skin, form of features and tex- 
ture of hair as those of the more north- 
ern countries. They were either the de- 
scendants of the Central or South .Am- 
ericans, or their habits or life had been 
modified by contact with the half-civil- 
ized people of those countries. Thc^- 
were an athletic and vigorous race. 
The men were well proportioned, active 
and graceful in all their movements. 
The women were smaller, exquisitel)- 
furmed, and some of them were very 
btautiful. 

In the colder weather of winter, the 
common men wore a mantle made of a 
>ort of cloth manufactured of the soft 
inner bark of trees, interwoven with 
hemp or a species of fla.x. This was 
thrown gracefully over the shoulder, 
leaving the right arm exposed. 
.\round the loins was a very short 
tunic, extending half way down the 
thighs, or only a wrapper. The richer 
or nobler sort of men wore beautiful 
mantles, made of feathers of every hue. 
exquisitely arranged, or the skins of 
fur-bearing animals, with dressed deer 
skin tunics, wrought in colors, and 
moccasins and buskins of the same ma- 
terials. The women of the better sort, 
at the cooler season, wore a garment of 
cloth or feathers, or furs, wrought like 
mantles of the men. It was wrapped 
more closely around the body at the 
waist and fell gracefully almost to the 
knee. The rest of the form was left 
bare excepting in the coldest weather, 
when they wore shore mantles that fell 
from the neck to the hips. Their heads 
were always uncovered, but the men 
wore a skull cap of cloth ornamented 
with beautiful sea-shells, the claws of 
beasts, or strings of pearls. 

It is related that a queen, on the 
banks of the Savannah River, took 
from her neck a magnificent string of 
pearls and tw-ined it around that of 
De Sota, the early Spanish discoverer 
of that region. Sometimes they wore 
pearl pendants in their ears. In sum- 
mer, both sexes went without clothing, 
excepting a drapery of what is now 
known in that region as Spanish moss, 
gathered from tlie trees. This was 



THE HOME AUXUJARV AND REEEREXCE 



fastened at the waist and fell in grace- 
ful negligence to the thighs. 

The Chiefs, and prophets, and other 
principal men, and their wives, painted 
their breasts and the front part of their 
bodies with stripes of white and red. 
and some practiced a kind of tattooing. 

The houses of the Chiefs, spacious 
and airy, stood upon large mounds, 
natural or artificial, that were ascended 
by steps of wood or earth. These 
dwellings were built of timber, some- 
times in the form of a great pavilion 
with a broad piazza around it, fur- 
nished with benches. They were cov- 
ered with the leaves of the Palmetto, 
or thatched with straw, and sometimes 
they were roofed with reeds in the 
manner of tiles. Their winter houses 
were daubed inside and out with clay. 

The weapons of the Floridians for 
hunting and war were strong bows and 
arrows, and javalins. Their arrows 
were made of fine dried cane, tipped 
with buck-horn and pointed with flint, 
hardwood or fish bones. They were 
carried in a quiver made of the skin of 
the fawn, cased at the bottom with the 
hide of the bear or the alligator, and 
slung by a thong of deer's skin so as 
to rest on the hips. The warriors all 
wore shields in battle, composed of 
wood, split cane, or the hide of the 
alligator and buffalo. On the left arm 
they wore a small shield of bark to 
protect it from the rebound of the bow- 
string. They also had short swords 
made of hard wood. 

When a Chief was about to declare 
war. he sent a party at night toward 
the town of tlje enemy, to stick arrows 
in the ground at the cross paths or 
other conspicuous places near it. From 
these arrows waved long locks of hu- 
man hair as tokens of scalping. Then 
he would assemble his painted war- 
riors, and after some wild ceremonies, 
would turn reverentially toward the 
sun, with a wooden javelin in his hand, 
and invoking the aid of the great God 
of Fire, he would take a vessel of 
water, and sprinkle it around, saying: 
"Thus may you do with the blood of 
vour enemies." Raising another vessel 
of water, he would pour it upon the 



fire which had been kindled, and as it 
was extinguisiied he would say, "Thus 
may you destroy your enemies and 
bring home their scalps." When the 
battle was over, the victors cruelly 
mutilated the bodies of their captives. 
Carrying their disseverd limbs and 
their scalps upon spear-points, into the 
public square, they were there ])laccd 
on poles, and the people celebrated the 
triumph by dancing around the tro- 
l)liies and singing wild songs of joy. 
The widows of tliose lost in battle 
gathered around the Chief with piteous 
cries, praying him to avenge the deaths 
of their loved ones, asking him for an 
allowance during their widowhood and 
permission to marry again as soon a< 
the law would allow. Then they visited 
the burial places of their husbands, and 
cutting ofif their long tresses, strewed 
them over the graves. When their hair 
had grown to its usual length they 
were ready to marry again. 

Hunting, fishing and the cultivation 
of the rich land were the chief employ- 
ments of these people. The cotton 
])lant was unknown to them, but hemp 
and flax were quite abundant. The 
women assisted the men in the fields, 
in the cultivation of corn, beans, peas, 
squashes, and pumpkins, which yieklerl 
enormous returns for the little labor 
bestowed. These productions were 
stored in granaries made of stone and 
earth and covered with mats, for win- 
ter use : also preserved meats. They ob- 
tained salt by evaporation, and the 
women were generally good cooks of 
the simple food. They made and used 
pottery for kitchen service, some of it 
skillfully constructed and quite beauti- 
ful. They were skillful artisans, as 
evidenced by their arms, houses, beauti- 
ful barges and canoes and ornaments. 
They had fortifications with moats or 
ditches; and walled towns: and some 
of their temples were grand, imposing 
nnd beautiful. Their roofs were steep 
and covered with mats of split cane, 
interwoven so compactly that they re- 
sembled the rush carpeting of the 
Moors. -At the entrances to some of 
the temples, and in niches in the in- 
terior, were well-wrought wooden 



FIRST PERIOD— EXPLORATIONS AND DISCOVERIES 



17 



statues, some of them of persons who 
were entombed in the sacred place. Be- 
tween these were shields of various 
sizes^ made of strongly woven reeds, 
adorned witli pearls and colored tassels. 
Rich offerings of pearls and deer-skins, 
and the furs of animals were seen in 
these temples in great profusion, all 
dedicated to the Sun, the great God, 
whom they worhip]ied. 

The religious system of these people 
was very simple. They regarded the 
Sun as the supreme Deity, and vene- 
rated the moon and certain brilliant 
stars. In all their invocations of bles- 
sings upon their chiefs or upon them- 
selves, the Sun was appealed to. as we 
appeal to God. "May the Sun guard 
you." "May the Sun be with you,"' 
were the usual forms of invocation. 
.\t the beginning of March the men of 
a community selected the skin of the 
largest deer, with the head and legs at- 
tached, which they filled with a variety 
of fruit and grain. It was sewed up 
and appeared like the live creature in 
form. Its horns were garlanded with 
fruits and early spring flowers. Then 
the effigy was carried in a procession of 
all the inhabitants to a plain, and placed 
on a high post. There at the moment 
when the sun appeared upon the east- 
ern horizon the people all fell upon 
their knees, with their faces toward the 
rising luminary, and implored the God 
of day to grant them, the ensuing sea- 
son, an abundance of fruit and grain 
as good as those which they then of- 
fered. 

The funeral ceremonies of these 
jjcople. especially on the death of a 
chief or prophet, were very peculiar. 
The body underwent a sort of embalm- 
ing, when it was placed in the ground 
in a sitting pDsture by the nearest rela- 
lives of the deceased. Then food and 
money were placed by its side, and a 
conical mound of earth was piled over 
it, at the foot of which was made a pal- 
ing of arrows stuck in the ground, 
around the tomb the people gathered in 
great numbers, some standing, some 
sitting, and all howling. This cere- 
mony continued three days and nights, 
after which, for a long time, chosen 



women visited the tomb three times a 
day, morning, noon and night. The 
chief, whilst he was alive, was held in 
the greatest veneration, for like the 
Assyrian Kings, he was both monarch 
and pontiff- — the chief magistrate anil 
the high priest. A cruel sacrifice was 
made to him of every first-born male 
child, a custom learned from the Cen- 
tral Americans. The child was brought 
by a dancing-girl and placed upon the 
Ijlock, and the young mother, weeping 
in agony, was compelled to stand near 
it. to make the offering. A prophet 
dashed out its brains, and then a group 
of girls danced around the altar of 
sacrifice, singing songs. 

Such is an outline picture of the 
I'eople with whom the Spaniards first 
came in contact on the continent after 
the discoveries bv Columbus and his 
contemporaries. These, with the Iro- 
cjuois Confederacy, are the two notable 
exceptions spoken of, to the general 
character and liabits of the dusky na- 
tions who then inhabited North Ain- 
erica. 

DAKOTAHS OR SIOUX. 

L'nder the general title of Dakotahs 
or Sioux, have been grouped a vast 
number of tribes west of the Missis- 
sippi River and the great lakes, with 
whom the early French explorers came 
in contact. They spoke, apparently 
dialects of the same language, and were 
regarded as one nation. They inhabi- 
ted the vast domain stretching north- 
ward from the Arkansas River to the 
western tributaries of Lake Winnepeg, 
and westward along that line to the 
eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains. 
These have been arranged in four clas- 
ses, namely, the Winnebagoes. the .\s- 
sinilioins or Sioux proper, the Mine- 
taries and the southern Sioux. 

-Such was the general distribution of 
the Indians when European settlements 
were liegun among them. Tiiev were 
not stationary residents of a fixed do- 
main; nor, with the exception of the 
Iroquois Confederacy, was there the 
semblance of a national government 
amongst them. They had wandered 



i8 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



for centuries, and some of them had evi- 
dently traversed the whole continent. 
Yet they were not a nomadic race, or 
"a people seeking pasture for cattle, liv- 
ing in tents, and having no fixed home 
for a month at a time. Neither were 
they agriculturists, steadily cultivating 
the soil. The horse, cow, sheep and 
swine were unknown to them. They 
had never tamed the buffalo nor the 
stately elk for labor or food : nor had 
they sheared a fleece from the great- 
hiorned Rocky Mountain sheep. Like 
primitive man, the Indian was a hunter 
and fisher, and depended for his sus- 
tenance chiefly upon the chase and the 
hook. 

AZTECS OR AIEXICAXS. 

.^t the beginning of the sixteenth 
century, just before the arrival of the 
Spaniards, the Aztec dominion reached 
across the continent, from the .Atlantic 
to the Pacific ; and under the bold and 
bloody Ahuitzotl. its arms had been 
carried far over is original permanent 
territory, into the fartherest corners of 
Guatemala and Nicaragua. This ex- 
tent of empire, however limited in 
comparison with that of other states, is 
truly wonderful, considering it as the 
acquisition of a people whose whole 
population and resources had so re- 
centl)' been comprised within the walls 
of their own petty city : and consider- 
ing, moreover, that the conquered ter- 
ritory was thickly settled by various 
races, bred to arms like the Mexicans, 
and little inferior to them in social or- 
ganization. The history of the .\ztecs 
suggests some strong points of resem- 
blance to that of ancient Romans, not 
onlv in their military successes, but in 
tlie policy which led to them. 

According to traditional legends a 
conspicuous people known as the Tol- 
lecs, entered the territory of .\nahuac ; 
probably before the close of the sev- 
enth century ; from a northerly direc- 
tion, but from what region is uncertain. 
Thej' were well instructed in agricult- 
ure, and many of the most useful 
mechanic arts ; were nice workers of 
metals : invented the complex arrange- 



ment of time adopted by the Aztecs ; 
and, in short, were the true fountains 
of civilization which distinguished this 
part of the continent in later times. 
They established their capital at Tula, 
north of the Mexican \'alley. and the 
remains of extensive buildings were to 
be discerned there at the time of the 
conquest. The noble ruins of religious 
and other edifices, still to be seen in 
various parts of Alexico, are referred 
to this people, whose name, Toltec, has 
passed into a synonym for achitecture. 

After a period of four centuries, the 
Toltecs, who had extended their sway 
over the remotest borders of .\nahuac, 
having been greatly reduced, it is said, 
by famine pestilence, and unsuccessful 
wars, disappeared from the land as 
silently and mysteriously as they had 
entered it. .-\ few of them still lingered 
behind, but much the greater number, 
probably, spread over the region of 
Central .\merica and the neighboring 
isles. 

After a lapse of another hundred 
> ears, a numerous and rude tribe, called 
the Chichemecs, entered the deserted 
country from the regions of the far 
northwest. They were speedily fol- 
lovi'ed by other races, of higher civili- 
zation, perhaps of the same family as 
the Toltecs, whose language they appear 
to have spoken. The most noted of 
these were the. .\ztecs or Mexicans, 
and the .\colhuans. The latter, better 
known in later times by the name of 
Tezcucans. from their capital, Tezcuco, 
on the eastern border of the Mexican 
lake, were peculiarly fitted, by their 
comparatively mild religion and man- 
ners, for receiving the tincture of civili- 
zation which could be derived from the 
few Toltecs that still remained in the 
country. 

The Mexicans, with whom our story 
is principally concerned, came, also, as 
we have seen, from the remote regions 
of the north, the populous hive of na- 
tions in the New World, as it had been 
in the Old. They arrived on the bor- 
ders of Anahuac toward the beginning 
of the thirteenth century, sometime 
after the occupation of the land by the 
Kindred races. For a long time thev 



FIRST PERIOD— EXPLORATIONS AXD DISCOVERIES 



did nut eslahlish thcnisel\cs in any 
permanent residence; bnt cnnlinned 
shifting their quarters to different parts 
of the Mexican \'alley, enduring- all 
the casuahies and hardships of a mi- 
gratory hfe. After a series of wander- 
ings and adventures, they at Icngtii 
hahed on the southwestern borders of 
the principal lake, in the year 1325. 
They there beheld, perched on the stem 
of a prickly pear, which shot out from 
a crevice of a rock that was washed by 
the waves, a royal eagle of extraordin- 
ary size and beauty, with a serpent in 
his talons and his broad wings opened 
to the rising sun. They hailed the 
auspicious omen, announced by the or- 
acles, as indicating the site of their 
future city, and laid its foundations by 
sinking piles into tlie shallows ; for the 
low marshes were half buried under 
water. On these they erected their 
light fabrics of reeds and rushes ; and 
sought a precarious subsistance from 
fishing, and from the wild fowl which 
frequents the waters, as well as from 
the cultivation of such simple vege- 
tables as they could raise on their 
floating gardens. The place was called 
Tenochtitlan, in token of its miracu- 
lous origin, though only known to 
Europeans by its other name of Mex- 
ico, derived from their war-god 
Mexitli. The legend of its foundation 
is still further commemorated by the 
devices of the eagle and the cactus, 
which form the arms of the modern 
Mexican Republic. .Such was the 
humble beginnings of the \'enice of the 
\\'estern ^\'orld. 

Notwithstanding their forlorn con- 
dition and domestic feuds. They grad- 
ually increased in numbers and estab- 
li-^hed a reputation for courage as well 
as cruelty in war, which made their 
name terrible throughout the valley. In 
the early part of tlie fifteenth century, 
nearly a hundred years from the foun- 
dations of the city, an event took place 
which created an entire revolution in 
the circumstances, and, to some extent, 
in the character of the Aztecs. This 
was the subversion of the Tezcucan 
monarchy by the Tepanecs. Wlien the 
oppressive conduct of the victors had 



at length amused a spirit of resistance, 
its prince, Xezahualcoyotl, succeeded, 
after incredible perils and escapes, in 
nnistering such a force, as, with the aid 
of the Mexicans, placed him on a level 
with his enemies. In two successive 
battles, these were defeated with great 
slaughter, their chief slain, and their 
territory, by one of those reverses 
which characterize the wars of pett\- 
states, passed into the hands of the 
conquerors. It was awarded to Alexico 
in return for its important services. 

Then was formed that remarkable 
league which has no parallel in history. 
It was agreed between the states of 
Mexico, Tezcuco, and the neighboring 
little kingdom of Tlacopan, that they 
should mutually support each other in 
their wars, offen^-ive and defensive, and 
that in the distribution of the spoil, one- 
fifth should be assigned to Tlacopan, 
and the remainder to be divided, in 
what proportion is uncertain, between 
the other powers. 

The Aztecs receiving the greater 
share, as evidenced b\- the territorv sub- 
sequently appropriated. As they were 
in a more prosperous condition than 
their allies. The allies for some time 
found sufficient occupation for their 
arms in their own valley; but they soon 
overleaped its rocky ramparts, and by 
the middle of the fifteenth century, un- 
der the first Montezuma, had sprearl 
down the sides of the table-land to the 
borders of the Gulf of Mexico. 

Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital, gave 
evidence of the public prosperity. Its 
old feuds were healed, the citizens who 
had seceded were again brought under 
a coinmon government with the main 
body, and the quarter thev occupied 
was permanently connected with the 
parent city ; the dimensions of which, 
covering the same ground, were much 
larger than the modern capitol of Mex- 
ico. 

The form of government was nearly 
an absolute monarchv, though elective. 
Four of the principle nobles, who had 
been chosen by their own body in the 
preceding reign, filled the office of 
electors. The sovereign was selected 
from the brothers of the deceased 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



prince, or, in default of them, from his 
nephews. 

Thus the election was always re- 
stricted to the same family. The camli- 
date preferred must have distinguished 
himself in war, though, as in the case 
of the last Montezuma, he was a mem- 
ber of the priesthood. The candidates 
received an education which fitted them 
for the royal dignity, the age, at which 
they were chosen, not only prevented 
a minor from becoming" monarch, but 
showed their qualifications for the of- 
fice. The result of this was favorable, 
as shown by a succession of monarchs 
well qualified to rule over a warlike and 
ambitious people. 

The Aztec princes had spacious pal- 
aces provided, with halls for the differ- 
ent councils, who aided the monarch in 
the transaction of business. The chief 
of these was sort of privy council, com- 
posed in part, probably, of the four 
electors chosen by the nobles after the 
accession, whose places, when made 
vacant by death, were immediately sup- 
])lied as before. It was the business of 
this body, so far as can be gathered 
from the very loose accounts given of 
it, to advise the King, in respect to the 
government of the provinces, the ad- 
ministration of the revenues, and, in- 
deed, on all great matters of public in- 
terest. It is certain, there was a dis- 
tinct class of nobles, with large landed 
possessions, who held the most impor- 
tant offices near the person of the 
prince. 

The legislative power resided wholly 
with the monarch. This feature of 
despotism, however, was. in some 
measure, counteracted by the constitu- 
tion of the judicial tribunals. 

Over each of the principal cities, 
with its dependent territories, was 
placed a supreme judge, appointed b}' 
the crown, with original and final juris- 
diction in both civil and criminal cases. 
There was no appeal from his sentence 
to any other tribunal, nor even to the 
King. He held his office during life: 
and any one who usurped his ensigns 
was punished with death. 

Below this magistrate was a court, 
established in each ]:)rovince, and con- 



sisting of three members. It held con- 
current jurisdiction with the supreme 
judges in ci\-il suits, but, in criminal, 
an appeal lay to his tribunal. Besides 
these courts there was a body of in- 
ferior magistrates, distributed through 
th.e country, chosen bv the people them- 
selves in their several districts. Their 
authority was limited to smaller causes, 
while the more important were carried 
up to the higher courts. There was 
still another class of subordinate offi- 
cers, appointed also by the people, each 
of which was to watch over the conduct 
of a certain number of families, and 
report any disorder or breach of the 
laws to the higher authorities. Such 
are the vague and imperfect notices 
that can be gleaned, respecting the Az- 
tec tribunals. 

The judges of the higher tribunals 
were maintained from the produce of 
a part of the crown lands, reserved for 
this purpose. They, as well as the 
supreme judge, held their oi^ces for 
life. The proceedings in the courts 
were conducted with decency and or- 
der. 

The laws of the Aztecs were regis- 
tered, and exhibited to them in their 
paintings. Much the larger part of 
them, as in every nation imperfectly 
civilized, relates rather to security of 
persons, than of property. The great 
crimes against society were all punished 
by death. 

Their military code bore the same 
stern features as their other laws. Dis- 
obedience of orders was punished with 
death. It was death, also, for a soldier 
to leave his colors, to attack the enemy 
before the signal was given, or to 
plunder another's booty or prisoners. 
Hospitals were established in the prin- 
cipal cities, for the cure of the sick, and 
the permanent refuge of the disabled 
soldier. 

The .'Vztec recognized the existence 
of a Supreme Creator and Lord of the 
L^niverse. But thev also believed in a 
number of Gods, presiding over the ele- 
ments, the seasons, and the various oc- 
cupations of man. At the head of all 
stood the terrible Huitzilopochtli, the 
Mexican God of war. This was t!ie 



l-IKST PI:RU_)IJ— liXl'LOkATIONS AND DISCOVERIES 



patron deity of the nation. His temples 
were the most stately and august of 
public buildings, and his alters reeked 
with the blood of human sacrifices, 
which had a distastrous influence on 
the character of the people. 

A far more interesting personage 
was Ouetzalcoatl, God of the air, wlio 
instructed them in the arts of agricult- 
ure and government and in the use of 
metals and who they believed would 
again come among them. At the city 
of Cholula is a massive ruin of a temple 
that was dedicated to his worship, tie 
was said to have been tall in stature, 
had a white skin, long dark hair, and a 
flowing beard. 

The wicked of these people were sup- 
posed to have gone to a place of ever- 
lasting darkness : the good, and those 
that fell in battle, or were sacrificed, 
passed at once into the presence of the 
Sun, whom they accompanied in his 
bright progress through the heavens ; 
and. after some years, their spirits re- 
veled amidst the rich blossoms and 
odors of the gardens of paradise. Such 
was the heaven of the Aztecs. 

The Mexican temples, Teocallis, 
"houses of God," as they were called, 
were very numerous. They were solid 
masses of earth, cased with brick or 
stone, and in their form, somewhat re- 
sembled the pyramidal structures of 
ancient Egypt. The bases of many of 
them were more than a hundred feet 
square, and they towered to a still 
greater height. They were distributed 
into four or five stories, each of smaller 
dimensions than that below. The as- 
cent was by a flight of steps, at an angle 
of the pyramid, on the outside. This 
led to a sort of terrace, or gallery, at 
the base of the second story, which 
passed quite round the building to an- 
other flight of stairs, commencing also 
at the same angle as the preceding and 
directly over it, and leading to a similar 
terrace, so that one had to make the 
circuit of the temple several times be- 
fore reaching the summit. In some in- 
stances the stairway led directly up the 
centre of the western face of the build- 
ing. The top was a broad area, on 
which were erected one or two towers. 



forty or fifty feet high, the sanctuaries 
in which stood the sacred images of the 
]>residing deities. Before these towers 
stood the dreadful stone of sacrifice, 
nnd two lofty altars, on which fires 
were kept, as inextinguishable as those 
in the temple of \'esta. Tliere was said 
to have been si.x hundred of these altars, 
I .n smaller buildings within the inclos- 
iire of the great temple of ^lexico. 
which, with those on sacred edifices in 
other parts of the city, shed a brilliant 
illumination over its streets, through 
t!ie darkest night. 

Human sacrifices were adopted b\- 
the .Aztecs early in the fourteenth cen- 
tury, rare at first, they became more 
frequent with the wider extent of their 
empire ; till, at length, almost every 
festival was closed with this cruel 
abomination. One of the most detest- 
able features of the Aztec religion was 
its cannibalism, they ate the bodies of 
those sacrificed, not on account of brut- 
ish appetite, but in obedience to their 
religion. 

( )ne important duty of the priest- 
hood was that of education, to which 
certain buildings were appropriateil 
within the inclosure of the principal 
temple. Here the youth of both sexes 
were placed at a very tender age. The 
girls to priestesses. The boys were 
taught the religion of the Aztecs, and 
in the higher schools the mysteries of 
hieroglyphics, the principles of govern- 
ment, and such natural sciences as were 
known to the priesthood. Great at- 
tention was paid to the mora! discipline 
of both sexes, and offenses were pun- 
ished with great vigor. Terror, not 
love was the spring of education with 
the Aztecs. 

All the people, even those inhabiting 
cities, except the soldiers and great 
nobles, cultivated the soil. The}' were 
also well acquainted with the mineral 
treasures of their Kingdom, but they 
had no knowledge of the use of iron. 
They found a substitute in an alloy of 
tin raid copper, and from this made 
their tools. They were very skillful in 
fashioning gold and silver into orna- 
ments, vases and vessels of all sorts. 
The art of sculjituring had also attained 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



great advancement amung them. They 
were also well developed in the me- 
chanical arts, such as weaving, dyeing, 
and made featherwork fabrics of beau- 
tiful designs. 

Their traffic was carried on mostly 
by barter, but they had a currency of 
different values. This consisted of 
transparent quills of gold dust, bits of 
tin cut in the form of a "T," and bags 
of cacao of different weights. 

In their domestic life, they were ten- 
der and refined, cleanly to a fault. 
They displayed all the sympathy of a 
cultivated nature, consoling their 
friends in affliction, and congratulating 
them on having good fortune. 

NORWEGIAN DISCO\'ERIES. 

Over nine hundred years ago, a fa- 
mous Norwegian sailor named Eric — 
called "Eric the Red'" because he had 
red hair and florid complexion — settled 
in Iceland, the northern shores of 
which touched the Arctic Circle. 
Whilst he was on a voyage westward 
from that far north country, he discov- 
ered Greenland and made it his home. 
Plis son Lief, an ambitious young man, 
wished to become a discoverer, like his 
father. He bought a ship — one of 
those queer little Norwegian vessels 
which were moved sometimes by sails 
and sometimes by oars. They were 
used by those old Sea Kings, as they 
were called, of Northern Europe, who 
spread terror by their piracies over the 
British Islands and the coasts of West- 
ern Europe, from the Rhine to the 
Straits of Gibraltar, more than a thous- 
and years ago. 

Lief's ship was stout and tight. She 
had made many voyages safely. He 
furnished her with twenty-five strong 
men, and invited his father to go with 
him as the commander. Eric thought 
himself too old for such an undertak- 
ing. Lief and his companions sailed 
southwesterly. It was in the early 
summer of the year 1002. They were 
fighting the storms and waves of the 
North Atlantic Ocean, between Green- 
land and Labrador, and were some- 
times chilled by slow-drifting icebergs. 



At length they saw land. It was flat 
and stony near the shore, with high 
snow-capped mountains, a little back 
from the sea. They did not land, but, 
sailing .southward, they soon came to 
another country, flat, and covered 
thickly with woods. It had a broad 
beach of white sand sloping gently to 
the sea. The adventurers anchored 
their little ship, went on shore, and fed 
themselves on sweet berries. A few 
hours later they sailed away southward. 

These bold seamen soon came in 
sight of another land. It was hilly — 
gently so — and mostly covered with 
trees. Its northerly shores were shel- 
tered bv an island. They found there 
an abundance of small fruits, delicious 
tc the taste. No traces of human be- 
ings were found, excepting some burnt 
wood and the bones of large fishes ; and 
no sounds were heard but the songs of 
birds and the chirping of squirrels. 
Charmed by the soft climate, they 
sought a harbor, and found one at the 
mouth of a river, where the vessel was 
swept by the tide into a bay. The 
v^'aters were filled with the finest sal- 
mon, and wild deer abounded in the 
woods. The days and nights were 
nearly^ equal in length, at first. As they 
remained all winter, they noticed that 
when the days were shortest, the sun 
rose at half-past seven o'clock and set 
at half-past four o'clock. 

A young German of Lief's company, 
who was Eric's servant, was missing 
one day. They searched for him in all 
directions. He had wandered deep into 
the forest, and when they found him 
he was full of joy, because he had dis- 
covered grapes, delicious and abundant, 
.such as grew in his own country. So 
Lief named the country Vineland. He 
and his company built huts and win- 
tered there, and in the spring they re- 
turned to Greenland. Eric had lately 
died, and Lief, his eldest son, came 
into the possession of his estate and 
patriarchal office. Eric's family were 
Christians, but Eric died a pagan. 

Thorwald, Lief's younger brother, 
bought the good ship and, with thirty 
companions, sailed for \^ineland. They 
passed the winter there, occupying the 



FIRST rHRFOn— EXPLORATrOXS AXD DISCOVERIES 



huts built by Lief and his companions, 
and subsisting, as they had done, on 
fish. In the spring, Tliorwald and a 
part of his company explored the 
neighboring coasts, finding many sandy 
islands, on which there was no traces 
of wild beasts and few of human be- 
ings. The summer was spent in these 
explorations, and the next was passed 
at their old quarters in V'ineland. 
Other explorations were made the fol- 
lowing summer, by the whole compan}-. 
In the early autumn thev entered a 
large inlet. There were high lands on 
each side, thickly wooded. "Here,'' 
said Thorwald, "is a goodly place; 
here I will make my abode." They 
found there some natives — dusky peo- 
ple, of small stature, like the Esqui- 
maux of Greenland. They were in 
canoes, and were timid and harmless. 
The Northmen caught them and cruelly 
put them to death, excepting one. who 
escaped to the hills and aroused his 
countrymen. The angry savages at- 
tacked Thorwald and his company, and 
Thorwald was killed, but his com]ian- 
ions escaped uninjured. Thorwald's 
body was buried on the promontory 
where he intended to settle. The sur- 
vivors passed the winter in \^ineland, 
in mortal fear of the enraged savages, 
and in the spring they returned to 
Greenland. 

Thorstein, Eric's third son, on hear- 
ing of the death of his brother, sailed 
for Vineland. with twenty-five compan- 
ions and his young wife, Gudvida. .Ad- 
verse winds drove the vessel into the 
desolate shores of Greenland. .\ conta- 
gious disease broke out among them and 
Thorstein and the greater number of 
his companions perished. The young 
wife then returned hime with the body 
of her husband. 

During the ne.xt summer, a rich Nor- 
wegian named Thorfin, married Gud- 
vida, and, accompanied by his young 
wife, and five other young women and 
their husbands, and other men. sailed 
for X'ineland, to plant a colony there. 
They landed near the spot where Lief 
had passed the winter. 

Thorfin remained with the colony in 
\'ineland about three vears, when he 



and Gudvida, with a part of the com- 
pany, returned to Norway with speci- 
mens of fruits and furs, which they 
had gathered in the new country. 

After making several voyages Thor- 
lin settled in Iceland, where he died, 
(judvida, then went on a pilgrimage to 
Rome, where she told the story of the 
adventurers in the ears of Pope Bene- 
dict. 

Those of Thorfin's colony who re- 
mained in Vineland, were joined by 
two brothers, named Helgi and Fiom- 
bogi, with about thirty followers. 
I-'reydisa, the daughter of Eric the Red, 
obtained a willing permission to go 
with them, and share in the profits of 
the voyage. She was an artful and 
fiery-tempered woman and a fury and 
firebrand amongst the colonists. 
Where peace had reigned she en- 
throned discord. Quarrels ensued 
which ended in a fight and the death 
of thirty persons. Then Freydisa, find- 
ing her own life in peril, returned to 
Greenland, where she died. 

From the chornicles of Iceland, it 
reveals the fact that Norwegians dis- 
covered America almost five hundred 
years before Columbus sailed westward 
from Spain, in search of India. The 
stony land was doubtless Labrador. 
The flat, wooded land, must have been 
Newfoundland ; and the time given for 
the rising and setting of the sun and the 
winter solstice — the shortest day about 
Christmas time — indicates some point 
on the New England coast, between 
Boston harbor and Narragansett bay, 
as the spot where the German lad dis- 
covered the grapes, and Lief named 
the country Vineland. 

Where Thorwald was buried, or 
where Thorfin and Gudvida landed and 
lived nobody knows. .A.11 positive 
traces of these colonies in America are 
lost. 

From that time, for more than four 
hundred years, .\merica lay hidden 
from the knowledge of Europeans. 
There are some traditions that seem to 
have facts for their sub.stance, that tell 
us of other voyages to this Western 
W'orld, during that period. The most 
reasonable of these stories, is that of 



THE HOME AL"Xn.E\RV AXD REFERENCE 



Prince Madoc of ^\'ales, said to have 
been drawn from the chronicles of that 
country. It is beUeved by some his- 
torical students of Madoc, who was a 
son of Owen Gwynneth, disgusted with 
the domestic contentions about the 
rightful successor to his father, went 
on a voyage of discovery, with ships 
'.veil manned, in the reign of King 
Henry the Second, of England ; that he 
went westward from Ireland and found 
a most fruitful country, in the year 
1 170; that he returned home, and with 
a squadron of ten ships sailed for the 
same lands with a colony of men, 
women and children, to settle there, and 
that he was never heard of afterwards. 
It has been asserted by more than one 
traveler in this country, that light- 
colored Indians have been met by them, 
who had many Welsh words in their 
kinguage. Humboldt refers to this 
tradition ; and until the translation of 
the Icelandic Chronicles, the Chronicles 
of Wales claimed for Madoc the honor 
of being the discoverer of America. 

During the centuries whilst America 
again lay hidden from Europe, great 
changes had taken place among the na- 
tions of the Eastern Hemisphere, and 
we shall briefly relate the conditions 
in Europe toward the close of the fif- 
teenth century. 

The Northmen, or Xormans, had 
taken possession of some of the fairest 
regions of France (Normandy), and 
had invaded, conquered, and refined 
England. The Germans had succeeded 
the empire of the Franks, in the mas- 
terv of Europe, and with their ad- 
vanced ideas. 

The crusaders had unbarred the 
gates of the East, and let in a flood of 
light from that source of science and 
philosophy, and had broken up the 
stagnation of European society. The 
feudal S)'stem — a system in which lands 
are held by a few nobles who farm 
them out as a privilege secured by mili- 
tary service — had given way to an es- 
tablished political system in the form of 
monarchies and powerful republics. 
Commercial cities were gathering and 
distributing the products of industry 
and fleckinsr the seas with white sails. 



I-roving that the arts of peace are far 
more productive of happiness than the 
pursuit of war. 

Trade had linked various peoples in 
bonds of mutual interests and .sym- 
pathy. And Europe, with the birth of 
the printing-press at that time, was 
prepared to enter upon that new and 
bright era of scientific investigation 
and maritime discovery, which speedily 
followed. 

Its most wonderful activity was seen 
m the Adriatic and in the Mediterran- 
ean Seas. For the control of this com- 
merce, \'enice on the Adriatic and 
Genoa on the Mediterranean Vv-ere pow- 
erful and zealous rivals. The ancient 
cities of Venice and Genoa had grown 
rich by the trade with the East. Great 
caravans brought silks and spices and 
other luxuries thence overland to Medi- 
terranean ports, which were carried to 
the Italian cities in ships and again sent 
overland to the cities of the North. 
This slow and expensive method of 
transportation, might have long contin- 
ued, had not the conquering Turks 
seized on Constantinople and cut ofif 
every avenue of trade southward from 
Christian trafific. Then began men to 
look for an all water route to India and 
China and Japan, of whose marvelous 
riches Marco Polo and other travelers 
had written, with a wealth of adjectives 
that stirred the imagination and incited 
the cupidity of Christendom. 

The leader of this movement was 
Portugal, under Henry, son of John the 
First. While with his father on an ex- 
pedition into Africa, he received much 
information from the Moors concern- 
ing the coast of Guinea and other parts 
that were then unknown to Europeans. 
He believed that important discoveries 
might be made by navigating along the 
western coast fif that continent, and on 
liis return home the idea absorbed his 
whole attention. Being a studious and 
profound mathematician, he had be- 
come master of all the astronomy then 
known to the Spaniards. He drew 
around him men of science and learn- 
ing connected with every branch of the 
maritime art, and with these learned 
men, he was convinced that from an- 



FIRST PERIOD— EXPLORATIONS AND DISCOVERIES 



cient chronicles and fair induclicui, that 
Africa was circumnavigable — that In- 
dia might Ije reathed by going around 
the southern shores of that continent. 
Prince Henry firmly adhered to his be- 
lief in the face of the threats of the 
priests and the sneers of the learned 
])rofessors. Wild tales were believed 
of dreadful reefs and stormy headlands 
stretching far out to sea, and of a fiery 
climate at the equator which no living 
thing, not even whales in the depth of 
the ocean could pass because of the 
great heat. It was believed that the 
waves rolled in boiling water upon the 
fiery sands of the coasts, and that who- 
ever should pass beyond Cape Bajador 
would never return. Against every 
species of opposition Prince Henry per- 
severed. His navigators scattered all 
these fallacies and tales by doubling 
Cape Bajador and sailing into the trop- 
ics. 

With the revival of learning which 
the crusades had been chiefly instru- 
mental in producing, came into Europe 
a knowledge of the theories and a de- 
monstration of the Arabian astrono- 
mers, concerning the globular form of 
the earth. Intelligent mariners and 
others had become impressed that it 
was globular, whilst the clergy ve- 
hemently opposed it. 

Christopher Columbus, a native of 
Genoa, being firmly convinced of this 
theory, believed the quickest passage to 
India would be made by sailing west- 
ward. This we shall take up in the 

STORY OF COLUMBUS. 

Christopher Columbus, or Colombo. 
as the name is written in Italian, was 
born in the city of Genoa, about the 
year 1435. He was the son of a wool 
comber. He was the oldest of four 
children, having two brothers, Bar- 
tholomew and Giacomo, or James 
(written Diego in Spanish"), and one 
sister, of whom nothing is known. At 
a very early age Columbus evinced a 
decided inclination for the sea ; his 
education therefore was mainly directed 
to fit him for maritime life, but was as 
general as the narrow means of his 



lather would permit. For a short time, 
also, he was sent to the university of 
I'avia. He then returned to Genoa, 
and, from his own account, he entered 
upon a nautical life when but fourteen 
years of age. 

His first voyages were made in the 
Mediterranean Sea witli a distant rel- 
ative named Colombo, when piracy 
was almost legalized. During many 
years we have but a shadowy trace of 
Columbus, and from writings of his 
son, Fernando, we next hear of him in 
Lisbon, about the year 1470. He was 
at that time in the full vigor of man- 
hood, and of an engaging presence. 
He was tall, well-formed and muscu- 
lar, and of an elevated and dignified 
demeanor. His visage was long and 
neither full nor meagre ; his complex- 
ion fair and freckled and inclined to 
ruddy ; his nose aquiline ; his cheek 
bones were rather high, his eyes light 
gray and apt to enkindle ; his whole 
countenance had an air of authority. 
His hair, in his youthful days, was of 
a light color ; but care and trouble 
soon turned it gray, and at thirty years 
of age was quite white. He was mod- 
erate and simple in diet and apparel, 
eloquent in discourse, engaging and af- 
fable with strangers, and his amiable- 
ncss and suavity in domestic life 
strongly attached his household to hi'; 
person. His temper was naturally irri- 
table; but he subdued it by the mag- 
nanimity of his spirit, comporting him- 
self with a courteous and gentle grav- 
ity, and never indulging in any intem- 
perance of language. Throughout his 
life he was noted for his strict atten- 
tion to the offices of religion, observ- 
ing rigorously the fasts and ceremo- 
nies of the church ; nor did . his piety 
consists in mere forms, but partook of 
the lofty and solemn enthusiasm with 
which his whole character was strongly 
tinctured. While attending religious 
service, he became acquainted with 
Dona Felipa, daughter of Bartholomew 
Alonis de Perestrello, deceased, who 
had been one of the most distinguished 
navigators under Prince Henry of 
Portugal and had colonized and gov- 
erned the island of Porto Santo. Thev 



26 



THE HOMi: AUXILIARY AND REFERKX'CF. 



were soon married and it appears to 
have been of pure affection as the 
iady was without fortune. 

Througli the mother of the bride, he 
became informed of all the voyages and 
expeditions of her late husband, she 
brought him all his papers, charts, 
journals and memorandums. In this 
way he became acquainted with the 
routes of the Portuguese, their plans 
and conceptions ; and having become 
naturalized in Portugal, he sailed oc- 
casionally in the expeditions to the 
coast of Guinea. He was compelled to 
use strict economy, and when on shore 
supported himself and family by mak- 
ing maps and charts. 

He resided for some time at the re- 
cently discovered island of Porto Santo, 
where his wife had inherited some 
property, and during his residence 
there she bore him a son, whom he 
named Diego. This residence brought 
him on the very frontier of discovery. 
His wife's sister was married to Pedro 
Correo, a navigator of note, who had 
at one time been governor of Porto 
Santo. Being, frequently together, 
their intercourse was turned upon the 
long sought for route to India ; and the 
possibility of some unknown lands ex- 
isting in the west. 

In their i.sland residence, surrounded 
by the stir and bustle of discovery, 
communing with persons who had risen 
by it to fortune and honor, the ardent 
mind of Columbus kindled up to en- 
thusiasm in the cause. One of the 
strongest symptons of the excited state 
of the popular mind at this eventful era 
was the prevalence of rumors respect- 
ing unknown islands casually seen in 
the ocean. Columbus, however, con- 
sidered all these appearances of land 
as mere illusions. He made himself ac- 
quainted with all that had been written 
by the ancients, or discovered by the 
moderns, relation to geography. His 
own voyages enabled him to correct 
many of their errors, and appreciate 
many of their theories. His genius 
having thus taken its decided bent, his 
grand project of discovery was 
wrought out by the strong workings of 
his vigorous mind. 



lie sat <lciwn as a fundamental prin- 
cii)le that liie earth was a terraqueou ■ 
sphere or globe, which might be trav- 
elled round from cast to west, and that 
men stood foot to foot when on oppo- 
site points. The circumference on the 
equator, Columbus divided into twenty 
four hours of fifteen degrees each, 
making three hundred and sixty de- 
grees. Of these he imagined that fif- 
teen hours had been known to the an- 
cients, extending from the Canary In- 
lands to the city of Thinae, in Asia, a 
place set down as the eastern limits of 
the known world. The Portuguese had 
advanced the western frontier one hour 
more by the discovery of the Azores 
and the Cape de \'erde Islands. There 
remained, then, according to Colum- 
bus's estimate, eight hours, or one-third 
of the circumference of the earth, un- 
known and unexplored. Granting this, 
it was manifest that by pursuing a di- 
rect course from east to west, a navi- 
gator would arrive at the extremitv of 
Asia, and discover any intervening land. 

According to the stories of ^larco 
Polo and John Mandeville, these trav- 
elers had visited the remote parts of 
Asia, and their accounts of the extent 
nf that continent to the eastward had a 
great effect in convincing Colvmibus 
that a voyage to the west, of no long 
duration, would bring him to its shores, 
or to the extensive and wealthy islands 
which lie adjacent. He was also in- 
fluenced by the tales of veteran mari- 
ners who had found drift-wood from 
the west, carved by other tools than 
iron, and of reeds which Columbus 
thought he recognized as the immense 
reeds said to grow in India. When 
Columbus had formed his theory, it be- 
came fixed in his mind with singular 
firmness, and influenced his entire char- 
acter and conduct. He never spoke in 
doubt or hesitation, but with as much 
certainty as if his eyes had beheld the 
promised land. A deep religious senti- 
ment mingled with his meditations, and 
he looked upon himself as standing in 
the hand of heaven, chosen from 
among men for the accomplishment of 
its high purpose. 



FIRST PERIOD— EXPLORATIONS AND DISCOVERIES 



It is impossible to determine the pre- 
cise time when Cohnnbus first conceived 
the design of seeking a western route 
to India. It is certain, however, that 
he meditated it as early as the year 
1474. He was at this time too poor to 
fit out the armament necessary for so 
important an expedition. Indeed, it was 
an enterprise only to be undertaken in 
the employ of some sovereign state, 
N'.hich could assume dominion over the 
territories he might discover and re- 
, ward him with dignities and privileges 
commensurate to his services. It is 
said tliat he endeavored to engage his 
own country, Genoa, in the undertak- 
ing, but without success. His residence 
in Portugal placed him at hand to solicit 
the patronage of that power, but Al- 
phonso, who was then on the throne, 
was too much engrossed in the latter 
part of his reign, with a war with 
Spain, to engage in peaceful enterprises 
of an expensive nature. 

At this juncture, in 1481, a monarch 
ascended the throne of Portugal, of dif- 
ferent ambftion from .\lphonso. John 
Second, then in the twenty-fifth year of 
his age, had imbibed the passion for 
discovery from his grand-uncle. Prince 
Henry, and with his reign all its activ- 
ity revived. The magnificent idea he 
I'lad formed of the remote parts of the 
East made him extremely anxious that 
the splendid project of Prince Henry 
should be realized, and the Portuguese 
flag penetrate to the Indian seas. 

It was at this time that Columbus 
made the first attempt to procure royal 
I«tronage for his enterprise. Encour- 
aged by the anxiety evinced by King 
John the Second to accomplish a pas- 
sage by sea to India, Columbus ob- 
tained an audience of that monarch, and 
proposed that in case the King would 
furnish him with ships and men, to 
take a shorter and more direct route 
than that along the coast of Africa. 
His plan was to strike directly to the 
west, across the Atlantic. The King- 
referred the inatter to a learned junto, 
charged with all inatters relating to 
maritime discovery. . This scientific 
bod}' treated the subject as extravagant 
and visionary. King John still mani- 



festing an inclination for the enterprise, 
it was suggested to him that Columbus 
might be kept in suspense while a vessel 
secretly dispatched in the direction he 
should point out might ascertain 
whether there was any foundation for 
his theory. Having obtained detailed 
information from Columbus, a caravel 
was dispatched, which stood westward 
for several days, until the weather be- 
came stormy, the pilots seeing noSliing 
but a waste of wild tumbling waters 
still extending before them, lost all 
courage and put back, ridiculing the 
]iroject of Columbus. 

This unworthy act of King John, 
aroused the indignation of Columbus, 
and he refused to renew the negotia- 
tions. The death of his wife, which 
occured some time previously, dissolved 
what ties he had with Portugal, and he 
determined to look elsewhere for pa- 
tronage. Before his departure, he en- 
gaged his brother Bartholomew to 
carry proposals to the King of England. 

We next hear from Columbus in the 
south of Spain, in 1485, seeking his 
fortune among the nobles. He met 
with indifferent success, and was about 
to leave Spain to seek the aid of F"rance, 
when the Duke of Medina Celi, fearing 
the loss to Spain by the success of such 
a splendid enterprise, by another power, 
wrote to Queen Isabella recommending 
Columbus and his project. This 
brought a favorable reply and Colum- 
bus accordingly set out for the Spanish 
court. 

This was one of the most brilliant 
periods of the Spanish monarchy. The 
union of Arragon and Castile, by the 
marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella, 
which consolidated the Christian power, 
in opposition to the domination of the 
Moors. After arriving at the court at 
Cordova, he found the monarchs in ac- 
tive preparation for the war, with the 
Moors, and for over a year, was unable 
to obtain an audience. He was finally 
odered by Ferdinand, to present his 
jiroject before the council of Sala- 
manca, the leading university of Spain. 
His theories were met with no approval, 
and he experienced notliing but pro- 
crastination and neglect. 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCI". 



In tlie spring of I48<) the-adjounied 
investigation appeared to be on the eve 
of taking place. Columbus was sum- 
moned to attend a conference of learned 
men, to be held in the city of Seville ; 
but as usual the appointed conference 
was postponed, being interrupted by the 
opening of a campaign. Columbus 
waited through the summer of 1490, 
and the subsequent winter, when he 
pressed for a reply. The sovereigns 
answered, that on account of the war 
and its expenses, the project could not 
be considered until its close. Renounc- 
ing all further confidence in vague pro- 
mises, he turned his back on Seville. 

About half a league from the little 
seaport of Palos, in Andalusia, there 
stood an ancient convent, dedicated to 
Santa Maria de Rabida. One day a 
stranger on foot, in humble guise but 
of a distinguished air, accompanied by 
a small boy, stopped at the gate of the 
convent, and asked of the porter a 
little bread and water for the child. 
Juan Perz de Marchena, the prior of 
the convent, happening to pass by, was 
struck by the appearance of the 
stranger, and observing from his ac- 
cent that he was a foreigner, entered 
into conversation with him, and soon 
learned his story. That stranger was 
Columbus. He was on his way to the 
neighboring town of Huelva, to seek 
his brother-in-law. 

The prior was a man of extensive 
geographical and nautical knowledge, 
he was greatly interested by the conver- 
sation of Columbus. When he found, 
however, that the voyager was on the 
point of abandoning Spain to seek 
patronage in the court of France, and 
that so important an enterprise was 
about to be lost forever to the country, 
the good friar took alarm. He detained 
Columbus as his guest, and sent for 
Garcia Fernandez ; a physician, resi- 
dent in Palos : a scientific friend, to 
converse with him. Several confer- 
ences took place at the convent, at 
which several of the veteran mariners 
of Palos were present. Among these 
v.-as Martin Alonzo Pinzon, the head of 
a family of wxalthv and experienced 
navigators of the place, celebrated for 



their adventurous expeditions. Facts 
were related by some of these naviga- 
tors in support of the theory of Colum- 
bus. In a word, his project was treated 
Vv-ith a deference in the quiet cloisters 
of tlie convent, and among the seamen 
which had been sought in vain among 
the sages and philosophers of the court. 
IMartin .\lonzo Pinzon was so impres- 
sed tliat he offered to engage in it witli 
])urse and person, and to bear the cx- 
jienses of Columbus in renewed appli- 
cation to the court. Friar Juan Perez 
had once been confessor to the Queen, 
he proposed to wrtie to her immediatelx' 
on the subject, and entreated Columbus 
to delay his journey until an answer 
could be received. Columbus being 
persuaded, a letter was written to the 
Queen, and she wrote in reply to Juan 
Perez, thanking him for his timely ser- 
vices, and requesting that he would re- 
pair immediately to the court. No 
sooner did the friar receive it. than he 
departed privately, before midnight, 
for the court. 

He pleaded the cause of Columbus, 
and the Queen being more susceptible 
and sanguine than the King, was moved 
by the representations of the friar and 
requested that Columbus should again 
be sent to her, and forwarded to him 
his traveling expenses. 

When Columbus arrived at the court, 
he experienced a favorable reception. 
the moment had now arrived, when the 
monarchs stood pledged to attend to 
his proposals. The war with the Moors 
was at an end, Spain was delivered 
from its intruders, and its sovereigns 
might securely turn their views to for- 
eign enterprises. They kept their word 
with Columbus. 

At the very outset of their negotia- 
tion, however, unexpected difficulties 
arose. So fully imbued was Columbus 
\Aith the grandeur of his enterprise, 
that he would listen to none but 
]irincely conditions. His principal stip- 
ulation was, that he should be invested 
with the titles and privileges of admiral 
and viceroy over the countries he 
should discover. With one-tenth of all 
gains, either by trade or conquests, or 
to furnish one-eighth of the cost, on 



FIRST PERIOD— EXPLORATTOXS AXD DTSCOVKRIES 



condition of enjoying one-eight of the 
profits. More moderate conditions 
were offered to Columbus, and such as 
appeared highly honorable and advan- 
tageous. It was all in vain : he would 
not cede one point of his demands, and 
the negotiation was broken off. 

Taking leave of his friends, there- 
fore, he left Santa Fe on his way to 
Cordova, in the beginning of February, 
I-I92, whence he intended to depart im- 
mediately for I-"rance. 

A\'hen the few friends who were zeal- 
ous believers in the theory of Columbus 
saw him really on the point of abandon- 
ing the country, they were filled with 
distress, considering his departure an 
irreparable loss to the nation, .\niong 
the number was the receiver of the ec- 
clesiastical revenues in Arragon, he en- 
treated her majesty not to be misled by 
the assertions of learned men, that the 
project was visionary. He vindicated 
the Judgment of Columbus. Neither 
would even failure reflect disgrace upon 
the crown. He stated the liberal offer 
of Columbus to bear an eighth of the 
expense, and informed her that all that 
was necessary for the e.xpedition was 
but two vessels and about three thous- 
and crowns. There was still a mo- 
ment's hesitation, the King looked 
coldly on the affair. With an enthus- 
iasm worthy of herself and the cause, 
Lsabella exclaimed, "I undertake the en- 
terprise for my crown of Castile, and 
w ill pledge my jewels to raise the neces- 
sary funds." This was the proudest 
moment in the life of Isabella; it 
stamped her renown forever as the 
]iatroness of the discovery of the New 
\\ orld. PiUt her majesty was assured 
that there would be no need of pledging 
her jewels, as the necessar}- funds 
would be advanced. 

Columbus was pursuing his lonely 
journey, when he was overtaken by a 
courier from the Queen, who sum- 
moned him to return to .Santa Fe. On 
hearing of the sudden zeal excited in 
the mind of the Queen, and the posi- 
tive promise she had given to undertake 
it, he no longer felt a doubt, but has- 
tened back, confiding in the noble pro- 
bity of that princess. 



An immediate audience was granted, 
lie was then fifty-six years of age: and 
the Queen forty. She possessed more 
genius and grandeur of soul than her 
husband : and could far better than he 
comprehend the theory of Columbus, 
and estimate its mighty results, should 
lie achieve it. .\nd when, with a tongue 
that seemed to be touched with inspira- 
tion, he told the Queen of his belief that 
he was ordained of God for its aciiieve- 
ment, and that he intended to u.se the 
profits of his enterprise on efforts for 
the recovery of the Holy Sepulchre at 
Jerusalem, the beautiful Queen invoked 
the blessings of Almighty God upon 
him. 

Isabella assented to all of the de- 
mands of Columbus, and urged him to 
(•epart on his great mission as speedily 
:>s possible. Ferdinand acquiesced in 
the arrangements. The contract was 
signed by the sovereigns, at Santa Fe, 
on the 17th of April, 1492. Then Col- 
umbus departed for Palos. 

The port of Palos had lately sinned 
against the monarchs, and the citizens 
had been condemned to serve the crown 
one year with two armed caravels — 
small, three-masted vessels. Furnished 
Avith authority, Columbus caused a 
royal order to be read commanding the 
authorities to have two caravels ready 
ior sea within ten days, and they and 
their crews to be placed at the disposal 
of the admiral. By the same order he 
was empowered to fit out a third vessel. 
The stories of the awful terrors of the 
far western Atlantic, which everybody 
believed, made the stoutest hearts of 
the mariners quail, and for weeks no 
progress was made toward the equip- 
ment of the vessels. 

Finally Martin Alonzo Pinzon, and 
his brother, \'incent Yanez, came for- 
ward, and not only engaged to furnish 
one of the vessels ; but as they had pro- 
mised Columbus, to each go as master 
of a shi]), and to fm-nish one-eighth the 
cost of the ex])edition. These acts of 
the Pinzons had a powerful effect upon 
the people, and very soon three vessels 
— all that were required — were ready 
for sea. 

Two of them were no longer than 



30 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



our river and our coast sailing vesseis 
— without decks, pierced for oars to be 
used in calms, with each a forecastle, 
and a cabin in the high stern, for the 
accommodation of the ship's company. 
The largest, which was fitted expressly 
for the expedition, was decked, and was 
named the Santa IMaria. She was the 
flag-ship of Columbus. One of the 
caravels was called the Pinta, and was 
commanded by Martin Alonzo Pinzon, 
who was accompanied by his brother, 
Francisco Martin, as pilot. The other 
caravel was called the Nina, with lateen 
sails, and was commanded by Vincent 
Yanez Pinzon. There were three other 
pilots, an inspector-general of the arma- 
ment ; Diego de Avana, as chief alguazil 
or constable. Roderigo de Escobar as 
notary public and historian, a physician 
raid surgeon, some private adventurers, 
servants, and ninety mariners, in all, 
one hundred and twenty persons. 

The expedition sailed on Friday. 
August 3d, 1492. On the 9th they 
reached the Canary Islands, where they 
were detained three weeks, and early in 
September they passed the westernmost 
of the group, escaped some Portuguese 
caravels that were sent out to intercejjt 
tl'em, and sailed boldly toward the un- 
known. Expecting to find the eastern 
shores of Asia, he bore a letter from the 
Spanish sovereigns to the Grand Khan 
of Tartary. in whose service Marco 
Polo had been employed two hundred 
years before. 

They encountered no heavy storms, 
nor did they observe any of the ex- 
pected terrors of the trackless deep. 
When they were two hundred leagues 
or more westward of the peak of Tene- 
riffe. Columbus observed for the first 
time in his life, a variation of the needle 
of his compass from a true line with the 
north star. They encountered vast 
masses of seaweeds, hundreds of miles 
in extent, floating on the ocean. It 
was doubtless the Sargasso Sea, now so 
well known to mariners. They were 
cheered by the sight of a flying heron 
and a tro]3ical bird which were har- 
bingers of land. The sailors, who had 
been mutinous at times, were quieted In- 
these promises of nature: hut when 



they seemed deceptive, the crews be- 
came stormy and almost ungovernable, 
they reproached their sovereigns for 
trusting the ambitious Italian, who 
would sacrifice their lives '"to make 
himself a lord." But Columbus quelled 
the insurrection for the time. 

For eleven days after leaving the 
Canary Islands, the ships had sailed be- 
fore the easterly trade winds. At early 
twilight one evening, Martin Pinzon, 
standing on the high stem of the Pinta, 
and pointing toward the southwest, 
shouted to the admiral, "Land! land! 
senor ; I claim my reward" — a pension 
promised by the sovereigns to the first 
man who should discover land. But 
the apparition was only a cloud, which 
vanished before the dawn. 

Days passed on, and the sun each 
evening set in the waves. Martin Pin- 
zon believed that a more southerly 
course would be wiser, and he was con- 
firmed in his opinion by seeing a flock 
of parrots flying toward the southwest. 
He advised them to follow but the ad- 
miral kept on his due west course. The 
crews again became discontented and 
mutinous. They had lost all hope, and 
in their desperation they defied Colum- 
bus. With the coolness of true courage 
he said, "This expedition has been sent 
out by your sovereigns, and come what 
may I am determined, by the help of 
God, to accomplish the object of the 
\oyage." ''We will cast you into the 
sea and return to Spain," said the ex- 
asperated sailors ; and just at sunset, 
on the evening of the nth of October, 
tliey were about to carry their threat 
into execution, when a coast-fish was 
seen to glide by : dolphins played near 
the surface; a branch of thorn with 
berries on it floated near, and a staff, 
artificially carved, came upon the waters 
to testify of human habitations near. 
Such unmistakable signs of land close 
l)y hushed the voice of rebellion, and 
the tigers became as meek as lambs. 

He enjoined them all to watch, and 
]iromised that whoever first discovered 
land should be given a doublet of velvet 
in addition to the pension offered bv 
the sovereigns. Eagerly, every man 
watched far into the night. Columbus 



FIRST PF.RIon- EXPLORATIONS AND DISCOVERIES 



31 



at about ten o'clock thought he saw the 
t^lininier of a distant light. lie called 
Gutierrez, one of the private ad\entur- 
ers, and inquired whether he saw a 
light. "I do," said Gutierrez. Coluiii- 
hus then called Sanchez, another ad- 
venturer, and after a few minutes they 
all three saw it, gleaming like a torch 
in a fisherman's boat, rising and falling 
with the waves. At length, at two 
o'clock in the morning, whilst the vessels 
were continuing on their course, a gun 
fired on board the Pinta announced the 
joyful tidings that land had been seen. 
It was first observed by a mariner 
named Rodrigo de Trina, but, as Col- 
umbus had seen the lights several hours 
Ijefore, the award was given to the ad- 
miral. The land was clearly seen at a 
distance of about six miles. \\'ith the 
dawn a beautiful picture was revealed. 
Wooded shores were in full view. The 
perfumes of flowers came upon the 
light land breeze. Birds in gorgeous 
plumage hovered around the vessels. 
In spite of every difficulty and danger, 
Columbus had accomplished his object. 
''The great mystery of the ocean was 
revealed." "His theory, which had 
been the scoff of sages, was trium- 
phantly established ; he had secured to 
himself a glory as durable as the world 
itself." 

At sunrise, Columbus and his com- 
panions landed in small boats. Many 
naked men and one woman, with skin 
of a dark copper color, who had 
watched the movements of the Euro- 
peans with mingled feelings of curios- 
ity, wonder and awe, now fled in alarm 
to the deep shadows of the forest. Col- 
umbus bearing the Royal Standard, first 
stepped upon the shore. He was fol- 
lowed by the Pinzons, each carrying the 
white silk banner of the expedition. 
When they were all landed, the whole 
company knelt and kissed the earth for 
joy. Rising from the ground, Colum- 
bus displayed the Royal Standard, and 
drawing his sword, took possession of 
the land in the name of the .sovereigns 
of Spain. To the island ( for such it 
proved to be) he gave the name of San 
Salvador — Holy Saviour. His follow- 
ers crowded around him with the most 



extravagant demonstrations of delight. 
Those who had been most insolent and 
mutinous were foremost in the utter- 
ance of vows of faithfulness thereafter. 
Each gladly took an oath of obedience 
to him, as admiral and viceroy, and the 
representative of Eerdinand and Isa- 
bella. Now the triumph of Columbus 
was complete. 

The native inhabitants had watched 
the ap])roaching ships since the dawn, 
with fear and awe, regarding" them as 
monsters of the deep ; and when they 
saw the white men come from them, 
dressed in gay colors, with shining lace 
and glittering armor, they supposed 
them to be superior beings who had 
come down from the .skies. Each party 
was a wonder to the other. The naked 
people, with dusky skins, painted with 
a variety of colors and devices, the men 
without beards and both sexes having 
long black hair falling from their heads, 
over their shoulders and bosoms in 
great profusion, were unlike any hu- 
man beings of whom Columbus and his 
companions had ever heard. By de- 
grees the alarm of the timid natives 
subsided, and they approached the Eu- 
ropeans, giving and receiving signs of 
friendship and good will. As the boats 
of the navigators moved along the 
shore, in and exploration of the coast 
of the island, the inhabitants of villages, 
men women and children, ran to the 
beach, throwing themselves on the 
ground, and assuming attitudes of wor- 
ship of the supposed celestial beings. 
They made signs for the Spaniards to 
land, and when they found that the 
boats kept on their way, many of them 
went into the sea and swam after them, 
and others followed in canoes. Believ- 
ing that he was upon an island of 
Farther India, Columbus called these 
wild inhabitants Indians, a name which 
all the native tribes of America have 
since borne. 

The island of San Salvador lies about 
two hundred and fifty miles E. S. E. of 
the southern point of the peninsula of 
Florida, and is one of the larger of the 
Bahama group. After examining it. 
the admiral cruised among others of 
the same group, naming some of them. 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENXE 



Me aiso touched at (jiitlsing islands as 
he sailed southward, and on the 28th of 
October he saw the northern shores of 
Cuba. Entering a beautiful river, 
which he called San Salvador, he an- 
chored, and in honor of Prince Juan, 
the son of Isabella, he named the great 
island Juana. But it has retained its 
native name of Cuba. He sailed north- 
westerly along its coast as far as the 
eastern entrance to Laguna de Moron, 
which was the nearest approach to the 
North American continent ever vouch- 
safed to Columbus. There he tirst saw 
a weed, the leaves of which the natives 
rolled into long slim packages, called 
tobacco and smoked. It was the mod- 
ern cigar. The Spaniards considered 
the habit a nauseous indulgence, and 
did not adopt it. They left to an Eng- 
li.--hman, born fifty years afterward, the 
fame of introducing this use of tobacco 
to Europeans. 

Columbus persuaded several of the 
native inhabitants of Cuba, of both 
sexes, to go with him to Spain, and at 
the middle of November he sailed in 
that direction. Head winds and rough 
weather caused him to return to Cuba. 
He signalled for the Pinzons to follow 
him. Martin Alonzo did not heed the 
order, and very .soon the Pinta disap- 
peared on the eastern horizon. 

Early in December, Columbus saw 
the eastern end of Cuba, and a few days 
later, as he sailed toward Europe, the 
charming vision of beautiful Hayti 
burst upon his sight. The country so 
much resembled Spain in its natural 
features that he named it Hispaniola — 
Little Spain. On its shore he lingered 
with delight many days. He received 
an invitation from one of the leading 
caciques or native rulers to anchor his 
vessels near his residence, and whilst 
sailing along the coast for the purpose 
of casting anchor in the harbor of a 
friendly chief, the Santa Maria was 
wrecked late on Christmas Eve, in con- 
sequence of bad steering. Columbus 
and his crew took refuge on board the 
Nina, commanded by Mncent Pinzon. 
When the cacique heard of the disaster 
he sent men and canoes in abundance 
to unload the vessel. Of the wreck of 



the vessel they built a fort, which Col- 
I'.mbus named La Xavidad, in com- 
memoration of their having escaped 
.^liipwreck on Christmas Day. 

Columbus reported to his sovereigns 
that there was no better land or people, 
they were mild and gentle, and loved 
their neighbors. Thirty-nine of the fol- 
lowers of Columbus remained on the 
island. Arena, the alguazil, was placed 
in command of them, and they were 
conjured by Columbus to act honestly 
and live in united good fellowship. 

In their thirst for gold, they broke 
every promise, torturing the savages 
until a fierce Carib chief who ruled the 
greater part of the island, slew the 
Spaniards and burnt their fort to ashes. 
This conduct of the Spaniards, in their 
future colonization of the West Indies, 
changed a pagan Eden into a wilder- 
ness. 

Early in January, 1493, Columbus 
left La Navidad, in the Nina, and sailed 
for Spain. He soon saw the Pinta. 
The avaricious Pinzon had heard of a 
region of gold from one of the natives, 
and with a desire to secure the treasure 
for himself he had deserted the admiral. 
He had returned to Hispaniola, and 
there heard of the shipwreck of the 
Santa Maria, but he did not go to the 
assistance of Columbus because it 
might interfere with his own selfish 
projects. The admiral would have 
cruised longer among the islands, but 
this conduct of Pinzon, and the fact 
that the latter had kidnapped four men 
and two girls for the purpose of selling 
them as slaves in Spain, had destroyed 
liis confidence in that commander, and 
he determined to hurry home and rid 
himself of so undesirable a companion. 
The Nina's prow was turned toward 
Europe and the Pinta followed. 

The caravels encountered dead calms 
and fierce tempests on that winter voy- 
age, and were separated. In one of 
these storms, Columbus, fearing the de- 
struction of the vessels, and with them 
the loss of knowledge of his discoveries 
placed a written narrative of his ad- 
\entures in a sealed cask, and commit- 
ted it to the waves. .\t dawn on the 
4th of March, about eight weeks after 



FIRST FICRIOD-IiXPI. ORATIONS AXD DISCOVF.RIES 



^lif had left La Xaxidad, llie Xiiia ap- 
peared off tile ruck of Cinlra, at tlu' 
mouth of the Tagus, in Portugal. 

Columbus immediately sent a courier 
with a letter to Ferdinand and Isabella, 
in which he announced his great dis- 
covery. He also wrote a letter to John, 
King of Portugal. That monarch ami 
his court received Columbus with great 
honor, and on the 13th of March, Col- 
umbus again put to sea. Two days 
later, the Nina entered the harbor of 
Palos, where the admiral was received 
with the greatest demonstrations of joy. 
It was then seven months and twelve 
days since he had left that harbor for 
the regions of the unknown, and out of 
those mysterious regions he had 
brought the wonderful tidings of a new 
found world. On the evening of the 
same day the Pinta sailed into the har- 
bor of Palos. 

Columbus hastened to Seville, where 
he received a letter from his sovereigns 
expressing their delight because of his 
great achievements, and inviting him to 
repair immediately to their court. Col- 
umbus was received by the monarchs 
with the greatest honors, and in a clear 
arid steadv voice recounted the chief in- 
cidents of his voyage, exhibited gold 
and spices, and other productions of the 
country he had discovered, and pre- 
sented to them the natives who he had 
brought from the islands, and declared 
that this was but the foreshadowing of 
greater marvels to be revealed. 

The Grand Cardinal of Spain, Gon- 
zales dc Mendoza, Archbishop of To- 
ledo, who had hinted to a council that 
the theory of Columbus was irreligious, 
was now among the first, after the mon- 
archs to honor him. He invited the ad- 
miral to a feast, at which was gathered 
some of the highest prelates and nobles 
of Catalonia. To the navigator he gave 
the seat of honor at the table, and other 
marks of superior di.stinction. These 
attentions to one who was so lately a 
floor Italian mariner excited the envy of 
sume of the guests. A courtier present, 
iiuived by a narrow feeling of personal 
and national jealousy, asked the ad- 
miral whether he thought that in case 
he had not discovered the Indies 



I which it was believed he liad fuund), 
there were not men in .Spain who would 
have been equal to the enterprise? Col- 
innbus immediately took an egg that 
w as before him and invited the courtier 
to make it stand on one of its ends. 
I le could not. All the company tried in 
vain to do it. Then the admiral struck 
the egg upon the table so as to flatten 
the end by a fracture and left it stand- 
ing. "Anyone could do that," cried the 
courtier. ".After I have shown the 
way," replied the admiral. "Gentle- 
men," continued Columbus, "after I 
have shown a new way to India, noth- 
ing is easier than to follow." The 
courtier was answered. 

After giving an account of his voy- 
age and discoveries in a letter to San- 
ciiez, the treasurer of Spain ( which 
was printed ) , Columbus, at the request 
of the monarchs, immediately fitted out 
another expedition to continue his re- 
searches in the western seas. The har- 
bor of Cadiz was very soon the scene 
of busy preparation, and late in Sep- 
tember, 1493, the admiral left the bay 
with three large ships of heavy burthen, 
and fourteen caravels, with fifteen hun- 
dred men. We will not follow him in 
detail in his subsequent voyages, for 
they have no special bearing on the his- 
tory of our country. It is sufficient to 
say that he made three others from 
Spain and during the last but one, he 
discovered the continent of America. 
When he left Cadiz on his second voy- 
age, in the autumn of 1493, his good 
fortune seemed to forsake him. His 
followers were largely selfish and ad- 
venturers who went out in search of 
gold and other treasures. Quarrels and 
mutinies followed disappointed expec- 
tations. The chief blame was laid upon 
the shoulders of the admiral, and he 
finally became the victim to the in- 
trigues of vicious men, who, envious of 
his fame and dignities, sought continu- 
ally to build up their own fortunes out 
of the ruins of his character. In 149". 
an imi^ortant event took place in Eu- 
rope, \^asquez de Gama, a Portuguese 
mariner, who had been in Prince 
Henry's service in his youth, passed 
around the Cape of Good Hope (which 



THE HOME AUXnJARV AND REFERENCE 



he so named ), witli an Arabian chart 
directing- his course, and crossing" the 
Inthan Ocean landed in India at Cal- 
cutta. Africa was circumnavigated, 
and a new way was opened to India by 
the ocean pathway of Pharaoh Necho. 
Prince Henry had then been dead 
twenty-four years. 

Columbus sailed on his third voyage, 
at the close of Alay, 1498, with six 
ships, from the port of San Lucar de 
Barrameda. Passing the Cape de Verde 
Islands, he proceeded toward the equa- 
tor in a southwesterly direction, and 
then sailed due west with the trade 
winds, in search of a continent. Sup- 
posing Cuba to be a great cape of Asia, 
he believed that under the equator he 
would find not only the mainland, but 
every production of nature in greater 
profusion, perfection, and preciousness, 
than elsewhere. He was not disap- 
pointed, for on the first of .\ugust he 
saw the continent, not of Asia, but of 
South America, near the mouth of the 
Orinoco River. That was not many 
days after Sebastian Cabot, an Englisli 
navigator, discovered North America. 

Columbus coasted for awhile near the 
shores of South America, and then, 
broken in health by his labors, anxieties 
and exposures, he sailed for his colony 
on Hispaniola. There he found every- 
thing in disorder; and in his et¥orts to 
bring order out of confusion, he so in- 
terfered with the selfish projects of 
leading adventurers there, that they de- 
termined to ruin him. Preferring 
malicious and false charges against him 
at the court of Spain, they induced the 
sovereigns to send out a commissioner 
to inquire into the causes of difficulties. 
Francisco de Bobadilla was sent. He 
was as ambitious and as unscrupulous 
as any of the adventurers, and after de- 
posing Columbus from the vice-royalty, 
he sent him in chains to Spain. Valleja, 
who was sent with the admiral as a 
sort of guard, and also the master of 
the caravel in which Columbus was con- 
veyed, were grieved by this cruel treat- 
ment of the man whom they revered. 
They would have removed his irons, but 
Columbus would not allow them to do 
so. "No," he said, proudly; "their ma- 



jesties commanded me by letter to sub- 
mit to whatever Bobadilla should order 
in their name ; by their authority he has 
put upon me these chains ; I will wear 
Ihem until they shall order them to be 
taken oflf, and I will preserve them af- 
terwards as relics and memorials of the 
reward of my services." It was done. 
"1 saw them always hanging in his cabi- 
net," said his son and biographer, Fer- 
nando, "and he requested that when he 
died, they might be buried with him." 
When, after the arrival of the caravel 
at Cadiz, Isabella heard of the cruel 
treatment of Columbus, she was very 
indignant, and sent an order for his 
immediate restoration to liberty. The 
sovereigns wrote a letter to him couched 
in terms of affection and gratitude, ex- 
jiressing their grief because of his suf- 
ferings, and inviting him to the court. 
The people, too, were \ery indignant, 
and were loud in their denunciations 
of the treatment of such a benefactor of 
their country. When he arrived at 
Granada, in December, 1498, he was 
cordially received by the monarchs, 
who, disavowing the doings of Boba- 
dilla as contrary to their instructions, 
promised that he should be dismissed 
from office. But the Spanish nobles, 
jealous of Columbus because he was 
evidently a royal favorite, persuaded 
the King, who was dissatisfied with the 
apparent unproductiveness of the ad- 
miral's discoveries, not to reinstate him 
in the vice-royalty. Another was ap- 
pointed in the place of Bobadilla. Af- 
ter experiencing neglect, and alternate 
hope and disappointment, for almost 
four vears, whilst others were reaping 
the harvest of his seed time, the admiral 
was entrusted with the command of a 
small expedition to find a passage 
through "the sea" now known as the 
Gulf of Mexico, into the Indian Ocean. 
He sailed with four caravels and one 
h.undred and fifty men, early in May, 
1502, and after much suffering, re- 
turned to Cadiz in November, 1504, sick 
and dejected. Nineteen days after his 
arrival, the good Queen Isabella died. 
"She was one of the purest spirits that 
ever ruled over the destinies of a na- 
tion." With her died the hopes of the 



FIRST PERIOD— EXPLORATIONS AND DISCOVERIES 



admiral, for he knew how cold and cal- 
culating was the disposition of the 
King. That ungrateful monarch, after 
torturing the discoverer with cold po- 
liteness and evasive promises, for which 
he was noted, rejected the legal an<l 
equitable claims of Columbus to the 
dignities and emoluments of vice- 
royalty which had been secured to him 
by royal contract; and this great and 
good man, then about seventy years of 
age, who had given more real honor 
and glory to Spain than had the whole 
line of her Kings or the families of her 
nobles, was allowed to pass the remnant 
of his days in comparative poverty and 
obscurity. "I have,"' Columbus once 
wrote, "no place to repair to excepting 
an inn, and often with nothing to pay 
for my sustenance." At length, when he 
was utterly prostrated, and hopeless of 
justice, death came to his relief at Val- 
iodolid, on the 20th day of May, 1506, 
as he was uttering the words. "Lord, 
into thy hands I commit my spirit." His 
remains were put into the convent of 
San Francisco, where for seven years 
no stone or inscription marked the place 
(if his burial. Then the ashamed King, 
when the navi.gators bones were re- 
moved to a monastery in Seville, or- 
dered a marble tomb to be placed over 
them with the inscription : "To Castile 
and Leon, Columbus gave a New 
World." More indelibly than on brass 
or stone, is the truth of that inscrii^tion 
engraved on the memory of mankind. 

Columbus died with full faith that 
although princes might neglect him and 
wicked men might defraud him, God 
and eternal justice would vindicate his 
honor and his fame, and the world 
would pay to him the just homage due 
for his services. He also died in the be- 
lief that he had discovered Farther In- 
tlia, and not an unknown continent : and 
such was the belief of all navigators 
and scientific men at the time. 

In the year 1536, the remains of Col- 
umbus and of his son Diego were taken 
to Hispaniola and interred in the Cathe- 
dral at San Domingo. There they re- 
mained two hundred and sixty years, 
when, in 1796, they were conveyed in 
great pomp to Havana, in Cuba, where 



they now repose. Some years ago, a 
magnificent monument to the memory 
of Columbus was erected in his native 
city of Genoa, in the centre of one of 
its public squares, where it is sur- 
rounded bv flowers and shrubbery. It 
is composed of Carrara marble, and is 
about forty feet in height. On four 
]ianels between four pedestals are repre- 
sented, in relief sculpture, four great 
events in his life, namely, his Confer- 
ence ri'/Z/j the council at Salaiiiaiica: the 
Landing in America: Preseiitiui:; tin- 
Indians to Queen Isabella; and the .Id- 
miral in Chains. Upon each pedestal 
is a figure personifying, respectively. 
Navigation, History, Astronomy and 
Wisdom. On a round shaft, which 
rises between the figures are sculptured 
in high relief the prows of ancient ves- 
sels. This shaft is surmounted by a 
slightly colossal statue of Columbus, 
resting on an anchor, whilst with his 
right hand he presents a naked Indian 
maiden, sitting modestly at his feet, 
holding" in her hand a small cross, upon 
which she is gazing intently, her hand 
adorned with the plumage of birds. 
This figure represents America; and the 
faith of Columbus that the New World 
would receive the religion of Jesus 
Christ is indicated by the symbol of the 
Atonement. 

Columbus singularly combined the 
practical and the poetical. His mind 
liad grasped all kinds of knowledge, 
whether procured by study or observa- 
tion, which bore upon his theories ; im- 
patient of the scanty aliment of the day. 
"his im]5etous ardor," as has been well 
observed, threw him into the study of 
the fathers of the church, the Arabian 
Jews, arid the ancient geographers, 
while his daring but irregular genius, 
bursting from the liiuits of imperfect 
science, bore him to conclusions far be- 
}ond the intellectual vision of his con- 
temporaries. If some of his conclu- 
sions were erroneous, they were at least 
ingenious and splendid. .\nd their error 
resulted from the clouds which still 
hung over his peculiar path of enter- 
prise. His own discoveries enlightened 
the ignorance of the age. guided con- 
jecture to certainty, and disj^elled that 



36 



THE HOME AUXII.IARV AND REFEREN'CE 



\'ery darkness with which he had hecii 
(ihliged to struggle. It has been said 
tiiat mercenary views mingled with the 
ambition of Columbus, and that his 
stipulations with the Spanish court were 
selfish and avaricious. The charge is 
inconsiderate and unjust. He aimed at 
dignity and wealth in the same lofty 
spirit in which he sought renown ; they 
w ere to be part and parcel of the 
achievement, and palpable evidence of 
its success ; they were to arise from the 
territories he should discover, and be 
commensurate in importance. No con- 
dition could be more just. 

We have now traced, in brief outline, 
some of the principal causes which led 
to the discovery of America, and the 
chief events in the great pioneer of such 
discovery. He demonstrated the fact 
that the earth is globular, and that fer- 
tile lands might be found by sailing 
westward from Europe across the At- 
lantic Ocean. Having discovered an<l 
]rointed out the way to these lands, he 
retired, and other navigators and dis- 
coverers appeared upon the scene. The 
exploits of some of them we will now 
consider. 

AMERICUS \'ESPL'CCIUS. 

The name of Americus Vespuccius or 
Amerigo \'espucci, as the Spaniards 
call him, appears prominent in history 
as one of the discoverers of America. 
He has no valid title to that distinction. 
Proofs accumulate as investigations 
proceed, which show conclusively that 
lie was the author or abettor of a stu- 
]iendous historical fraud, by which Col- 
umbus was cheated out of the honor of 
having his name given to a continent. 

Vespuccius first appears in history as 
a mercantile agent of the Medici 
family of Florence, first in Barcelona 
and soon afterward in Seville, Spain. 
He was about forty years of age, hav- 
ing been born in Florence in 1451. In 
Seville, he had much personal inter- 
course with Columbus, whilst the ad- 
miral was preparing the large fleet for 
his second voyage. The narratixes of 
the great (Genoese inspired \espuccius 
with a strong desire to make a mercan- 



tile venture in a voyage to the new 
found world, and he had ambitious 
dreams of being a discoverer, likewise. 
He studied geography and the kindred 
sciences, to fit himself for such an ex- 
pedition ; and wdien, in May, 1499, 
Alonzo deOjedo sailed from Port St. 
INIary, opposite Cadiz, with four ships, 
following the southern route of Colum- 
bus to South America, Vespuccius ac- 
companied him simply as an adventurer 
and self-constituted geographer. They 
discovered mountains in South Amer- 
ica, when off the coast of Surinam, and 
then ran along the continent to Trnia- 
dad, which Columbus had named the 
3-ear before. Thence they cruised 
along the coasts and islands of \'ene- 
zula, and crossing the Caribbean Sea, 
touched at Hispaniola. 

Vespuccius, who seems to have been 
a shrewd, audacious, and unscrupulous 
man, immediately sent an account of 
the discoveries, in a letter, to one of the 
Medici family, assmning for himself 
the credit of the discovery; and in or- 
der to establish his claim to first dis- 
coverer of the American continent, he 
antedated the time of the commence- 
ment of the voyage, making it in 1497. 
the year before Columbus and Cabot 
made their respective discoveries, and 
saying the expedition was absent from 
Spain twenty-fi\'e months. "Ojeda, 
when judicially interrogated, gave the 
lie direct.' 

Vespuccius. in other letters, told of 
other voyages and great discoveries 
which he made whilst in the service of 
the King of Portugal, but contemporary 
navigators, and chronicles made no 
mention of them. They were probably 
fictions of the boastful Florentine, who 
had become expert in the construction 
of charts, and was familiar with the 
details of the numerous exploring voy- 
ages made from Spain and Portugal in 
his day. Finally, when Columbus was 
dead and could make neither accusa- 
tion or denial, these letters were pub- 
lished. In that publication the name 
America, as applied to our continent, 
was used. 

From other circumstances, it is clear 
that \"espuccius was responsil)lc for 



FIRST PERIOD— EXPLORATIONS AND DISCOVERIES 



,37 



tile fraud. He was in communication 
with a learned German geograi)her, 
named W'oldseemiller, or as he styled 
himself in Greek, Hylacomylus, who 
was a correspondent of the Academy of 
Cosmography, at Strasburg, and at the 
request or suggestion of Vespuccius, he 
proposed to the members of the acad- 
emy, under whose auspices the letters 
of Americus were published, the name 
of America for the western continent. 
At about the same time Hylacomylus 
published the "Rudiments of Cosmo- 
graphy," in which it was proposed tn 
name the new continent America. He 
took an active part in the publication of 
the letters of his friend, and he may be 
regarded as the chief perpetrator of 
the fraud, with \'espuccius as an ac- 
cessory. 

THE CABOTS. 

When Columbus was about to leave 
Portugal for Spain, he sent his brother 
Bartholomew to England to ask assis- 
tance of the British monarch. For rea- 
sons not made clear, he did not apply 
to the monarch until about the time his 
brother was on his first voyage of dis- 
covery. Henry the Seventh was then 
King of England, and responded to 
Bartholomew's request promptly and 
generously. He sent him to Spain in 
search of his brother, and to invite him 
to the English court. At Paris, whilst 
he was on his way, he heard the joyful 
news of the great discoveries of his 
brother. 

\\'hen King Henry heard of the suc- 
cess of Columbus, he felt a great dis- 
appointment, because he had failed to 
secure for his crown and country the 
renown and advantages of the great 
achievement. But he was not discour- 
aged nor deterred from assisting in 
further attempts at discovery. By 
royal charter he gave to John Cabot ( a 
Venetian merchant at Bristol), and his 
sons, in 1406, permission to explore any 
seas with five ships and as many sea- 
men as they might choose to employ, at 
their own expense, "to discover and oc- 
cupy isles or countries of the heathen 
or infidels before unknown to Chris- 
tians, accounting to the King for a fifth 



]iart of the profit upon their return to 
the port of Bristol." There is no posi- 
ti\-e evidence that the Cabots took ad- 
vantage of this privilege, or that any 
of them engaged in a voyage of dis- 
covery before the year 1498, when John 
Cabot was dead. 

All Europe was then ringing with the 
fame of Columbus. Maritime nations 
and seamen everywhere were crazed 
with a desire to be the discoverers of 
new lands and to gather immense 
riches from glittering mines. English- 
men caught the infection, and their am- 
bitions and avaricious monarch was as 
eager as any. Piqued at the glory of 
the Spanish monarchs, he listened with 
eager attention to a proposition of Se- 
bastian, a young son of John Cabot, 
concerning a voyage of discovery. 

Sebastian Cabot appears to have 
been an ardent student of geography 
and kindred sciences, from early life. 
When he reached young manhood he 
was proficient in the theory and prac- 
tice of the navigator's art. To him 
King Henry not only gave a commis- 
sion to go on a voyage of discovery, 
but fitted out two small vessels for 
him, in the year 1498. 

All accounts of that voyage are very 
meagre, and most of them are some- 
what contradictory. Sebastian Cabot 
had probably sailed as far as Cape 
Farewell, in Greenland, on trading voy- 
ages in his father's ships, and he knew 
of the cold, icy sea beyond. Now he 
voyaged in the same direction, hoping 
to make a passage to India during the 
warm summer time. Leaving Bristol 
in May, 1498, with two caravels and a 
full supply of men, he sailed to the 
northwest until the ice pack in Davis' 
Straits barred the way. Turning 
southward, he discovered land late in 
June or early in July, which he named 
Prima Vista — First View. Whether 
this was the northern shores of New- 
fdundland. or the continent on the 
coast of Labrador, near Cape Charles, 
cannot be determined, l^nlike Lief the 
Northman, who sailed southward after 
seeing the land, Cabot turned north- 
ward in search of a passage to Cathay, 
and followed the coast of the continent 



38 



THE HOME AUXILIARY A\D REFERENCE 



almost to the sixtieth degree of north 
latitude, when ice would permit him to 
go no further. Although it was about 
mid-summer, the weather was very 
cold ; and seeing no prospect of an open 
sea further northward, Cabot sailed 
back, discovered a large island which 
he called New-found-land — New- 
foundland — and observed the immense 
number of cod fishes, which have con- 
tinued to fill the waters there ever 
since. He divulged this secret to Eu- 
rope after his return, and within five 
or six years thereafter, fishermen from 
England, Brittany and Normandy were 
oil Newfoundland, gathering these 
treasures of the sea. Cabot coasted as 
far as the coast of Maine, and some 
writers think no further, but if a re- 
port from the Pope's legate, be true, 
he sailed as far as the Carolinas. His 
supplies now failing he was compelled 
to return to England. 

The discovery of North America, by 
young Cabot, then only twenty-one 
years of age, had conferred more im- 
mortal honor on the English monarch 
and the English nation than all the 
royal affiliations and the heaping up of 
gold. He was a native of England, and 
had opened a pathway for his country- 
men to a new continent. But he was 
neglected by his King, and he finally 
went into the service of Spain. He 
was so annoyed by the jealousies of the 
Spanish nobles, that he returned to his 
native country, and not long after we 
find him on another voyage in search 
of a northwest passage to the Indian 
Seas. He penetrated to Hudson's Bay, 
and after fighting an ice-pack there, he 
returned to England discomfited, and 
never made another voyage to the coast 
of North America. 

When the news of Cabot's discovery 
of a continent in the Northwest, 
reached Lisbon, King Emanuel the 
Great, immediately fitted out an ex- 
pedition under Caspar Cortereal. He 
first touched the nothern extremity of 
Newfoundland, and, it is believed, dis- 
covered the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Tie 
went up the coast of Labrador almost 
to Hudson's Bay, discovering nothing 
of importance not already seen by Ca- 



bot. The natives appeared to be rug- 
ged and strong, so some of them were 
seized and carried back to Portugal as 
slaves. The natives appeared to be so 
admirably fitted for hard labor, that 
they named the country Laborador 
(Labrador). 

The profits of this voyage excited 
the cupidity of Cortereal and his King, 
and they determined to engage in an 
active slave trade with Labrador. Cor- 
tereal went on a second voyage in 1501 
and was lost at sea. His brother 
Michael went in search of him and was 
never heard from afterward. The 
King sent a ship to search for the 
brothers, but no tidings were brought 
back. These disasters frustrated the 
cruel designs of the slave-traders, and 
the Portuguese monarch sought to 
win glory for his favorite and his 
crown, by claiming that Cortereal was 
not only the first discoverer of New- 
foundland, but that he was the first to 
see the continent in that region. In a 
Portuguese map, published in 1508, the 
coast of Labrador is called Cortereal's 
Land ; and in support of the claim that 
he was the first discoverer of it. maps 
were actually forged. But all efforts 
to deprive Cabot of that honor failed. 

JUAN PONCE De LEON. 

Was a native of Leon, in Spain. 
From an early age he had been 
schooled in war, and had served in the 
various campaigns against the Moors. 
He accompanied Columbus, on his sec- 
ond voyage in 1493, and remamed m 
the colony at Hispaniola. He proved 
his sagacity and valor in many battles 
against the Indians, for which he was 
appointed Lieutenant to the Governor 
and afterward Governor of Porto Rico, 
a neighboring island. 

He was then an old man animated 
with the ambitions of youth : and lie 
was still seeking renown and wealth. 
The enjoyment of life had ever been a 
pleasure to him, and his desire to pro- 
long his earthly existence in vigor was 
intense. That desire made him readily 
believe the marvelous tales told by 
some of the natives, of crystal waters 



■IRST PERIOD— EXPLORATIONS AND DISCOVERIES 



30 



flowing from living springs among the 
I!ahama Islands, on the coast of a hean- 
tiful country near them, in which he 
who bathed would be instantly en- 
dowed with immortal youth and great 
beauty. They told him these fountains 
of youth were among magnificent trees 
which bore golden fruit, and that these 
fruits were gathered and given to 
strangers by beautiful maidens. Ponce 
dreamed of these gardens, their foun- 
tains, their golden fruit and the beauti- 
ful maidens, until he could no longer 
repress his desire to go in search of 
them. So, at the beginning of Spring, 
in 1512 — a month after Vespuccius 
died at Seville — he sailed from Porto 
Rico for the Bahamas, with ships fitted 
out at his own expense. On reaching 
the group, he went from island to is- 
land tasting of and bathing in every 
stream and lake that met his vision. 
Finally, disappointed but not disheart- 
ened, he extended his researches in a 
northwesterly direction. A few days 
afterwards, west winds brought the de- 
licious perfumes of flowers. The heart 
of the old cavalier leaped with joy and 
hope. Soon a long line of wooded 
shores were in view, and as he drew 
near. Ponce saw lofty trees (magnol- 
ias) whose marvelous blossoms were 
tinting the forest, and burdening the 
air with their delicate fragrance. He 
believed he was on the borders of the 
fabled paradise. 

It was Easter morning when Ponce 
and his companions landed near the site 
of St. Augustine, on the southeastern 
borders of our Republic. He took pos- 
session of the great island, as he sup- 
posed it to be, in the name of the 
sovereign of Castile. Because of its 
wealth of flowers, some say, or be- 
cause he first saw the land on Palm 
Sunday fPascua Florida) as others tell 
us, he gave to the country the name of 
Florida, now one of the States of our 
I'nion. Among its forests and savan- 
nahs he sought in vain for the miracu- 
lous fountain of Youth and Beauty, ex- 
citing the suspicions of the natives. 
Then he cruised along its shores, 
doubled Cape Canaveral, and strug- 
gling with the Ciulf Stream, sailed 



southward until he became entangled 
in a group of small islands abounding 
with huge turtles. This group he called 
the Tortugas — the Turtles — their pre- 
.sent name. After buffeting the ele- 
ments for several days. Ponce in- 
structed one of his trusted captains to 
continue the search. Then he returned 
to Porto Rico, an older if not a wiser 
man. 

r)rtubia, the trusted captain, soon re- 
turned to Porto Rico, he had found 
beautiful groves, sparkling springs, and 
limpid streams, but not one could re- 
turn to an old man the vernal green- 
ness of his youth. A few months later 
Ponce returned to Spain, he told the 
sovereign of the beautiful land he had 
discovered, and received the appoint- 
ment of Governor of Florida on con- 
dition that he should plant a colony 
there. This was not attempted until 
several years afterward. He had been 
moping in disappointment at Porto 
Rico, after an unsuccessful expedition 
against the Caribs, until he was assured 
that Morida was not an island, but a 
part of the continent. Then ambitious 
desires moved his sluggish heart, and 
the brilliant achievements of Cortez : 
Hernando "Cortez, with comparatively 
few followers, landed on the coast of 
Mexico, invaded that country, and con- 
quered a wonderful people, whom we 
have previously described (see Aztecs 
of Mexico), whose government showed 
a near approach to civilization. Secur- 
ing immense treasure for himself and 
Spain, and giving enormous territory 
to the crown. This aroused the slum- 
bering energies of the old cavalier. 
A\'ith nearly all his wealth in two ships, 
he sailed from Porto Rico, in 1521, and 
landed on the shores of Florida, not far 
from where he had first discovered that 
land, to prepare for founding a colony 
there. He was met by a crowd of na- 
tives who had gathered near the beach 
with bows and arrows and long jav- 
elins, to defend their land from the in- 
trusion of the palefaces, for they had 
lately been taught, by the bitter exper- 
ience of their neighbors, to look upon 
them as children of the Evil .Spirit. .\ 
sharp battle ensued. .Several of the 



TIIR IIOM 



AUXILIARY AXn REFERFA'CE 



Spaniards were killeil, anil IVnice Do 
I. eon, badly wounded in his thigh, was 
carried on board his ship and conveyed 
to Cuba, where lie died. Upon his 
tomb was written in Latin: "In this 
Sepulchre rests the Bones of a Man 
who was a Lion by Name and still 
more by Nature." 

Luke \'asquez D'Allyon. a wealth}- 
colonist of Ilayti, had his avarice 
aroused, by the reports of a mariner 
who had accidently visited the coast 
near the entrance to the Savannah 
River, where the natives presented him 
with gold and pearls. He represented 
the masculine natives as athletic and 
fine looking. D'.Mlyon formed a com- 
pany, whose object was to obtain slaves 
to work in the mines, ^^'ith two ships 
he sailed in a northwesterly direction, 
in the year 1520, and soon arrived on 
the coast of South Carolina. He was 
met with kindness by the natives, and 
invited a number on board his vessel, 
where he plied them with strong drink, 
and while they were in a stupid condi- 
tion, sailed away and carried them to 
Hayti as slaves. The storj' of this per- 
fidy and wickedness s])read rapidly 
from lip to li]i along the coast, even so 
far as the region of St. Au^istine, and 
it aroused those natives to acts of de- 
fence and revenge, which resulted in 
the wounding of Ponce de Leon, and 
the expulsion of his followers from the 
land, the next year. 

Instead of being punished for his 
crime against mankind, D'Allyon was 
rewarded as a discoverer of new lands, 
w'hen he visited the court of Spain, 
soon afterwards. He was also ap- 
pointed chief magistrate of Chicora, as 
the native South Carolinians called 
Iheir country; and he was vested with 
authority to plant a colony there. Un- 
der this commission he fitted out three 
ships at Hayti, and with the mariner 
Miruela, who first saw the coast near 
the mouth of the Savannah River, he 
sailed for Chicora, and passing through 
St. Helen's Sound reached the conti- 
nent near the mouth of the Combahee. 
There he opened traffic with the na- 
tives, who seemed indifferent to his 
crime, anil when he had finished trad- 



ing he ])roceeded to ]>lant his colony on 
an island in the waters of Port Royal 
Sound, near the sight of the present 
town of Beaufort, South Carolina. 

A part of D'Allyon's company had 
landed and prepared to lay the founda- 
tions of a town, when a deputation 
came from the sachem of the Comba- 
hee and invited the Spaniards to a great 
feast at his village at the mouth of that 
river. About two hundred of them 
went to the banquet, and were treated 
with the most friendly hospitalities. 
For three days and three nights the 
feast went on, and at the end of it, 
whilst the guests were soundly sleep- 
ing, the Indians fell upon and massa- 
cred the whole of them. Tliey had fully 
matched the treachery of the palefaces, 
but they were not satisfied. Hastening 
to the site of the projected town, they 
slew many there. Some of the Span- 
iards escaped to the ships. Among 
them was D'Allyon, who, badly 
wounded, died soon afterward. Re- 
tribution justice had overtaken him on 
the theatre of his great crime. So 
perished the first germ of settlement of 
Europeans that was planted in the soil 
of our present domain. 

DISCO^'ERY OF THE PACIFIC 
OCEAN. 

The Pacifie Ocean, whose waters 
lave the western shores of our Republic; 
along a distance, as a bird flies, of six- 
teen degrees of latitude, from San 
Diego on the south to Cape Flattery on 
the north, was discovered by one of the 
Spanish adventurers, \"asco Nunez de 
Balboa, an active and energetic young 
man of noble lineage, but of small for- 
tune, who crossed the .Atlantic to the 
\\'est Indies in search of wealth, in the 
year 1501. He was forced to leave 
Hispaniola, having fallen in debt, and 
joined other Spanish adventurers in 
Central America. 

Discontent arose among the adven- 
turers, and Nunez succeeded in having 
b.imself made chief magistrate, and was 
soon joined by two Spaniards who, to 
avoid punishment, had fled from Dar- 
ien and found refuge and the kindest 



l-IRS'l' I'l'RlOD— liXPLORATlOXS AND DlSCf )VI':R1 l-.S 



IrLatiiK'iit with I'arcla, the caciiiue of 
Coyba. Tlicy re(|uite(I this hospitahty 
of the pagan chief by advising' Nunez 
to attack Careta in his dweUing, where 
he would find immense booty. The 
governor prepared to do so. One of 
the Spaniards returned to Careta to 
a.'i.sist Xunez in his betrayal, and the 
other acted as guide to the invaders. 
Xunez was kindly received by the caci- 
que and his people, and departed with 
presents. He halted a little way from 
the village, and when the Indians were 
all asleep, he led his men at mid-night 
into the town and made Careta, his 
wives and children and many. of his 
people captives. With them and a con- 
siderable booty, the treacherous Nunez 
returned to Darien, when the good 
cacique, distressed at his situation, said, 
"What have I done to thee that thou 
sliouldst treat me thus cruelly? None 
of thy people ever came to my land that 
were not fed, and sheltered, and treated 
with loving kindness. When thou earn- 
est to my dwelling tlid I meet thee with 
a javelin in my hand? Did I not set 
meat and drink before thee, and wel- 
come thee as a brother ? Set me free, 
therefore, with my family and people, 
and we will remain thy friends \\'e 
will supply thee with provisions, and 
reveal to thee the riches of the land. 
Dost thou doubt my faith ? Behold my 
(laughter! I will give her to thee as a 
pledge of my friendship. Take her for 
thy wife, and be assured of the fidelity 
of her family and her people." 

Careta's daughter was young and 
beautiful. Xunez was deeply impres- 
.'^ed with her charms. He granted the 
prayer of Careta, took his daughter to 
be his wife, according to the usages of 
her country, and becoming very fond 
of her, she soon acquired great influ- 
ence over him. He assisted Careta in 
his wars against his enemies, and they 
became fast friends. Whilst \'isiting 
a powerful cacique, a friendly neigh- 
bor of Careta, Nunez was told by a son 
of that chief, that beyond the moun- 
tains toward which he pointed, was a 
mighty sea that could be discovered 
from the summits of the great hills : 
that the sea was navigated by vessels 



almost as large as the .S])anish brigan- 
lines and equipped like tliem with sails 
and oars; that the rivers which flowed 
down from the southern slojjes of the 
mountains abounded with gold, and 
that there was a country further south- 
ward, bordering on that great sea, 
where the Kings ate and drank out of 
golden vessels, and that gold was as 
plentiful there as iron was among the 
Spaniards. 

This information seemed like a re- 
velation from heaven beaming into the 
mind of Nunez. He felt a sudden im- 
pulse to abandon his wayward life, and 
an ambition to be ranked among the 
great discoverers of the age. If he 
could first see that mighty ocean and 
the precious rivers, and the country 
where its Kings ate and drank out of 
golden vessels, he would surely be ele- 
vated to fame and fortune. He eagerly 
inquired how the summits of the mrjun- 
tains and the borders of the sea might 
be reached. "You will have to fight 
your way to the top and down its 
slopes, and through the plains beyond, 
with powerful caciques and brave war- 
riors," said the young man. "Von will 
need a thousand men, armed like those 
who follow you." 

Nunez hastened back to Darien to 
make preparations for his journey. 
His thoughts were wholly occupied 
with plans for the discovery of the 
great sea beyond the mountains. With 
gold of the value of fifteen thousand 
crowns, which he sent to Don Diego 
Columbus, in Hispaniola, to be for- 
warded to the King as the royal share 
of the winnings in Central .America, he 
sent an appeal to that officer for aid in 
men and provisions, to enable Nunez to 
fight his way across the isthmus. 
Whilst awaiting an answer he made 
>everal expeditions from Darien, and 
everywhere he heard the story of the 
great sea beyond the mountains. Fi- 
nally, one hundred and fifty men with 
ample supplies, arrived at Darien from 
Hispaniola, and Nunez determined to 
march for the mountain summits. 
AX'ith one hundred and ninety men and 
a number of blood hounds, he made his 
wav to Covba, where Careta furnished 



THE HOME AUXILLXRV AXD REEICRICN'CE 



him with guides and Indian warriors; 
and on the 6th of September, 1513, the 
expedition set off for the great hills 
which loomed up in the southern hori- 
zon. They fought their way victor- 
iously, spreading terror among the na- 
tives by their guns, which, to the In- 
dians, seemed like demons vomiting- 
lightning and thunder. 

At ten o'clock in the morning of the 
26th of September, Nunez and his fol- 
lowers emergcfl from a thick forest 
high up on the mountain range. Only 
sixty-seven of his Spanish soldiers now 
remained, who were able to climb that 
rugged height. The bald, rock summit 
alone remained to be ascended. Com- 
manding his followers to halt, and not 
a man to stir from his place, he climbed 
to that summit, when the glorious ap- 
parition of a broad sea burst upon his 
vision. It seemed to him that a new 
and unknown world, separated from 
the known by the lofty mountain bar- 
rier on which he stood, had been un- 
folded to him. He then shouted to his 
followers to come up; and when they 
had gathered around him on that 
breezy height, and beheld the sea 
stretching out interminably, he exhorted 
them to be faithful to him and valorous 
in the conquests of the rich heathen 
lands before them. So it was that the 
Pacific Ocean was discovered by Vasco 
Nunez de Balboa. It was called by him 
the South Sea, but Magellan, who 
sailed into it through the straits which 
bear his name, a few years later, called 
it the Pacific Ocean, because its waters 
were far less turbulent than those of 
the Atlantic, which he had just crossed. 
Descending the mountains on their 
.southern sides, Nunez and his follow- 
ers made their way to the sea. .^s the 
tide came flowing in upon the sandy 
beach, the leader took a banner, then 
drawing his sword and throwing his 
buckler over his shoulder, he marched 
into the water until it covered his knee?, 
and waving his banner he, with a loud 
voice, proclaimed that he took posses- 
sion of that sea and its islands, in the 
name of the sovereigns of Spain. 

After that Nunez made voyages 
along the coast of the Pacific, and 



heard tidings of the rich Kingdom of 
Peru, where the Incas or monarchs ate 
and drank out of vessels of gold. 
Vasco Nunez de Balboa, falsely ac- 
cused of traitorous intentions by his 
jealous rival and successor, Davila, was 
beheaded at Ada, in Central America, 
by order of that officer, in 15 17, when 
he was in the forty-second year of his 
age. 

In 1 5 19 Ferdinand Magellan started 
(^ut on what proved to be the most fa- 
mous voyage in history up to that time. 
Sailing down the coast of South Am- 
erica he found the strait that bears his 
name, passed into the Pacific, and after 
almost unheard of perils, reached the 
Philippine Islands, where he was killed. 
One of his ships kept on and finally 
reached home in 1522, after circum- 
navigating the earth. 

HERNANDO De SOTO. 

Gold was the great object of the 
Spanish adventurers. For it they left 
home and country, and suffered the 
most unheard of hardships. 

One of the most noted of these was 
Francisco Pizarro, the brilliant succes- 
sor of Cortez in Mexico, and the tales 
of the great wealth of the Incas of 
Peru fired him with an ambition to fol- 
low Cortez"s example, and make a con- 
quest of that great and wealthy coun- 
try. 

.'\s early as 1526, he contemplated an 
invasion of Peru, making several at- 
tempts, and finally in January. 1531, 
sailed with three vessels and about one 
hundred and eighty men, and twenty- 
seven horses. He was joined later in 
the year by Hernando De Soto and a 
band of recruits. De Soto proving to 
be one of his most able companions. 

Having suppressed all opposition, in 
November, 1533, he was prepared to 
enter Cuzco, the capital of Peru. 

Pizarro found a country in a high 
state of cultivation, and with well built 
roads, and cities, and with a well or- 
ganized and stable form of govern- 
ment. He was received with friend- 
ship by the reigning Inca, and returned 



FIRST PERIOD— EXPLORATIONS AND DISCOVERIES 



this with the usual Spanish crueUy in 
the New World. 

He took the capital, and by the most 
treacherous means put the Inca to 
death, and gained immense treasure, in 
gold, silver and pearls. Pizarro used 
these measures in opposition to the 
judgment of De Soto and other of his 
companions. 

De Soto, with his share of the booty, 
returned to Spain. 

De Soto was of gentle birth ; of 
known pre-eminence as a. soldier ; wise 
in council ; prudent in action ; brave to 
rashness in conflict, and his reputation 
was without blemish. In person he was 
elegant; in deportment courtly; as a 
horseman expert, and in the prime of 
young manhood. 

De Soto longed to rival Cortez and 
Pizarro in the brilliancy of his deeds. 
He had appeared at the court of 
Charles the Fifth in great splendor, as 
fine of the richest men in Spain, and 
had been favorably received. He had 
lately married Isabella de Bobadilla, a 
scion of one of the most renowned of 
the Castilian families, and his influence 
in court was thereby strengthened ; and 
when he, who, as one of the conquerors 
of Peru under Pizarro, proposed an 
expedition for the conquest of Florida, 
hundreds of young men, the flower of 
the Spanish and Portuguese nobility, 
flocked to his standard. 

De Soto had heard the story of the 
survivor of the disastrous Narvaez ex- 
pedition. 

Pamphilio de Narvaez, who was sent 
to Me.xico to supersede Cortez, had ex- 
traordinary adventures afterwards as 
a discoverer in Florida. He went to 
Spain to complain of Cortez, where he 
remained several years, and finally, in 
June, 1527, he sailed under the author- 
ity of the monarch, commissioned to 
conquer and govern Florida. With 
less than four hundred men and forty- 
two horses, he landed on the west side 
of the present Tampa Bay. on the 13th 
of April, 1528. Instead of pursuing 
a policy of kindness in his intercourse 
with the Indians, he used the usual 
Spanish cruelty, and the results were 



disastrous to him, and to those adven- 
turers who followed him. 

Instead of finding a country of gold, 
he found nothing but warlike savages, 
who fought him at every step. After 
imtold hardships, he finally reached the 
Gulf of Mexico, expecting to find his 
fleet. Not seeing any of his vessels, he 
and what remained of his companions, 
embarked in small, frail boats that they 
had built, and were nevermore heard 
from. De Vaca, the treasurer of the 
expedition, was stranded on an island, 
and he and his companions were kindly 
treated by the Indians. After eight 
years of captivity, he made his way on 
foot from tribe to tribe, until he had 
crossed the continent, and arrived at a 
port occupied by his countrymen on the 
Gulf of California. Thence he made 
his way to Spain, where he appeared at 
the court as one risen from the dead. 
De Vaca seems to have been the only 
Spaniard who survived and returned to 
Spain. His narrative was soon pub- 
lished, and it was read with an appetite 
such as the most marvelous romance 
creates. 

.\nd when De Soto ofifered to under- 
take the conquest of Florida at his own 
expense, the permission of his sover- 
eign was readily given. He was com- 
missioned governor of Cuba, and made 
Captain General of the province he 
might secure by conquest on the main. 
He soon gathered a band of six hun- 
dred adventurers, for De Soto believed 
there was more gold in Florida than in 
Mexico and Peru together, and said so. 
De Soto sailed early in .April, 1538, his 
armament consisted of seven large and 
three smaller vessels, and at the close 
of May, the ships all entered Cuban 
waters. 

Toward the middle of May, 1539, De 
Soto sailed from Havana with a fleet 
of nine vessels, large and small, and 
about a thousand followers, with many 
horses, cattle, mules, and a herd of 
swine. Flis voyage was pleasant; and 
vi'hen the armament anchored in Tampa 
Bay, near where Narvaez had landed, 
delicious perfumes came from the 
shores, for all Florida was in bloom. 
It was the 30th of May. 



TH]-: HOMl' AUXILIARY AXD REFliKE.XCE 



Had De Suto been wiser tliaii the 
other conquerers, and concihated the 
Indians by friendly acts, all might have 
been well, r.ut he was no wiser than 
they. 

De Soto was now ready to enter upon 
the conquest of Florida. His troops 
were clad in coats of steel to repel ar- 
rows, and bore breast plates and hel- 
mets of the same metal. They had 
strong shields, swords, lances, arque- 
buses (a kind of rude, short guns), 
cross-bows and one cannon. The cava- 
liers were mounted on one hundred and 
thirteen horses. Savage bloodhounds 
from Cuba were the allies of the 
Spaniards. De Soto began his march 
in June, 1539. From the outset he was 
met by the most vigorous opposition. 
In narrow defiles and other exposed 
places, he and his followers were as- 
sailed by clouds of arrows from the 
hands of a multitude of natives, who 
had been made intensely revengeful be- 
cause of the cruelties of Narvaez and 
his men. They had resolved to fight 
the invaders until not one should be left 
upon the soil. Cruelty was met with 
cruelty. When a Spaniard was capt- 
ured, he was mercilessly slaughtered. 
The captives were made beasts of bur- 
den, without regard to age or sex. The 
antagonism of the races was fearful. 
When De Soto, hoping to conciliate 
Acuera, a powerful Muscogee or Creek 
chief, whose territory he had entered, 
and invited the cacique to a friendly in- 
terview, he received this haughty reply : 

"Others of your accursed race have, 
in years past, disturbed our peaceful 
.shores. They have taught me what you 
are. What is your employment? To 
wander about like vagabonds from land 
to land ; to rob the poor ; to betray the 
confiding ; to murder the defenceless in 
cold blood. No ! with such a people I 
want neither peace nor friendship. 
War — never ending, exterminating war 
— is all I ask." 

In reply to a demand that he should 
yield obedience to the Emperor, Acuera 
as haughtily said, "I am King in my 
own land and will never become a vas- 
sal of a mortal like myself.'' De Soto 
pressed his suit for a friendly inter- 



\iew, Ijut \v;is always answered by the 
caci(|ue that he hail given him all the 
repl\- that he had to make. 

Cutting his way through hostile 
tribes, De Soto reached the fertile re- 
gion of Tallahassee, where he wintered. 
The commander of the vessels was or- 
dered to Cuba immediately, and thence 
convey provisions and other supplies to 
Pensacola, a sheltered harbor they had 
found, whilst De Soto should march 
across the country to the same point. 
Having been told that gold abounded 
in the north, De Soto first went in that 
direction as far as Silver Bluff, on the 
Savannah River. On the opposite side 
of the stream (in Barnwell District, S. 
C.) lived an Indian "queen." young, 
beautiful and a maiden, who ruled over 
a large extent of country. In a richly 
wrought canoe, filled with shawls and 
skins and other presents, the duskv ca- 
cica glided across the river, and with 
kind words welcomed the governor and 
offered him her services. Presents 
were exchanged. A magnificent string 
of pearls was upon her neck. This she 
drew over her liead and hung it around 
the neck of De Soto as token of her re- 
gard. Then she invited him and his 
followers to cross over to her village. 
In canoes and log rafts they passed the 
stream, and encamping in the shadows 
of mulberry trees they soon received a 
bountiful supply of turkeys and veni- 
son. De Soto requited the hospitality 
of the royal maiden by carrying her 
away prisoner, and kept her near his 
person as hostage for the good behav- 
ior of her people toward the .Spaniards. 
She finally escaped and returned to her 
home, a bitter enemy of the perfidious 
white people. 

The Spaniards marched to the head- 
waters of the Savannah, turned west- 
ward and crossing northern Georgia, 
through the picturesque Cherokee 
country, and entered the village Chiaha, 
on the site of modern Rome. They 
were received with the greatest hos- 
pitality, and to De Soto was given a 
string of pearls two yards long, each 
pearl as large as a filbert. They re- 
mained thirty days, and then, marching 
eastward, entered northeastern Ala- 



FIRST PERIOD— JiXPl.URATlOXS AND DISCOVERIES 



baina in the fertile cOnsa country. It 
was late in July, 1340. The youni;' 
chief of this country met the Spaniards 
with amity and ivindness, and besought 
De Soto to plant a colony anywhere in 
his dominions. De Soto continued his 
march through the beautiful regions of 
Alabama, taking with him the cacique 
of Coosa, as hostage, as far as the town 
of Tallase, where he was dismissed. 
Pushing southward, the Spaniards ap- 
proached the temporary residence of 
Tuscaloosa, the renowned chief known 
as the Black Warrior, who was gigantic 
in stature, and the head of the Mobilian 
Indians. He was forty years of age, a 
head taller than any of his warriors, 
with a handsome face of grace and se- 
vere aspect. 

Lord of many tribes, he was feared 
Ijv his neighbors and subjects ; and his 
influence was widely spread over the 
region of the Alabama River to that of 
the ^Mississippi. Fie received De Soto 
with haughty courtesy, and proceeded 
with him to his capital, called Manbila, 
believed to be the site of Choctow Bluff, 
in Clark county, about twenty-five miles 
above the confluence of the Alabama 
and Tombigbee Rivers. Tuscaloosa 
soon found that he was considered by 
De Soto as a hostage, and in revenge, 
and to avenge the wrongs of his race, 
attacked the Spaniards with great fury. 
The conflict was disastrous to both 
races. Eighty-two Europeans perished, 
among whom were some of the bright- 
est flowers of Spanish chivalry. It 
was estimated that eleven thousand na- 
tive Alabamians fell in battle or were 
burned in the houses. Tuscaloosa was 
dead, Alanbila was a smoking ruin, and 
its inhabitants had perished. 

De Soto now learned that his squad- 
ron was in the bay of Pensacola. The 
news of his ships gave him great joy ; 
but his spirits were soon clouded by a 
conspiracy which had been formed 
among some of his followers, to aban- 
don him and sail in the ships from Pen- 
sacola to Spain or Peru. This dis- 
covery changed his plans. He re- 
solved to turn his back upon his ships 
and go deeper into the wilderness. 



This deternn'nation was armounced on 
the 18th of November, 1540. 

Northward the Spaniards marched, 
and on reaching the waters of the 
Black Warrior River, the)' were met 
by a large force of Indians in battle 
array, who longed to avenge the de- 
struction of their friends at Manbila. 
De Soto was compelled to fight his way 
inch by inch. At length, after passing 
over the uplands of Mississippi, he 
reached the upper • tributaries of the 
Yazoo River in Yalolnisha county, and 
encamped in front of the town of Chic- 
kasa, the capital of the Chickasa nation. 
It was now December. When March 
came and De Soto thought of march- 
ing forward, he demanded of the chief 
two hundred men as burflen-bearers. 
The cacique answered the demand b\- 
a furious attack upon the Spanisii 
camp on a dark night, during a wild 
gale from the north. The Spaniards 
fought valiantly as best they might, and 
finally drove their dusky assailants into 
tlie forests. But the disaster to the 
Europeans was greater than that which 
befell them at Manbila. They had lost 
forty of their diminished number. The 
only Spanish woman in the camp — the 
wife of a soldier — was burned to ashes. 
Fifty horses had perished, and most ot 
the men saved nothing except what they 
had on their backs or in their hands. 

The remainder of the inclement sea- 
son was spent by the Spaniards in great 
wretchedness. Cold and hunger, and 
grievous wounds tortured them ; and 
the Indians fell upon them night after 
night like fierce tigers. At length the 
warm sun of April arrived, and De 
Soto moved in a northwesterly direc- 
tion, in search of the land of gold, 
about which he had dreamed so long. 
The exasperated savages assailed him 
everywhere, and at a town called Ali- 
bamo, he had another desperate en- 
counter with them. Then he moved on, 
and in May he stood upon the banks of 
the Mississippi River, in Tunica county, 
near the lower Chickasa P.lutfs, above 
the mouth of the St. Francis River. 
The mighty Mississippi, then filled to 
the brim, filled De Soto with admira- 
tion. He had not found gold, but he 



46 



'nil- llo.MI'; ALXII.IAKV .\.\D REFHRKKCi; 



was the tirst liuropean who found tlie 
great river upon whose hosom Hoats, 
annually, wealth a thousand fold 
greater than the mines of Mexico and 
Peru ever j'ielded. He was not the 
conqueror of a country, teeming with a 
weak people : but he had achieved a 
conquest far more glorious than Cor- 
tez or Pizarro had done, and had se- 
cured immortality for his name and 
deeds. 

Still thirsting for gold, and expect- 
ing to find the Pacific Ocean not far 
off, De Soto crossed the Mississippi 
River ; traversed the lagoons of Arkan- 
sas ; climbed over the great Ozark Hills 
and penetrated the country westward 
almost to the eastern slopes of the 
Rocky Mountains. For a year he wan- 
dered in those wild regions ; wintered 
far up the Arkansas River, and in the 
month of May, 1542, returned to the 
Mississippi at a point a little north of 
the mouth of the Arkansas. 

On the eastern bank of the great 
river, he selected a site for a colony, 
hut the natives showed such intense 
hostility to the Spaniards, that, utterly 
discouraged, he began the contruction 
of two brigantines wherewith to com- 
municate with Cuba. Exhausted in 
body and mind, he was soon prostrated 
by a malignant fe\er. Satisfied that he 
could not live, he appointed Mascoso. 
his lieutenant, to be his successor in 
office and commander of the ragged 
remnant of his troops. He exhorted 
them to keep together, bade them fare- 
well, and then died ! To conceal the 
fact of his death, and to protect his 
body from desecration by the savages, 
his followers placed it in a trough made 
of a live oak ; and at mid-night, when 
darkness was intense, they sunk it to 
the bottom of the river. So perished 
the discoverer of the Mississippi, in the 
beautiful month of May, 1542, at the 
early age of forty-two years. 

The remnant of the expedition, af- 
ter enduring untold miseries, reached 
Panuco. a Spanish settlement on the 
Ciulf of Mexico. 

During- the years between 1 535-1 543. 
while De Soto was making his explora- 
tions in Florida, several Spanish ex- 



peiHtinns were sent from Mexico. One 
of which sent out by Cortez, discovered 
llie peninsula of California. C)thers ex- 
plored the Pacific Coast from Lower 
California to Oregon. Caronada. in 
1540, led an expedition to the strange 
cities of the Zunius and Moquis In- 
dians, and as far north as Nebraska. 

We will now leave the Spanish dis- 
coverers, and turn our attention to 
others who made voyages to the coast 
of North America on similar errands. 

Francis the First, of France, sent an 
expedition of four ships, late in the 
year 1523. for exploration on the 
North American coast, under command 
of John \'erazzani, a Florentine, of 
whom very little is known. The only 
record of the \oyage is a letter sent to 
the King, after his return, by which it 
seems he sailed for the Madeiras in De- 
cember, 1523, and left them on the 27th 
of January, 1524. Three of his ships 
were disabled and put back, he kept on 
in the one ship, and reached the North 
American coast in latitude 34 degrees 
north, not far from Cape Fear, North' 
Carolina. That was the month of 
March. He explored the coast, stop- 
ping at Albermarle Sound, and from 
liis description he must have reached 
the harbor of New York and dis- 
covered the mouth of the Hudson 
River. After touching the coast of 
Maine, he sailed eastward and north- 
ward until he came to Newfoundland. 
He then returned to France. \'eraz- 
zani had traversed the borders of the 
North .American continent, as his ship 
sailed, about two thousand miles, and 
he named the vast country Xczc France. 
He appears to have communicated with 
Henry the Eighth of England, for 
Henry sent two exploring expeditions, 
one in 1527 and the other in 1536. 

F"or several years, voyages of discov- 
ery from Europe to America ceased. 
Then a plan for making settlements in 
New France was arranged, and two 
ships of sixty tons each, under com- 
mand of Jacques Cartier (James Car- 
ter) was sent out by the French mon- 
arch. 

Cartier left St. Malo. on April 20th, 
1534, his voyage was prosperous, and 



FIRST PF.RIOD— i:XPL()KATIO.\S AXO IMSCOVERIES 



he reached the eastern coast of Xew- 
foundland in twenty days. He sailed 
northward, entered the straits of Belle 
Isle and touched the coast of Labrador. 
After spending some weeks in explor- 
ing the Gulf west and southwest of 
Newfoundland, he discovered the Mag- 
delena Islands, the northern coast of 
Cape Breton, and the bays of Chaleurs 
end Gaspe. Sailing northward and 
doubling the east end of the great .\n- 
ticostic Island, he went up that branch 
of the St. Lawrence some distance, 
without suspecting that he was in the 
mouth of a great river, whose chief 
sources were immense inland seas of 
fresh water. He then returned to 
France, reaching St. Malo early in Sep- 
tember. 

Cartier made a second voyage, sail- 
ing on the 19th of May, 1535. He ex- 
plored the gulf on which he had sailed 
the previous year, naming it the St. 
Lawrence, along with the mighty river 
that entered into it. Sailing up the 
river, he discovered the present sites of 
Quebec and Montreal, and returned to 
France the 6th of July, 1536. Cartier's 
report on the e.xtreme rigors of the 
winter climate, discouraged any fur- 
ther expeditions for some time. 

Two other e.xpeditions were sent to 
Canada, one in 1541, and the other in 
1549, under Francis de la Roque. they 
were barren of any results, and De la 
Roque was never heard from after the 
second expedition. 

The Huguenots, as the French Pro- 
testants were called, resolved to procure 
an asylum in the milder regions of 
North America, where they might en- 
joy perfect religious and civil freedom. 
Admiral Coligni. high in the favor of 
Catharine de Medici, who was acting 
regent of France, was one of the most 
conspicuous leaders. He was readily 
granted permission to fit out an ex- 
pedition, and on the 18th of February, 
1562, in two vessels under command of 
John Ribault. an experienced mariner, 
they sailed from Havre de Grace. 

They arrived below the site of St. 
.Augustine, at the close of April, and on 
tlic 3d of May sailed northward, and 
entered the fine harbor of Port Roval, 



on the coast of South Carolina. They 
explored the surrounding country, and 
decided to found a colony on Port 
Royal Island, near the site of the pre- 
sent town of Beaufort. They built a 
fort and named it F"ort Charles ( Fort 
Carolus or Carolina) in honor of the 
King. After leaving a colony of thirty 
persons. Ribault sailed for France, 
whence he expected to return immedi- 
ately with supplies for the colony. 

The colonists at Port Royal were 
very happy for awhile, but not having 
cultivated a rod of land, their provi- 
sions ran short, and they were com- 
pelled to look to their Indian neigh- 
bors for support. Their house, in 
which everything was stored was 
burned, and they were left desolate. 

Dissension now appeared among the 
colonists. The Governor applied the 
rules of disciplines so harshly, that the 
people mutinied and put him to death. 
Famine and the menacing attitude of 
the Indians iletermined them to desert 
Port Royal and return to France. They 
constructed a frail vessel, scantily pro- 
visioned, and set out. Their food was 
soon exhausted, starvation came, and 
they were compelled to subsist on their 
shoes and leather doublets, but one af- 
ter another died and fell into the sea. 
It is said they were at last compelled to 
subsist upon one another for food. The 
survivors were at last rescued by a 
small English vessel. It is not known 
where they landed, but it is certain that 
a part of the French adventurers were 
taken into the presence of Queen Eliza- 
beth of England, and their account of 
the beauties of Florida created an in- 
tense desire on the part of the English 
to colonize that region. 

When Ribault returned to France, a 
religious war was raging and it was 
not until April 22d, 1564, that another 
expedition was sent out. This was un- 
der command of Rene Laudonniere, 
who had accompanied Ribault in tlie 
preceding voyage. In two months they 
r.rrived and anchored in the St. Johns 
River. They did not go to Port Royal, 
so it is evident they had heard the re- 
port of tho.se who had abandoned Fort 
Charles, before thev left France. Thev 



48 



THK HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



were received with great friendship by 
the Indians, who gave them permission 
to erect a fort, which they called Fort 
Carolina. Through dissensions, idle- 
ness and a thirst for gold, where none 
could be found, the colony did not pros- 
per, and they were about to return to 
Europe when Ribault arrived with 
fresh supplies and more colonists. 
This was near the end of .\ugust, 1365. 

During this time, great religious per- 
secutions were being carried on, with 
great fury, in Europe, Menendez. a 
great Spanish sea captain, was in- 
structed by his sovereign to extermi- 
nate all Protestants in whatever corner 
of the world he might find them. In a 
great expedition he sailed, and arrived 
on the coast of Florida. He laid the 
foundations of the city of St. .Augus- 
tine, forty years earlier than those of 
any other town in America, north of 
^lexico. This was in the year. 1565. 

Menendez now attacked Fort Car- 
olina, destroyed it. and butchered its 
inhabitants, men, women and children. 
.\ few men were hanged upon trees, 
and over them was placed the inscrip- 
tion : 

"Not as Frenchmen, lUit, as Luther- 
ans." 

The French, no matter what their re- 
ligious convictions, were greatly 
moved by these horrid crimes against 
their countrymen. The French court 
appearing to be indifferent to these out- 
rages, Dominic de Gourges. a member 
of an eminent family, and a devout 
Roman Catholic, fitted out an expedi- 
tion at his own expense, being refused 
assistance from his King. With three 
small vessels, one hundred soldiers and 
eighty mariners, he arrived on the 
coast of Florida in the spring of 1568. 
The Indians received him with friend- 
ship, and became his allies against the 
Spaniards. The Spaniards had built 
two forts on the St. Johns River, on 
opposite banks. These forts were at- 
tacked and the garrison massacred. 
They now marched to the Spanish fort 
on the site of the former Fort Carolina, 
which was captured. There was an in- 
discriminate massacre as before, a few 
only being reserved as prisoners. Now 



these, with others that had been re- 
served, were placed in rows on trees, 
upon which the Huguenots had been 
hung. They were all suspended by 
their necks. Over them he placed the 
inscription: "'Not as Spaniards and 
Mariners, But as Traitors, Robber.^ and 
Murderers." 

De Gourges now returned to France. 

Menendez firml\ planted a colony at 
St. .\ugustine, and sent an expedition 
to explore the waters of the Chesa- 
peake Bay, but his death in 1574 ar- 
rested the enterprise, and no further at- 
tempts were made by the Spaniards to 
settle within the domain of our Repub- 
lic. 

From the tales of the survivors ot 
the ill-fated, first expedition of John 
Ribault. and from W'alter Raleigh, a 
}oung Devonshire gentleman, of a good 
family, was well educated, and who had 
heard from De Gourges, while in the 
service of the Huguenots of France, the 
storj' of the fora}- in Florida ; Queen 
Elizabeth and her government took a 
live!}- interest in the exploration and 
settlement of North .America. Mean- 
while English navigators had been try- 
ing to solve the question, namely, the 
existence of a northwest passage to 
Asia from the British Isles. IMartin 
Frobisher, early in June, 1576. sailed 
with three vessels, he touched at Green- 
land, coasted up the shores of Labra- 
dor and entered a strait or inlet above 
the entrance to Hudson's Bay, which 
bears his name. 

Inpenetrable pack-ice, the lasp of 
some of his men and the growing dis- 
content of others caused him to return 
to England. The fact that gold had 
been found, soon got noised abroad, 
and many persons eagerW offered 
money to Frobisher to make another 
voyage to those high latitudes. In 
I\Iay, 1577, he sailed in a vessel of the 
royal navy, and two other vessels. Fro- 
bisher had demonstrated the impossi- 
bility of passing the polar ice fields, and 
so no explorations were made. As 
very little gold was found, he returned 
to England. In May, 1578, he sailed 
on another expedition, instructed to 
find genuine gold ore, or for a north- 



FIRST rKRIOD-F.XPLOkATIOXS AND DISCOVERIES 



west passage, he discovered neither and 
returned to England. 

This brave leader won the honors of 
a discoverer and the fame of having 
lieen tlie first European who had pene- 
trated so far toward the Arctic Circle. 
Frobisher's Inlet being under the sixty- 
liiircl degree north latitude. 

Francis Drake, another Devonshire 
man, about this time circumnavigated 
the globe, a feat performed by Magel- 
lan, half a century before. Drake had 
suffered inuch from the Spaniards, and 
vowed vengeance. Under sanction of 
the Queen, with five vessels he sailed 
from Plymouth. November, 1577, and 
touching at Brazil, and other places 
down the east coast of South .America, 
he passed through the straits of ]\lagel- 
lan, early in September, 1578. Then nc 
ran up the western coast, plundering 
the Spanish settlements in Chili and 
Peru, capturing a royal Spanish gal- 
leon, heavily loaded with treasure, and 
taking possession of California in the 
name of the Queen. Burdened with 
gold and silver, and his revenge fully 
satisfied, Drake determined to return 
home. Fearing to meet a superior 
force in the ocean, he resolved to seek 
a passage around the northern shores 
of .\merica. Repelled by severe cold, 
he sailed across the Pacific and Indian 
Oceans, doubled the Cape of Good 
Hope, and arrived at Plymouth late in 
September, 1579, having discovered 
points on the western coasts of our 
country as far north as Washington, 
above the Columbia River. He was 
then onl\' between thirty and forty 
years of age. 

After that the exploits of Drake on 
the sea were marvellous. They were 
against the Spaniards, whom he hated 
intensely. Within the space of a year 
he captured and plundered Carthagena, 
in South .America, and several other 
towns in that region ; burned Forts An- 
tonio and St. .\ugustine, ravaged places 
in the W'est Indies, and running up the 
coasts of Florida, Georgia and the Car- 
olinas, he visited Roanoke Island, and 
bore away from it, to England, a fam- 
ishing colony which Raleigh had 
])lanted there. On another occasion he 



burned one hundred Spanish vessels in 
the harbor of Cadiz. Although he is 
honored for his enterprise and the glory 
he won for England, and is regarded 
as the founder of the Royal Navy, Sir 
Francis Drake was only a daring pirate 
on a large and legalized scale. 

In 1594. the Spanish King threatened 
lingland with a great show of power. 
Drake entered the service of his sover- 
eign, and with Admiral Hawkins, he 
sailed for America in 1595, with 
Iwenty-six vessels. A divided com- 
mand worked mischievously. Hawkins 
died at Porto Rico, partly from the 
eflfects of a wound and partly from 
chagrin, because of reverses. Drake 
^-oon afterward achieved great tri- 
umphs. He destroyed several Spanish 
towns : but a fatal fever seized him late 
in the year. It was aggravated by men- 
tal agitation on account of a defeat of 
his forces, and he died in December. 
The gallant sailor was honored bv a 
sailor's funeral. He was buried at sea 
in sight of Puerto ESello. 

While Drake was plundering Span- 
ish settlements, the minds of the British 
Queen and many of her leading suId- 
jects were directed to the more benc- 
ficient object of founding colonies in 
the region of North .America, dis- 
covered by Cabot. With this was 
ir.ingled a thirst for gold which was be- 
lieved to exist in abundance some- 
where in those regions. These desires 
had assumed a tangible shape and had 
been stimulated into action by Raleigh, 
on his return from the continent : and 
his half-brother. Sir Humphrey Gilbert, 
obtained a patent from the Queen, 
which authorized him to explore and 
hold any lands unoccupied by Christian 
powers. That was in the year 1578. 
He did not believe there was much gold 
in the high latitudes, hut the fisheries 
of? Newfoundland, to which more than 
four hundred vessels repaired annually, 
turned his thoughts to a project of 
planting a colony there ; and in this 
scheme Raleigh acquiesced. 

Walter Raleigh was one of the most 
illustrious of the English adventurers 
of his time. He was only twenty-six 
vears of age at this time, and had un- 



so 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



bounded ambition. He had lately re- 
turned from Ireland, where he had put 
down a rebellion. Meeting the Queen 
one day while she was walking w'th 
two of her maids of honor, he took 
from his shoulders his rich velvet man- 
tle, and spread it over a wet spot in the 
path for her to walk upon. Because of 
this delicate gallantry, he was admitted 
to court where he obtained the Queen's 
special favor. 

Gilbert's patent, bound him to pay to 
the crown one fifth of all gold and 
silver which the countries he might 
discover and colonize should produce. 
The laws were to be in accordance with 
the statutes and policy of England, and 
he was made civil and criminal legis- 
lator. It also guaranteed to his fol- 
lov\'ers the civil rights of Englishmen. 
It was to extend six years, during 
which time no one was permitted to es- 
tabish a settlement within two hundred 
leagues of any spot which these ad- 
venturers might occupy. At his own 
expense he fitted out a squad''on and 
sailed for America, late in 1579. Most 
of his company was utterly unfit to be- 
come founders of a state, for most of 
them were idlers and some were dis- 
solute. It is said by some that Raleigh 
sailed with him. Heavy storms or 
Spanish war vessels destroyed one of 
his ships, and compelled the remainder 
to turn back, and for four years the 
enterprise was held in abeyance. Ral- 
eigh and his friends at end of that time, 
fitted out another small .squadron, for 
Gilbert was impoverished. It sailed 
under command of Gilbert, June, 1583, 
accompanied by a learned Hungarian. 
They reached Newfoundland in 
August, and in the harbor of St. Johns, 
in the presence of hundreds of fisher- 
men, took possession of the country in 
the name of Queen Elizabeth. Con- 
tinued storms and disasters compelled 
them to return to England, and on the 
homeward voyage the expedition was 
lost, including Gilbert, with the excep- 
tion of one vessel that escaped the tem- 
pests and returned to England with 
tidings of disaster. 

Misfortune seemed to stimulate Ral- 
eisfh. he obtained a charter from the 



Queen in all respects the same as Gil- 
bert's. It constituted him Lord Pro- 
prietor of all countries between Dela- 
ware Bay and the mouth of the Santee 
River, in South Carolina. Quick in 
execution of his projects, two ships 
were made read)' for sea before June, 
1584, well equipped with men and pro- 
visions. Arthur Barlow was placed in 
chief command, assisted by Philip 
Amidas, of French descent, but a na- 
tive of England. They were directed 
to explore the coast between the paral- 
lels named, and choose a place for set- 
tlement. They took the southern 
course and approached the coast in the 
latitude of Florida. They sailed up the 
coast, explored Roanoke Island and 
Pamlico and Albermarle Sounds. The 
Indians they found were gentle and 
friendly. On Roanoke Island the Eng- 
lishmen were received with great hos- 
pitality. To the feelings of the Eng- 
lish everything was charming, magnifi- 
cent trees, draped with vines clustered 
with growing grapes, and the forest 
swarrned with birds. They now de- 
parted for England, accompanied by 
two of the native chiefs. 

The glowing description of the re- 
gion delighted Raleigh and his sover- 
eign, and Elizabeth, as a memorial of 
the splendid domain that had been 
added to the realm, during the reign ot 
a virgin queen, named the country Vir- 
i;inia. 

Raleigh now took measures for send- 
ing out a colony to people his American 
domain. On the gth of April, 1585, he 
saw a fleet of seven ships sail out of 
Plymouth harbor with one hundred and 
eighty colonists, and a full compliment 
of seamen, for the coast of Virginia. 
Sir Richard Grenville, one of the most 
gallant men of the times, was in com- 
n-and of the squadron, and Ralph Lane, 
a soldier, was sent as governor of the 
colony, with Amidas as assistant. 
They were accompanied by Thomas 
Cavendish, who, the next year followed 
the path of Drake around the world ; 
by a competent painter to delineate 
men and things in America, and by 
Thomas Harriot, an eminent mathema- 
tician and astronomer, who went as his- 



FIRST PERIOD— F.XPLOKATIONS AXD DISCOVERIES 



torian and naturalist of the expeilition. 

Tlie choice of Grenville as com- 
mander was unfortunate. lie was 
more intent on plunder than on coloni- 
zation. Sailing over the southern 
route, he cruised among the West India 
Islands, capturing Spanish vessels, and 
so infusing the colonists with a spirit 
quite the reverse of that of peaceful 
settlers. They did not reach the Am- 
erican coast until late in June, when the 
vessels came near being wrecked on a 
l)oint of land which, from that cir- 
cumstance, the}' named Cape Fear. 
Sailing up the coast they finally landed 
on Roanoke Island, with one of the In- 
dian chiefs (named Manteo), who re- 
turned with them. 

Harriot, the historian remained there 
a year, making drawings and taking 
observations of e\erything of interest. 
He labored hard to restrain the cu]5i<!- 
ity of the colonists, who were more in- 
tent upon winning gold and plunder, 
than tilling the soil. For eight days 
they explored the country, and were re- 
ceived hospitably everywhere. At an 
Indian village a silver cup was stolen 
from the English and was not immedi- 
ately returned. Grenville ordered the 
whole town to be burned, and the 
standing corn around it destroyed. 
This enkindled in the savage mind re- 
\enge, furious and destructive, which 
could not be quenched. Unsuspicious 
of the consequences of his act, the com- 
mander left the colonists and returned 
to England. 

Lane was delighted with the country, 
and in a letter he sent home by Gren- 
ville, he wrote: "The continent is of 
a huge and unknown greatness. The 
climate is so wholesome that we have 
not one sick since we have touched the 
land." 

Harriot was a man of keen observa- 
tion, he perceived that the way to have 
the country permanently settled, was 
to treat the natives kindly as friends 
and neighbors, and he tried to quench 
the fires of revenge, which the conduct 
of Grenville had enkindled. The In- 
dians regarded the persons of the Eng- 
lish with reverance and awe. The 
colonists were never sick and had no 



women with them, so the nati\es imag- 
ined that they were not born of woman 
and were therefore immortal. 

Had the colonists been as wise and 
good as Harriot, all might have been 
Mell. But they were greedy for gold. 
The Indians, believing that more Eng- 
lishmen were coming to take their 
lands, they yearned to exterminate the 
intruders. 

Lane, impressed with the belief of a 
viide-spread conspiracy to destroy his 
colony, prepared to strike the first blow. 
1 le invited several of the principal 
chiefs to a conference. At a precon- 
certed signal, Lane and his followers 
fell upon the Indians and murdered 
them. Thenceforth each party stood 
on the defensive, and very soon the 
condition of the English became des- 
perate. Their provisions were ex- 
liausted ; no ships came from England 
with supplies, and no food could be 
obtained from the Indians. Only the 
woods and waters offered them a pre- 
carious subsistence, and they were on 
the verge of despair, when they saw, 
one day, the joyful apparition of white 
sails coming in from the sea. It was 
the fleet of Sir Francis Drake, who 
looked upon the colonists that he might 
report their condition to his friend 
Raleigh. He offered them aid and en- 
couragement, but they were so thor- 
oughly despondent that they begged 
and received permission to return to 
England in the Baronet's ships. 

Whilst they were in Virginia, Lane 
and his associates had acquired a taste 
for smoking tobacco, a habit which pre- 
vailed among the natives; and they 
were the first persons who carried the 
plant to England. Raleigh adopted and 
encouraged its use in England, and 
very soon the habit became so wide- 
spread that the demand exceeded the 
supply. It became the staple product 
of Virginia and a bond of union be- 
tween England and some of her Ameri- 
can colonies, as well as a source of 
much revenue. 

Drake's ships had scarcely left the 
coast when a vessel appeared with .sup- 
plies for the fugitive colonists. Find- 
ing the post abandoned the ships re- 



52 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AXD REFERENCE 



turned to Iui,L;lan(l; ami a fnrtiiiglit af- 
ter it left Roanoke, Sir Richard ("ireii- 
ville arrived with three well furnished 
ships, and searched in \ain for the 
settlers. Unwilling to give up posses- 
sion of the country, he left fifteen men 
there to protect the rights of England, 
and then he, too. returned home. 

Raleigh was not dismayed by these 
mishaps. Lane, whose failure as a 
leader was conspicuous, gave a gloomy 
account of the country, but the report 
of Harriot was so encouraging, that 
Raleigh found very little difficulty in 
gathering another colony, and of bet- 
ter materials. They were not gold 
seekers, but agriculturists and artisans, 
with their wives and children, who con- 
sented to become permanent settlers in 
America. 

In April, 1587, a squadron of three 
ships, fitted out at Raleigh's expense, 
under command of John White, sailefl 
for Chesapeake Bay. White went first 
to Roanoke and proceeded no further. 
He arrived there in July, he found the 
little fort built by Lane broken down, 
and a heap of human bones that told 
the sad fate of Grenville's "Protectors 
of the Rights of England." 

The new colonists wisely resolved to 
cultivate the friendship of the Indians. 
Manteo, who lived on Croatan Island, 
invited them to make their abode on 
his domain, when White took the op- 
portunity to have the chief receive the 
rights of Christian baptism, by the 
command of Raleigh, and to bestow on 
him the order of a feudal baron as 
"Lord of Roanoke." This was the first 
and last peerage ever created on the 
soil of our Republic. 

For a time matters went on smoothly, 
when an unlucky mistake of the Eng- 
lish in attacking friendly Indians pro- 
duced bad blood. At about the same 
time it became necessary for the ships 
to return to England for supplies. 
W'hite was persuaded to go with them 
that he might hasten their return. He 
left behind him eighty-nine men, seven- 
teen women and two children, .\mong 
these was Eleanor Dare, wife of one of 
his assistants, and his daughter, who had 
given birth since her arrival to a 



dauglilei'. 111 whom they gave the name 
of X'irginia — \ irginia Dare, the first 
white child of English parents born on 
.American soil. On his way back, 
\Miite touched Ireland, where he left 
some potato plants, the first ever seen 
in Europe. 

Raleigh, by great exertions, sent 
^^'hite back in two ships, in A]M-il. 1588. 
Instead of going straight to \ irginia, 
he chased Spanish ships in search of 
jilunder. Both his vessels were so 
much injured that he was compelled to 
take them back to England, and it was 
not until 1590 that he sailed for the 
colony. He found Roanoke desolate. 
An inscription on the bark of a tree 
seemed that they had gone to Croatan. 

White searched no further, but has- 
tened back to England with the sad 
tidings of the uncertain fate of the 
colonists. 

Raleigh's means were now ex- 
hausted. He formed a company of 
merchants and 'adventurers under his 
charter, to whom he assigned a portion 
of his rights. They did nothing but 
carry on a petty trade with Virginia 
for a while, and at the time of Queen 
Elizabeth's death, in 1693, there was 
not a single Englishman settled in all 
America. 

Raleigh, it is said, sent persons at 
fi\-e different times, at his own expense, 
to search for the lost colonists, but no 
trace of them could be found. 

Raleigh, when at the age of thirty- 
seven, decided to abandon the scheme 
for colonizing \'irginia, proceeded to 
]ierform other services, which alone 
would have made his name immortal. 
He did much toward the destruction of 
the Spanish Armada ; discovered the 
large, rich and beautiful empire of 
Guiana, in South America, and other 
notable deeds for the glory of Eng- 
land. 

When Queen Elizabeth died, in 1603, 
the sun of his glory went down. King 
James stripped him of all his prefer- 
ments, he was soon afterward arrested 
on a false charge of conspiracy, and on 
conviction without proof was con- 
demned to death. Reprieved, he was 
sent to prison, where he was confined 



FIRST PERTOD—EXPLORATIOXS AND DISCOVERIES 



many years, durin;;' which time lie 
wrote his "History of the World." In 
1 615, the King, wanting his services to 
search for gold in Guiana, released him 
from prison, on condition that he would 
go there, but did not pardon him. Ral- 
eigh was then sixty-three years of age, 
and an invalid. He embarked the 
whole of his wife's fortune and his own 
in the expedition, which was a failure, 
and he returned to England in the sum- 
mer of 1618. a wreck in fortune, health, 
reputation and spirits. Raleigh was 
recommitted to prison, the execution of 
the unjust sentence of fifteen years be- 
fore pronounced, and soon afterward 
caused to be beheaded. "This is a 
sharp medicine, but a cure for all dis- 
eases," said Raleigh, on the scatTold, 
as he felt the keen edge of the axe and 
handed it to the executioner. 

The inhabitants of North Carolina, 
on whose shores the great adventurer 
had made his attempts at settlement, 
showed their sense of justice by giving 
to their capital the name of Raleigh. 

Bartholomew Gosnold, a friend of 
Raleigh's, and who had made a voyage 
to America, and who, like Raleigh, had 
iiot lost faith in the colonization and 
settlement of Xorth America, when 
offered the command of an expedition 
to plant a settlement in America, on the 
advice of his friend Raleigh, accepted 
it, and on the 26th of April, 1602. 
sailea in a small vessel, with twenty 
colonists and eight mariners, on a di- 
rect track, and arrived on the coast of 
America, near Xahant, in Massachu- 
setts Bay, in just eighteen days after 
his departure from England. Sailing 
southward, discovered a great sandy 
point, which he named Cape Cod, be- 
cause of the immense number of cod- 
fishes seen near its shores, and lamled 
there with four men. It was the first 
time an Englishman had landed on the 
soil of New England. 

Doubling the Cape, he passed around 
the promontory of Bayhead, which he 
named Dover ClifT, and entered Buz- 
2:ard's Bay, where he found a group of 
attractive islands. He named the west- 
ernmost, Elizabeth, the name of his 
Queen, and the whole group now bear 



lliat name. They landed (in l^lizabetli 
Inland, now known by its Indian name 
of Cattyhunk. \'egetation was luxuri- 
ant, and small fruits were in abun- 
dance, so they resolved to plant a little 
colony there, and built a rude stone 
house and fort. 

The colonists now thought the In- 
dians unfriendly, they di(l not know 
what the winter might be, and losing 
their courage, they abandoned their 
little paradise of beauty, and in less 
than four months were back home in 
England. Had their courage held out 
they would have had the honor of mak- 
ing the first permanent English settle- 
ment in America. 

Early in April, 1603, an expedition 
under Alartin Pring, another friend of 
Raleigh, sailed, and reached the Am- 
erican coast, and entered Penobscot 
Bay early in June. They went up the 
Penobscot River some distance, and 
then, sailing along the coast, they en- 
tered the mouths of the Saco, Kenne- 
bunk and Piscataqua Rivers, on the 
coast of Maine. 

Sailing southward, they went to the 
region where Gosnold had stopped, and 
landed on a large island, abounding 
with grapes, which they named Mar- 
tin's Vineyard, now Martha's Mneyard. 
They then returned to England after 
an absence of six months. 

In March, 1605, George Weymouth, 
another friend of Raleigh, lead an ex- 
pedition which took the shorter track, 
but on account of storms was six weeks 
making the journey, and arrived ofif the 
coast of Nantucket. Sailing north- 
ward, he entered Penobscot Bay. 
While there he kidnapped several In- 
dians and returned with them to Eng- 
land. Three of them were in the 
family of the Governor of Plymouth, 
where they acquired considerable 
knowledge of the English language. 
This kidnapping left on the shores of 
New England the seeds of much future 
trouble. 

All doubts respecting the commercial 
value of every part of the American 
coast, from Florida to Newfoundland, 
had now vanished from the English 
iriind, and King James was petitioned 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



Ic charter an organization to colonize 
the shores of this Western World. 
Moved by these considerations, he is- 
sued letters patent on the 20th of April. 
1606. 

There were two companies formed, 
one called the "London Company," and 
the other called the "Plymouth Com- 
pany.'' Thev were granted the terri- 
tory between the thirty- fourth and the 
forty-fifth parallels of north latitude, 
and any islands within one hundred 
miles of the shore. The vast domain 
was divided into two districts, called, 
respectively. North and South Yir- 
ginia, the line of separation being on 
the parallel of about the present city of 
New York. 

Now dawned the bright era, when 
English colonies were permanently 
planted in America. We will tell the 
story of their wonderful growth in a 
latter part of this work. 

.\mong the earliest of the new 
French adventurers was the ^larquis 
de la Roche, a wealthy nobleman, who 
gathered together a companv from the 
prisons of France wherewith to found 
a colony in America. He sailed with a 
single ship in the spring of 15Q8. and 
landed on Sable Island, in the Atlantic 
Ocean, ninety miles southeast of Nova 
Scotia, where he left forty men and re- 
turned to France for supplies. Before 
he was ready to go back he sickened 
and died, and the poor emigrants had 
no tidings from home or the rest of the 
world for seven years. Then a vessel 
was sent for them, but only twelve sur- 
vived. 

Samuel Champlain, of the French 
navy, a man of noble lineage, and a 
favorite of the French King, under a 
charter, granted to the Governor of 
Dieppe, was commissioned lieutenant- 
general of Canada. On the 15th of 
March, 1603, with a single vessel, com- 
manded by Pont-Greve, a skillful mar- 
iner, whose father had been a friend of 
Cartier. he embarked for New France. 
They reached the St. Lawrence in May, 
and anchored near the site of Quebec, 
Pont-Greve, with five men, went up 
that stream in a canoe to the rapids of 
La Chine, above Montreal. Turning- 



back, on reaching the ship, he gave 
Champlain a minute account of all he 
saw. Champlain had held intercourse 
with the savages, had found them 
friendly, and was pleased with all he 
had observed. They returned to 
France in the early autumn. 

When the voyagers returned, they 
found the Governor of Dieppe dead, 
and the concession transferred to 
Pierre de Gast, the Sieur de Monts, a 
wealthy Huguenot, who had received 
the commission of Mceroy, with full 
power for settlement and rule over six 
degrees of latitude in America, extend- 
ing from that of Cape May to the par- 
allel of Quebec. That region was 
named in the charter, L'Acadie, a cor- 
ruption of the Greek Arcadia. .^ new 
arrangement was made with Cham- 
plain, and early in March, 1604, De 
Monts, with his bosom friend Pontrin- 
court and Pont-Greve as his lieuten- 
ants, and Champlain as the pilot, sailed 
from France with four vessels well- 
manned, and a large company of Pro- 
testant and Roman Catholic emigrants. 
Among the latter were several Jesuits. 
They reachced the St. Lawrence in 
April, when thev found the river ice- 
bound and the weather so cold that the 
Mceroy determined to plant his settle- 
ment further to the southward. They 
passed around Cape Breton and Nova 
Scotia into the Bay of Fundy, and on 
the northern shore of the peninsula- 
they anchored in a fine harbor en- 
vironed by hills and meadows, early in 
May. Pontrincourt was so charmed 
with the appearance of the country that 
De Monts allowed him to remain there 
with some of the emigrants. He gave 
him a grant of the region, which was 
confirmed by the King, and Pontrin- 
court named the place where he landed 
Port Royal. It is now Annapolis, in 
Nova Scotia. De IMonts passed over 
to Passamaquoddy Bay, and on ?n is- 
land, near the mouth of the St. t roix 
River, landed, built a fort, and there 
passed a severe winter. Half of then-i 
were dead in the spring, when the sur- 
vivors explored westward as far as 
Cape Cod, and returned to Port Royal, 
where they joined Pontrincourt's col- 



FIRST PERIOD— EXPLORATIONS AND DISCOVERIES 



cny. Early in the autumn they re- 
turned to France, leaving Champlain 
and Pont-Greve to make further ex- 
ploration. They went to the southwest 
as far as Cape Cod. but were driven to 
their vessels by the Indians, and in 
1607. returned to France. In 1613, 
Port Royal was plundered and laid in 
ashes b)- the English, who considered 
the French as intruders on the domain 
of North \'irginia. 

In 1608, Champlain sailed up the St. 
Lawrence River to the St. Charles, and 
entering that river, on the banks of 
which he landed at the foot of a rocky 
promontory, and laid the foundation of 
the city of Quebec. That name is an 
Indian word, signifying "'the narrows." 
and is pronounced Kebec. That was 
the first permanent French settlement 
planted in America. 

Champlain regarded the Iroquois in 
northern New York as his enemies, 
and allied himself with the Hurons, 
who were the enemies of the Iroquois. 
In the summer of 1609. he explored up 
the Sorel or Richlieu River to the Falls 
of Chambly, where he left his boat and 
crew, and with only two men pushed 
on in a canoe until he discovered a 
great lake between two distant moun- 
tain ranges — the Green Mountains and 
the .\dirondacks. He gave his name to 
this beautiful sheet of water. 

In 1612. Champlain. having re- 
turned from France with the commis- 
sion of Lieutenant-governor of the 
colony, engaged in vigorous wars and 
explorations. In 16 15, he invited some 
Jesuit Fathers to the St. Lawrence, 
who accompanied him in expeditions 
of discovery, extending up the Ottowa 
River and westward to Lake Huron. 
Turning eastward they traversed the 
wilderness to Lake Ontario, and ex- 
ploring that magnificent sheet of water 
its whole length, and the St. Lawrence 
to a point below Montreal, they re- 
turned to France. 

In 1620. he returned to Canada with 
the authority of governor, and bring- 
ing with him his family and other emi- 
grants and their families. He had seen 
that an alliance with the Indians was 
essential to the building up of a per- 



manent empire, and the influence which 
the Jesuit Fathers had on their minds. 
.K college was established at Quebec, 
tor the instruction of the children of 
the Huron's, in civilized modes of liv- 
ing, the French language and the Ro- 
man Catholic religion. 

So was wisely laid, b}- Samuel Cham- 
plain, the foundation of the French 
Empire in America : its chief source of 
strength being its firm alliance with the 
Indians. So were secured those alli- 
ances in emergencies, between the 
French and Indians in America, which 
frequently gave the English colonies 
much and serious trouble. 

Early in the year 1607, Henry Hud- 
son, a famous navigator and an ex- 
pert pilot, was employed by some Lon- 
don merchants to discover a polar sea 
passage, around northern Europe. 
Hudson sailed on the first of May. 
1607. The vessel in which Hudson 
sailed was a small one, manned only by 
ten men and a boy. He went up the 
eastern coast of Greenland and dis- 
covered the island of Spitzbergen, no- 
thing more, for a solid ice barrier com- 
pelled him to turn back. He returned 
t<' England in September. His em- 
ployers fitted out another expedition, 
which sailed late in April. 1608. .Again 
the impenetrable ice-pack compelled 
him to turn back. His employers were 
now disheartened and gave up the en- 
terprise. Hudson now obtained em- 
ployment with the Dutch East India 
Company, and they fitted out for him a 
small vessel, named the "Half-Moon." 
of ninety tons, to go in search for them 
of this northern passage around Eu- 
rope. He sailed for Xova Scotia in 
April. 1609. 

After fighting the ice-pack on the 
parallel of Spitzbergen, until all hope 
of conquest vanished, Hudson was 
compelled the third time to turn back. 
He determined not to go without some 
fruit to Holland, so he sailed around 
the southern shores of Greenland into 
the track of the searchers after a north- 
west passage. Again the ice-pack 
foiled him. and he sailed southward 
until, at the middle of July, he dis- 
covered the American continent off the 



56 



THE HOME AL'XILIARV AXD REFERENXE 



coast of Maine. Hudson now sailed 
southward as far as the Capes of Vir- 
ginia. Then he sailed up the coast, dis- 
covered Delaware Bay, and entered the 
harbor of New York, early in Septem- 
ber. 

Northward from his anchorage, af- 
ter his vessel had entered New York 
Hay. Hudson saw a broad stream which 
the Indians told him came from beyond 
the pale blue mountain ranges in the 
distance. He believed it was a strait 
through which he might pass into the 
Indian Ocean ; so he sailed up the 
stream a few miles and anchored. 

The Half-Moon went leisurely up 
the river, anchoring here and there, and 
the commander held intercourse with 
the Indians, sometimes friendly, some- 
times hostile. When he passed the 
great mountains he had seen in the dis- 
tance, and found the water freshening, 
he was satisfied that he was not in a 
passage to India. It was a beautiful 
river, flowing down from more lofty 
hills three hundred miles from the sea, 
and called Mahkannitiick by the na- 
tives. The Dutch afterwards called it 
the Mauritius, and the English gave it 
the name of Hudson's River. 

Hud.son went up the stream as far 
as Albany. Then he sailed leisurely 
back, everywhere charmed with the 
beauty and grandeur of the scenerv and 
apparent fertility of the soil. He had 



discovered one of the richest portions 
I if America. 

After taking possession of the whole 
domain he had discovered in the name 
of the States-General of Holland, he 
sailed for England. 

This led to the commercial ventures 
between Holland and the Hud.son 
River, which immediately followed, 
and resulted in the planting of the City 
uf New Amsterdam (now New York), 
at the mouth of the latter, and New 
Orange (now Albany), near the head 
of its navigable waters. These were 
the germs of the commonwealth of 
New Netherland, the domain of which 
is known as the State of New York. 

Hudson was the last of the dis- 
coverers who revealed the .A.tlantic 
coast of the American continent to Eu- 
rope. His fate may be told in a few 
words. He sailed from England in the 
spring of 1610, on his fourth voyage 
in a search of a polar ocean passage, 
this time to the northwest. He dis- 
covered far up North America, the bay 
that bears his name, and intended to 
winter there, but a majority of his crew 
were mutinous and compelled him to 
sail homeward. On the way, he, his 
son, and seven of his men who had re- 
mained faithful to him were seized, 
pinioned, placed in an open boat and 
abandoned on the icy sea, where, of 
course, they soon perished. 



SECOND PERIOD— SETTLEMENTS 



SECOND PERIOD 



SETTLEMENTS 



VIRGINIA. 

James the First of England, in 1603, 
was the monarch who granted charters 
to tlie London and Plymouth Com- 
jianies. authorizing them to make settle- 
ment in America. 

The Plymouth Company, who were 
to control North Virginia, were first in 
the field of adventure. There was no 
lack of candidates, when the company 
called for emigrants. 

The charter of each company was 
the same. The defined boundaries of 
each domain was as follows : that of 
the London Company, between the 
thirty-fourth and the thirty-eighth de- 
gree of north latitude, and that of the 
Plymouth Company, between the fort- 
first and forty-fifth degrees, leaving 
three degrees of space between North 
and South Virginia, on a breadth of 
one hundred miles of which, in the 
centre, neither party should be allowefl 
If; make settlements. 

The idea of the monarch, was to give 
the colonists nothing but the bare ter- 
ritory and the privilege of peopling 
and defending it. The King hacl ab- 
solute authority, and control of all ap- 
jiointments. Jurisdiction under him 
was given to a small body of men re- 
siding in England, known as "The 
Council of Virginia'," the local adminis- 
tration was entrusted to a council in 
the colony, appointed by the one at 
home, the term of office of both mem- 
bers depending upon the King. The 
colonists were accorded the privilege 
of perpetual English citizenship for 
themselves and their children. The 
doctrine and rituals of the Church of 
England was the established religion, 
and no dissent allowed. 

At the beginning of the summer of 
1607, the Plymouth Company sent a 
hundred emigrants, in three small ves- 



sels, under George Popham, one of 
their members, as governor, to Am- 
erica. They landed on a sterile spot 
near the mouth of the Kennebec River, 
on the coast of Maine, late in August. 
They spent a fearful winter, and in the 
s]3ring, when a ship arrived with sup- 
plies, the memories of their confine- 
ment and hardships and the loss of the 
governor by death, had thoroughly dis- 
couraged them, and they returned 
home to England. 

The London Company, in December, 
1606. sent Captain Christopher New- 
])ort with three small vessels and one 
hundred and five emigrants with order.s 
to land on Roanoke sland, where Ral- 
eigh's colony had perished twenty years 
before. Many of the colonists, like 
Bartholomew Gosnold, Captain John 
Smith, George Percy, brother to the 
Duke of Northumberland, and Edward 
jNlaria Wingfield, were men of energy 
;.nd steady habits. But of the re- 
mainder there was only twelve laborers 
and a few mechanics. The King had 
placed the names of the councillors for 
the Virginia government in a sealed 
box, with orders not to open it until the 
colonists should have landed and pre- 
pared to form a settlement. 

They took the southern route, and 
were four months making the voyage. 
Disputes arose, chiefly owing to the im- 
perious manner and outspoken opinions 
of Captain John Smith, who possessed 
more energy and wisdom than any man 
among them. Although he was then 
only twenty-nine years of age. 

Smith was accused by Wingfield, 
who was a member of the London 
Company, of conspiring to murder the 
council, whoever they might be, usurp 
the government, and make himself 
King of \'irginia. He was imprisoned 
during the remainder of the voyage, 
which was verv tedious. 



58 



THE HOME AUXILTARV AND REFERENCE 



Fierce storms drove tlicm far be- 
yond Roanoke Island into Chesapeake 
Bay, the headlands of which they 
named in honor of the Prince of Wales 
and his next oldest brother, Cape 
Henry and Cape Charles. 

They sailed across the mouth of the 
Chesapeake Bay and landed upon a 
point well wooded and fragrant with 
flowers, and named it Point Comfort. 
There Fortress Monroe now stands. 
The sealed box was now opened and 
the company were astonished to find 
the name of Captain Smith amongst 
those of the seven councillors. Yet he 
was not then released. They sailed up 
a broad river that the Indians called 
Powhatan, for forty or fifty miles, and 
chose a place for settlement on an is- 
land close by the northern shore of the 
river. In honor of their King they 
named the river James, and choosing 
Wingfield to preside over the council, 
they resolved to call the island and the 
seat of government Jainestoxvn. Here 
was laid the first foundation for a 
dwelling on that charming spot where 
the first permanent English settlement 
in America was planted. 

The English were told that far up 
the river lived Powhatan, the emperor 
of several confederated tribes. New- 
port, Smith and twenty others went up 
the stream to discover its head and 
to visit this chief. They followed its 
winding course to the falls where Rich- 
mond now stands, and were received 
kindly by Powhatan. Smith, before 
going on this expedition, had advised 
Wingfield to build a fort, for he knew 
that the idle and dissolute men of the 
company would soon make trouble for 
the colony. 

(In his return he found that his fears 
had been realized. The Indians had 
made an attack upon the settlers, 
wounding several and killing a boy. 
The president then consented to the 
building of a stockade 

Newport now prepared to return to 
England with the ships. Smith had not 
been allowed to take his seat in the 
council, for he had not been tried, nor 
had the charges against him been with- 
drawn. The jealous Wingfield pro- 



posed that he should return with New- 
port, wishing to get rid of him, and so 
avoid the disgrace of a trial. The in- 
dignant soldier rejected the proposal 
with scorn, and demanded an immedi- 
ate trial. Smith's innocence was plain 
to his companions, and his services 
were so much needed that they de- 
manded his release. Wingfield with- 
drew his charges and Smith took his 
seat in the council, when it was ad- 
judged by that body that the president 
should pay him £200 damages for false 
imprisonment. All the property Wing- 
field had with him was seized to pay 
this award, when Smith generously 
"returned it to the store for the general 
use of the colony." From that time 
Captain Smith was the ruling spirit in 
Virginia. 

Newport departed for England for 
more emigrants and supplies, at the 
middle of June. The outlook for the 
colony was now not very bright. Aluch 
of their food had been spoiled during 
the long voyage, and the hostile In- 
dians withheld supplies. As one of the 
colonists wrote, "had we been as free 
from all sins as from gluttony and 
drunkeness, we might have been cano- 
nized as saints." Most of the emi- 
grants were too idle or too ignorant to 
till the soil. Within a short time after 
Newport had left them, hardly ten of 
them were able to stand through fevers 
and dysentery, brought b}' the summer 
heat, which produced malaria from the 
swamps. Before the beginning of Au- 
tumn one-half of the emigrants were 
dead. .A.mong the victims was Gos- 
nold, a man of great worth, to whose 
example the settler? were indebted for 
the little order that prevailed among 
them. The survivors discovered that 
during their distress, the avaricious 
and unscrupulous Wingfield was liv- 
ing on choice stores and was preparing 
to abandon the settlement and escape 
to the West Indies. He was deprived 
of his office, and Captain John Rat- 
cliffe, a man much weaker in mind and 
equally wicked, was put in his place. 
The settlers soon perceived their mis- 
take and removing Ratcliffe, they 
placed the reins of government in the 



SECOND PERIOD— S1:TTLEMENTS 



hands of Captain Smith. This event 
saved the colony from ruin. Hopeful, 
cheerful, energetic, honest, full of in- 
vention and equal to any emergency. 
Smith soon brought order out of con- 
fusion ; inspired the Indians with awe 
and compelled them to bring him food. 
Wild fowl, returning from the north, 
swarmed on the waters in October, and 
at the beginning of November, an 
abundant crop of Indian corn had been 
gathered by the savages, who shared it 
with their dependent white neighbors. 
The London Company had given 
special instructions to the settlers to ex- 
plore every considerable stream they 
should find flowing from the northwest, 
hoping so to discover a passage to the 
Indian Ocean and coveted Cathay. 
Smith did not share the ignorance of 
liis employers, but he gladly made their 
instructions his warrant for exploring 
the surrounding country. He sailed up 
the Chickahominy in an open boat as 
far as the shallow waters, and con- 
tinued his journey, with two comjian- 
ions and one guide, far into the woods 
in search of game. The savages, under 
Opechancanough, the King of Pam- 
unky, slew his two companions and 
captured Smith. He was now conduc- 
ted from village to village in great 
state, for the Indians considered him a 
superior being, where the women and 
children stared at him in mute astonish- 
ment. Then they conducted him into 
the presence of the Emperor Powhatan, 
at a place now known as Shelly, on the 
banks of the York River, in Gloucester 
county, \'irginia, and asked him to de- 
cide the fate of the prisoner. There 
Smith obtained permission to send a 
letter to Jamestown, in which he in- 
formed the settlers of his condition, 
and directed them to impress the mes- 
senger with as much fear of the Eng- 
lish as possible. Smith was finally 
brought before a council of full twd 
luindred warriors. By that council he 
was doomed to die. Two huge stones 
were brought before the emperor, to 
which the jjrisoner was dragged and 
his head laid upon them, whilst two 
big savages stood by with clubs ready 
to beat out his brains. Matoa, or Poca- 



hontas, a young daughter of the em- 
peror, begged for the life of the Cap- 
tain, but in vain, when, just as the 
clubs were uplifted, she darted from 
her father's knee, clasped the prisoner's 
head with her arms and laid her own 
head upon his. The emperor yielded to 
the maid, and consented to spare tlie 
life of the captive. He did more; he 
released Captain Smith, sent him with 
an escort of a dozen men to James- 
town, and he and his people promised 
to be fast friends of the English. But 
for the energy and wisdom of Captain 
Smith and the tender compassion of an 
Indian maiden, the settlers at Jame— 
town would have all been murdered or 
dispersed. 

On his return. Smith found the 
stronger members of the colony, which 
had been reduced to forty persons, on 
the point of abandoning the place. By 
his personal courage he compelled them 
to stay, and so, again he saved the 
colony from ruin. These men now 
hated him with an intensity that sought 
his destruction. 

The settlers were n(_i\v engaged in 
building a house for the President of 
the Council, and Smith ordered the re- 
building of the church, which had been 
burned. 

Newport returned to Jamestown 
earl)- in 1608, with two vessels. But 
be Ijrought no better materials for a 
colony than before. Instead of needed 
mechanics and farmers with families, 
he brought chiefly idle "gentlemen, " 
some of them vicious. There were one 
hundred and twenty of them and there 
was scarcely a useful man among 
ihem. There were several unskilled 
goldsmiths, whose ignorance caused a 
most destructive gold-fever to prevail. 
They pronounced some glittering yel- 
low earth near Jamestown to be gold, 
and for a while there was "no talk, no 
hope, no work, but dig gold, refine 
gold, load gold." Newport loaded his 
vessel with this worthless earth, and re- 
turned to England with the impression 
that he was an immensely rich man. 
Me was soon undeceived. 

Captain Smith implored the settlers 
to plant and sow, that thev might ha\e 



THE HOMK AUXILIARY AXD REl- I'.KF.XCF. 



])lent\ without the aid of the Indians, 
who, chiefly through Pocahontas, were 
sending them supphes. Hut they 
would not listen, and early in the sum- 
mer of that year, he turned from 
Jamestown in disgust, and with a few 
more sensible men he went in an open 
boat to explore the Chesapeake Bay 
and its numerous tributaries. 

In three months, he made two voy- 
ages. During the first he went up the 
Potomac River to the Falls near 
Georgetown, and up the Rappahannock 
to the Falls near Fredericksburg, and 
then returned to Jamestown. During 
the second voyage he went up the Pa- 
tapsco to the site of Baltimore and up 
the narrower part of the Chesapeake 
Bay into the Susquehanna River, a 
short distance above Havre-de-Grace, 
where he heard of the powerful Iro- 
quois Confederacy in the present State 
of New York. In these two voyages. 
Smith not only explored the shores of 
the great waters, but penetrated into 
the country, made friendly alliances 
with several chiefs, and smoothed the 
way for future settlements on the bor- 
ders of the noble Chesapeake. He had 
voyaged about three thousand miles in 
an open boat and made a map of the 
region explored, remarkable for its ac- 
curacy, which is preserved in London. 

\Mien Captain Smith returned to 
Jamestown, early in September, he 
found the colony again in confusion. 
His advent was hailed with delight, 
and three days after his return he was 
chosen President of the Council. He 
now organized labor and compelled the 
]ierformance of the same, .\bout this 
time Xewport arrived with two ships, 
bearing supplies and seventy emigrants. 
There were two women, the first of 
Furopean blood to arrive in the colony. 
The men were no better than the other 
emigrants. The London Corporation 
had sent lo the settlers a message, say- 
ing, "L'nless you shall send us sufficient 
commodities to pay for the voyage 
(£2000) ; unlesi yovi shall send us a 
lump of gold, the product of Virginia, 
assurance of having found a passage 
to the South Sea (Pacific Ocean), and 
also one of the last colony of Roanoke, 



you shall be left in \ irginia as ban- 
ished men." To this threat Smith re- 
l)lied with spirit, showing the absurdity 
of their demand and entreating them 
to send mechanics and husbandmen. 

This threat assisted the president in 
enforcing rules for labor. He de- 
manded six hours work from every 
able-bodied man. "He who will not 
work shall not eat," he said. \'ery 
soon the little village showed signs of 
an orderly community. 

The London Company obtained a 
new charter in May, 1609, by which the 
boundaries of their domain was en- 
larged. Lord De la Ware was made 
Governor and Captain-general for 
life. In June, more than five hundred 
emigrants were sent out under com- 
mand of Captain Xewport. These emi- 
grants were composed of some of the 
worst classes in England. The only 
things brought by the fleet that were 
\aluable to the settlement were horses, 
swine, goats and sheep, and domestic 
fowls. To these were added, two years 
later, one hundred cows and other 
cattle. 

In the absence of the new governor, 
anarchy menaced the colony, but Smith, 
with his usual energy, asserted his 
authority, and devised new expeditions 
that the vicious might be employed, and 
saved the settlement from ruin. In the 
autumn an accidental explosion of gun- 
powder so wounded Smith that he was 
compelled to go to England for sur- 
gical aid. and never returned to Mr- 
ginia. 

It was more than si.x months after 
the departure of Captain Smith, before 
three commissioners arrived who were 
to represent the governor. Meanwhile, 
the settlers, left almost without re- 
straint, had indulged in every irregular- 
ity of life, and their provisions were 
soon exhausted. They had, by cruelty, 
made the Indians hostile, who had 
withheld food from them. Finally the 
Indians devised a plan to exterminate 
the wdiole body of the intruders. It 
was frustrated by Pocahontas, who al- 
ways proved to be the friend of the 
settlers. \\'hen she heard the plot, she 
hastened to Jame.stow-n, and revealing 



SECOND PERIOD— SETTLEMENTS 



6i 



llic conspiracy to Percy, put the Eng- 
lish on their guard. 

Famine came with its horrors and 
transformed civihzed Englishmen into 
cannibals. They fed on the Indians 
tliey slew, and sometimes on their own 
companions who had died from hunger. 
\\'hen the commissioners arrived in the 
spring of 1610, of the four hundred 
and ninety persons whom Smith left in 
Virginia, only sixty remained alive. 
Alany a time, during that winter and 
spring, which was ever afterward re- 
ferred to as "the starving time," flid 
they lament the folly in not following 
the advice of Captain Smith to till the 
soil. 

Brave, honest and true. Captain 
.Smith won the honor of being the first 
jjlanter of the Saxon race, on the soil 
of the United States, and is entitled to 
the endearing name of Father of Vir- 
ginia. 

The commissioners, on their arrival 
at the settlement, saw, instead of a 
prosperous colony, sixty starving men 
in the depths of despair. They saw 
no other way to save their lives than to 
abandon the settlement, sail to New- 
foundland, and distribute the settlers 
among the English fishermen there. 

They were about to embark, when 
the governor. Lord De la Ware, ar- 
rived with provisions and emigrants, 
and saved the colony. 

The governor, a pious, prudent, gen- 
erous and humane man. won the respect 
of the colonists. He caused the church 
to be rebuilt, the dwellings to be im- 
proved and many more acres cultivated. 
The health of the governor now failed 
and he returned to England in the 
spring of 1611, lea\ing Percv in 
cliarge. 

Sir Thomas Dale, a brave soldier, 
now arrived with su|)plies and assumed 
the reins of government and ruled un- 
der martial law both the church and 
state. At the close of summer. Sir 
Thomas Gates, with six well furnished 
ships and three hundred emigrants, ar- 
rived. These emigrants were a much 
lietter class than any who had as yet 
appeared in X'irginia. The greater por- 
tion were sober and industrious, and 



they had a good influence on the earlier 
settlers. Gates now assumed the gov- 
ernorship, and Dale went up the river 
and planted settlements at the mouth ot 
the Appomattox River ( now Bermuda 
Hundred) and at the Falls (now Rich- 
mond). 

Another charter was now obtained 
from the Company, which allowed the 
powers of the association to be distri- 
buted in a democratic manner among 
all of the members, who met in mass 
for deliberation and legislation. The 
most important feature affecting t!ie 
welfare of the settlement was that 
which allowed every man to cultivate 
a few acres of land for his own sole 
use and benefit. Before that time the 
land was tilled in common, and the in- 
dustrious provided food for the laz\'. 
An ample supply of provisions for all 
was easily obtained, and the com- 
munity system was abandoned. Al- 
though no political privileges were 
granted by the new charter, the settlers 
were contented. 

Ever since the departure of Captain 
Smith, Powhatan had evinced hostility 
to the settlers, and the powerful Chica- 
hominies, their nearest neighbors, sym- 
pathized with him and allowed no food 
to be carried to Jamestown. Provi- 
sions there became scarce, and Captain 
.\rgal!, a sort of buccaneer, who was 
then in X'irginia, was sent with a for- 
aging expedition up the York and 
James Rivers. He bribed an Indian 
with the gift of a copper kettle, when 
near the residence of Powhatan, to en- 
tice Pocahontas on board his vessel, 
where he detained her a prisoner, ex- 
pecting to get a large quantity of corn 
from her father as a ransom for his 
daughter, and to recover some arms 
and implements of labor which had 
l)een stolen by the Indians. The em- 
peror rejected the proposition of ran- 
som with scorn, and refused to hold 
any intercourse with the pirate, but de- 
claring to the authorities at Jamestown, 
that if his daughter should be released, 
he would forget the injury and be a 
friend to the English. They would not 
trust his word, and the maiden was 
taken to ]amcst(i\\n and detained 



62 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



there several montlis, but was always 
treated with respectful consideration. 
The affair was assuming a serious as- 
pect, when love settled the difficulty. 
Among the young men of rank and 
education, at Jamestown, was John 
Rolfe, of an excellent English family, 
who became enamored of Pocahontas, 
she reciprocated his passion, and they 
agreed to be wedded. He taught her 
the Christian religion, she proved to be 
an apt scholar and was soon baptized 
with the name of Rebecca. She was 
the first Christian Indian in Virginia. 

They were married in April, 1613. 
Her father's consent to her marriage 
had been easily obtained, and he sent 
his brother Opachisco to give away his 
daughter according to the Christian 
ritual, for he would not trust himself 
with the English at Jamestown. 

This brought present peace with the 
Indians, and Powhatan was ever after- 
ward the fast friend of the English. 
\V'hen the Governor, Sir Thomas Dale, 
returned to England, in 1616, they, 
with several others of the settlement 
and all the women there accompanied 
him. 

In England the "Lady Rebecca" re- 
ceived great attentions from the court 
and all below it. Pocahontas remained 
in England about a year ; and when she 
was about to embark for America with 
her husband and son, and Tomocome, 
her father's chief councillor, she sick- 
ened and died at Gravesend, in June, 
1617, when she was not cjuite twenty- 
two years of age. She left a son, 
Thomas Rolfe, who became a distin- 
guished man in Mrginia, and whose 
descendants have been numbered 
among the honorable citizens of that 
commonwealth. 

Prosperity was now the destiny of 
the settlements in Virginia, although 
the prime element of a permanent state 
— the famih' — was yet wanting. Be- 
cause of this want, the settlers contin- 
ually indulged in dreams of returning 
home. Dale, who had ruled with wis- 
dom and energy, discouraged this feel- 
ing, and by engaging them in the culti- 
vation of the tobacco plant, somewhat 
allayed it. His successors encouraged 



its production, and in spite of the ef- 
fort of King James to prevent its use 
in England, its growth and exportation 
to the mother country soon became the 
staple and verj' profitable business of 
the planters in Virginia. Its culture 
became a mania. The streerts of James- 
town were planted with it, and food 
producing products were so neglected, 
that while great cargoes of tobacco 
were preparing for England, the neces- 
saries of life were wanting. It became 
the currency of the country, the money 
value of a pound of tobacco being fixed 
at about sixty-six cents. 

Dale left Argall as deputy governor, 
but his petty tyranny and rank dis- 
honesty disgusted the people. The 
story of his conduct checked emigra- 
tion, and his office was given to George 
Yeardly, a wise statesman and a friend 
of man. On the death of Lord De la 
W^are, while on a voyage to resume the 
reins of government. Yeardly was ap- 
pointed governor with wide discretion- 
ary powers. He abolished martial law, 
releasing the planters from feudal ser- 
vice and confirming their titles to lanas 
in their possession, and establishing a 
representative government on the 
banks of the James, he laid the founda- 
tions of a permanent colony. He 
found the settlers yearning for the free- 
dom enjoyed by their fellow-subjects in 
England. He could not reconcile that 
freedom with the then disabihties, so, 
with the sanction of the Company, he 
introduced a new political system in 
Virginia. The settlements were divi- 
ded into eleven boroughs, each having 
two representatives, called burgesses, 
who were chosen by the people. These 
with the governor and council consti- 
tuted the colonial government. Be- 
cause of these liberties, the settlers ex- 
pressed their gratitude; and when, in 
June, 1619, a representative assembly 
met at Jamestown, they felt they had 
a home in Virginia. W'ithin two years 
after the meeting of the first House of 
I'lUrgesses — the first representative as- 
sembly in America — about two hundred 
and fifty reputable }oung women were 
sent over from England to become the 
wives for the planters. These were re- 



SECOND PERIOD— SETTLE.MEXTS 



63 



ceived witli gladness, and cherished 
with fondness. The tribe of gold- 
seekers had disappeared. Industry 
was the rule and not the exception in 
the settlements, and the colony of 
Virginia was hrmly established. 

MASSACHUSETTS. 

We have considered the failures of 
the Plymouth Company to plant settle- 
ments in America. We will now con- 
sider other attempts and failures, and 
the permanent establishment of a 
settlement in New England. 

The restless Captain Smith did not 
long remain idle after his return from 
Virginia. In company with four Lon- 
don merchants he fitted out two ships 
for the purpose of discovery and traffic 
in the northern regions of America. 
Captain Thomas Hunt commanded one 
of the vessels and Smith sailed in the 
other. They sailed in March, 1614, anct 
landed on the island of Mohegan, about 
twent}' miles from the mouth of the 
Penoliscot River. Smith left the crews, 
employed in fishing, while he and a few 
men explored the several rivers far 
into the interior, and the coast from the 
Penobscot to Cape Cod. Smith con- 
structed a map of the region, and after 
an absence of seven months, the vessels 
returned to England with cargoes of 
considerable value. On the map that 
Smith constructed the region was called 
Nczi: England, which title was con- 
firmed by the King. Captain Hunt, 
wishing to impede settlements by in- 
flaming the wrath of the Indians, .so 
that he and a few others could enjoy a 
monopoly of the traffic on the coast, 
kidnapped twenty-seven of the savages 
at Cape Cod with Squanto, their chief, 
and taking them to Spain sold them as 
slaves. Some of them were taken by 
benevolent friars, who educated them 
for missionaries among the tribes, but 
only Squanto returned to America. 
The next fishing vessels that came 
from New England brought word that 
the natives were greatly exasperated. 

Smith sailed on another voyage in 
the spring of 1615. His ship was shat- 
tered by a tempest and returned to port. 



On the 4th of July, following, he sailed 
again but was captured by the French. 
\Vhile a prisoner, he wrote an account 
of his voyage to New England which 
was published the next year. After a 
brief captivity he was released and re- 
turned home. Meanwhile, the Plym- 
outh Company had made him admiral 
of New England ; but. discouraged by 
ill luck, the company had again aban- 
doned the project of planting a colony 
there. Smith now drops out of sight in 
history, and not long after (1631 ) the 
founder of the Virginia colony died at 
the age of fifty-one years. 

In 1620, King James gave a grant of 
all the land lying between 40 and 48 de- 
grees north latitude, and from the .At- 
lantic to the Pacific, to a commercial 
company, with many exclusive privil- 
eges. So great a monopoly did this be- 
stow upon the company that Parlia- 
ment took up the subject in warm de- 
bate, and while all parties concerned 
were wrangling over the subject, a 
permanent settlement in New England 
was made by the Puritans, who are fa- 
miliar and dear to the American heart 
as the "Pilgrim Fathers." 

The Puritans were a religious sect 
of England, who had existed since 
1550. Their prominent traits of char- 
acter were an uncompromising absti- 
nence from gayety and amusements, 
firm belief in the practice of the teach- 
ings of the Bible, and a fervid love of 
civil and religious liberty. Having been 
driven from England by prosecution, 
because they would not conform to the 
doctrines of the Church of England, 
they took refuge in Holland in 160S. 
There they were permitted to live and 
worship God as they chose, but the na- 
tional disregard for the Sabbath and 
the demoralizing influences surround- 
ing their children, at last determined 
them to emigrate to the wilderness of 
America. Reports of the Virginia 
settlement had reached them, and they 
made application to the London Com- 
pany to become colonists on their land. 
In their petition they made the follow- 
ing declaration of their principles: 
"We verily believe that God is with us 
and will prosper us in our endeavors. 



64 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



We are weaned from our mother 
country, and have learned patience in 
a hard and strange land. We are in- 
dustrious and frugal ; we are bound to- 
gether by a social bond of the Lord, 
whereof we make great conscience, 
holding ourselves to each others good. 
We do not wish ourselves home again : 
we have nothing to hope from England 
or Holland ; we are men who will not 
be easily discouraged." 

Some objections being made to their 
admission to the colony by members of 
the company, their consent was not 
given to the Puritans to emigrate to 
\'irginia. One great difficulty in the 
way was their extreme poverty. In 
their persecutions and exile for con- . 
science's sake they had become so poor 
that they could supply little or no 
means toward the expedition. After 
their failure to arrange with the Lon- 
don Company, a number of London 
merchants formed a company to ad- 
vance the means for establishing the 
colony on condition that each emigrant 
should labor seven years to make up 
the amount of his stock in the company 
against the sum of ten pounds paid in 
by each of the merchants. 

Two vessels, the Mayflower and 
Speedwell, were secured for the voy- 
age, and all the younger and more 
vigorous of the Puritan congregation 
in Holland embarked on the vessels at 
Delft Haven in charge of William 
P>rewster. At the parting their vener- 
able pastor, John Robinson, who re- 
mained in charge of those still left in 
Holland, delivered to the emigrants an 
affectionate farewell, in which he said : 
"I charge you before God and His holy 
angels, that you follow me no further 
than you have seen me follow the Lord 
Jesus Christ. If God reveal anything 
to you, be ready to receive ; for I am 
verily persuaded the Lord has more 
truth yet to break out of His Holy 
Word. I beseech you to remember it 
is an article of your Church covenant 
that you be ready to receive whatever 
truth shall be made known to you from 
the written Word of God. Take heed 
what you receive as truth ; examine it. 
consider it, and compare it with other 



scriptures of truth before you receive 
it : the Christian world has not yet 
come to the perfection of knowledge !" 

The night before their departure was 
passed in prayer and exhortation on 
shore, in company of the venerable pas- 
tor and brethren who came with him 
from Ley den, and the next morning, 
after a prayer and benediction from 
Robinson, the Pilgrims went on board 
the ships and embarked for the New 
World. After stopping at Southamp- 
ton and again sailing, it was discovered 
that the Speedwell was unseaworthy. 
and her captain, declaring that he could 
not cross the ocean with her, both ships 
put back to Plymouth, where they left 
the Speedwell and all the emigrants 
who could not go in the ]Mayflower. 
Again the ^^layflower sailed with her 
devoted band of one hundred Pilgrims, 
and buffeting the waves with her prec- 
ious freight, she reached the shores of 
a rock-boimd. winter coast. 

The Pilgrims had intended settling 
on the neutral territory near the Hud- 
son River, but after sixty-three days 
they found themselves on the coast of 
Massachusetts, where they made a 
landing in a rock harbor, which they 
named Pl_\mouth, after the last port 
from which they had sailed in the Old 
World. The landing was made on 
Plymouth Rock, on the 2ist day of 
December, 1620, and immediately they 
began to build the first town in \ew 
England. 

Among the prominent men of the 
colony were : W'illiam Brewster, the 
ruling elder : John Carver, W'illiam 
Bradford. Edward Winslow and Miles 
Standish. John Carver was elected 
governor and Miles Standish, the in- 
trepid soldier, who had fought in 
Queen Elizabeth's army sent to aid the 
E)utch against the Spaniards, was elec- 
ted as the captain of the colony. 

The sufferings of the colonists be- 
gan on the very day of their landing, 
but they bravely bore them without a 
murmur, and maintained a firm trust 
in God. It was .slow, hard work to fell 
and hew the trees for building their 
houses, but they persevered even when 
their strength left them. During the 



SECOND PERIOD— SETTLEMEXTS 



65 



month of December, six of the colonists 
were taken sick, and before the winter 
ended over forty of them had been 
laid in their graves. Bradford and 
Winslow lost their wives, and Miles 
Standish also lost his young bride. 
Rose Standish, while among the men, 
Carver, the governor, lost his son ; then 
he died and was soon followed by his 
wife, all of them were buried near 
Plymouth Rock. So discouraging was 
their condition that at one time only 
seven of the colony were not confined 
to sick beds. 

But with all their sad and destitute 
condition not one of them desired to 
return on the ^^layflower, when she 
set .sail for England. The blessings of 
civil and religious liberty were too dear 
to them in the land of their adoption to 
be abandoned while life lasted, and 
even death would be sweet if at so dear 
a cost the}- could leave the birthright of 
freedom and constitutional government 
to their children and to unborn ages. 

.■\s spring advanced the health and 
])rospects of the colonists improved, 
and during the summer they raised a 
scanty supply of food, but in the fall 
a new company of emigrants came, al- 
most without provisions, and there was 
great danger of a famine. For many 
months the Indians had never entered 
the settlement, but when seen near by 
and approached, had always tied, until 
one day a friendly Indian, named 
Samoset, of the Wampanoags, entered 
the little village, exclaiming in English, 
"Welcome, Englishmen ! Welcome, 
Englishmen !" It was a surprise to the 
little colony to hear him speak in their 
native tongue. He had learned a few 
English words from previous naviga- 
tors and the fishermen on the Penob- 
scot. Samoset told the colonists that 
they could occupy the settlement, as a 
pestilence had destroyed the former 
owners of the land. In a few days 
Samoset returned with Squanto, who 
was formerly kidnapped and taken to 
Spain as a slave, where he was ran- 
somed by the monks and educated for 
a missionary, and returned to his na- 
tive land. Squanto informed the Pil- 
grims that Massasoit, the chief of the 



Wampanoags, wanted an interview 
with them. In a few days Massasoit, 
with a number of his tribe, visited 
Plymouth, and Squanto acted as inter- 
preter, and by his influence a treaty 
was made with the Pilgrims, by which 
they bound themselves to defend eacii 
other from the attacks of enemies. 
This treaty was observed for over fifty 
years. 

Captain Standish, feeling that it was 
"not good for man to be alone," almost 
immediately turned to Priscilla Mullins 
for consolation. She was the daughter 
of William iNIullins, one of the May- 
flower passengers. The captain was 
then thirty-seven years of age, and 
Priscilla had but just lately bloomed 
into young womanhood. In Standish's 
family lived John Alden, a young 
cooper from Southampton, whom the 
captain sent as ambassador to Pns- 
cilla's father to ask his consent for the 
soldier to visit her with matrimonial 
intent. He performed the duties of his 
mission modestly and faithfully. The 
father readily gave his consent, adding, 
"But Priscilla must be consulted." She 
\\ as summoned to the room. There sat 
John .\lden, whom she well knew — a 
young man of graceful form, a hand- 
some, ruddy face and sparkling eyes, 
and of almost courtly manners. The 
ambassador of love repeated his mes- 
sage from the soldier. The calendar 
tells us it was leap-year, when English 
maidens had the privilege of wooing. 
"Prithee. John," said Priscilla, as she 
fixed her mischievous eyes on the face 
of the young diplomat, "why do you not 
speak for yourself?" John blushed, 
bowed and retired, for he was faithful 
to his trust. But his visit was soon re- 
peated ; and it was not long before the 
nuptials of the young couple were cele- 
brated b}' the whole community, ex- 
cepting Captain Standish, who could 
not readily forgive the weakness of his 
young friend in surrendering at the 
first assault from the eyes and lips of a 
maiden. 

That was the first marriage in the 
colony, and the inciilents were some- 
what dramatic, for John Alden went to 
the nuptials seated on a young bull, 



THE HOME AUXILIARY A.\I) REEICKENXE 



laparisoiied with a piece of handsoiiie 
broadcloth. Returning from the wed- 
ding, he led the bull by a ring in its 
nose, walking by his side, whilst his 
l)ride rode like a queen upon the ani- 
mal. To the heart of Miles Standish, 
Priscilla upon Taurus was a repetition 
of the story of the carrying away of 
Europa, the Phoenician princess. Such 
is the story of tradition and poetry. 
History gravely tells us that there was 
no horned cattle in the colony until 
some time after this marriage. 

From time to time the memory of 
that first marriage in New England has 
lieen revived by history and song. A 
vivid picture of it is given in Long- 
fellow's "Courtship of Miles Stan- 
dish ;" and the notable wedding was 
brought to mind when, in April, 1874, 
Mrs. Phoebe C. Bailey died in Dover, 
New Hampshire, at the age of ninety- 
one years. She was the great-grand- 
daughter of John Alden and Priscilla 
Mullins. 

NEW NETHERLANDS. 

We have already considered the in- 
cidents attending the discovery of the 
Hudson River and the country on its 
borders between its mouth and the site 
of Albany, in 1609. Let us now view 
the more prominent events connected 
with the establishment of a permanent 
settlement there. 

The report that the newly discovered 
region abounded with fur-bearing ani- 
mals, excited the keenest cupidity in 
the Dutch, for they had recently tasted 
the pleasures of a profitable fur trade, 
which they had opened with northern 
Russia. 

Among the bold navigators who 
came from Holland was Adrien Block. 
His vessel was the Tigress. Late in 
the autumn of 161 3, when laden with 
bear skins, she was accidentally burned 
to a useless wreck. The crew now built 
for themselves a rude log hut. where 
the warehouses of Beaver Street now 
stand, and went at work to construct a 
new vessel. Before spring it was fin- 
ished and named the Onrust — "Rest- 
less"' — a title that seems prophetic of 



the unresting activity which now marks 
the island of Manhattan. The little 
hamlet then built, and the vessel there 
constructed, were fruitful seeds of the 
great commonwealth of New York. 

In the spring of 1^14, Block sailed 
through the dangerous strait of Hell 
Gate into Long Island Sound. Dis- 
covered and explored the Housatonic, 
Connecticut and Thames Rivers ; an- 
chored in the bay of New Haven ; 
touched Montauk Point on the eastern 
end of Long Island and landed on a 
small island discovered by Verazzani, 
a century before, and which is now 
known as Block Island. After leaving 
Narragansett Bay, he sailed up the 
coast beyond Boston Harbor, where he 
fell in with his friend, Hendrick Chris- 
tiansen, who was about to sail for Hol- 
land. Leaving his vessel in command 
of another navigator. Block sailed to 
Holland with his friend. 

The merchants concerned in Block's 
discoveries, stimulated by his reports, 
obtained a charter in October, 1614, 
from the States-General granting them 
the privilege of making four voyages 
to any new passages, haven, land or 
places they might discover. The ter- 
ritory included in the charter, and 
which was defined as lying between 
Mrginia and New France — between 
the parallels of 40 and 45 degrees — was 
called A'ctc A'ctlicrlaiid. 

I\Ieanwhile, the Onrust, under com- 
mand of Cornelius Hendrickson, had 
entered and explored Delaware Bay 
and River. Efforts were made to ob- 
tain a charter for this region also, but 
it was considered part of Virginia and 
not granted. 

In 1618, at the expiration of the 
charter, it was not renewed. The di- 
rectors of New Netherlands then pro- 
secuted their trading enterprise upon 
the borders of the Hudson with in- 
creased vigor. They had built a fort 
on an island just below the site of Al- 
banv. They now enlarged their store- 
house at Manhattan and made the little 
hamlet a social village. The traders 
went into the Mohawk Valley, and be- 
came acquainted and made a treaty 
with the powerful Iroquois league, 



SECOND PERIOD— SETTLl-.M EXTS 



67 



which was kept inviolate until New 
Xetherlands passed into the hands of 
the English. It was a wise measure, 
for that confederacy was strong 
enough to have swept from the face of 
tlie earth all European intruders. 
Their power was felt, as we have oh- 
served, from the St. Lawrence to the 
Gulf of Mexico 

The Plymouth Company complained 
to King James of England that the 
Dutch were intruders on their domain, 
and Captain Dermer, of an English 
^hip. when he stopped in the bay of 
Xew York, in June, 1619, warned them 
to leave. But the good-natured Dutch- 
men answered, "We found no English- 
men here;" and went on smoking their 
pipes, planting their gardens, catching 
1 leavers and otters, as if they had never 
heard the voice of Captain Dermer. 

The sounds of royal bluster came oc- 
casionally from Great Britain, but that 
did not deter the States-General from 
helping their "loyal subjects" in New 
Xetherlands, and they proceeded to 
charter the "Dutch West India Com- 
pany," making it a great commercial 
monopoly by giving it almost regal 
powers to colonize, govern- and defend, 
not only the little domain on the Hud- 
son, but the whole unoccupied coast of 
America, from Newfoundland to Cape 
Horn. That charter contained all the 
guarantees of freedom in social, politi- 
cal and religious life necessary to the 
founding of a free state. Republican- 
fsm was recognized as the true system 
of government and home in its broad- 
est and purest sense, as the prime ele- 
ment of political strength. X^o 
stranger was to be questioned as to his 
nativity or his creed as matters which 
concerned the state. "Do you wish to 
build, to plant, and to become a citi- 
zen ?" was the sum of their catechism, 
when a new comer appeared. If the 
answer should be satisfactory, he was 
to be welcomed. That charter was 
granted on the 3d of June, 1621, at the 
time when the stricken Pilgrims at 
Plymouth, on the coast of ]\Iassachu- 
setts, were cultivating their first fruit 
gardens and corn fields. 

The Plymoutli Company had lieen 



granted a charter about this time. 
Without their consent no ships might 
enter any harbor on the .\merican 
coast from the latitude of Philadelphia 
to Newfoundland, no fish could be 
caught within three miles of the coast, 
not a skin taken in the forests, nor an 
emigrant live upon the soil without 
their consent. The Ilolanders at the 
Hague were little moved by this order 
from the Plymouth Company, nor were 
the French, for a little later the captain 
of a b'rcnch vessel, anchored in the 
mouth of the Hudson River, attempted 
to set up the arms of France there, and 
take possession of the country in the 
name of his King. 

At that time there were thousands 
of refugees from persecution in the 
Xetherlands. Among these were many 
of French extraction, who spoke the 
French language, called Walloons. 
They were a hardy, industrious and 
skillful race of men and women, and 
ranked among the most thrifty, honest 
and religious inhabitants. The\' heard 
the enticing stories of the beauty and 
fertility of \'irginia, and some of them 
desired to emigrate to America. They 
applied to the London Company, but 
the terms were not liberal enough. The 
States-General, hearing of the move- 
ment commended them to the Dutch 
West India Company. An agreement 
was made with several families, and in 
the spring of 1623, they were ready 
for departure for their new home. 

The emigrants, consisting of thirty 
families, with agricultural implements, 
cows, horses, sheep and swine, arrived 
in Xew York Harbor in May. They 
were under command of Cornelius 
Jacobsen May, of Hoorn, who was to 
lemain in New Netherlands as first di- 
rector or governor. His lieutenant was 
Adrien Joris. On their arrival they 
found the French mentioned above ly- 
ing at anchor. The yacht Mackerel 
had just come down the Hudson. She 
compelled the French vessel to leave. 
He went round to the Delaware and re- 
ceived similar treatment, when he 
sailed for I'rance. This ended the at- 
tempts of tlie French to assert juris- 
diction below the forty-fiftli parallel. 



68 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AXD REFERENCE 



Some of the emigrants, it is said, 
settled on Long Island and founded 
the city of Brooklyn, now part of 
"Greater New York :" others went up 
tlic Connecticut River to a point near 
the site of Hartford and built Fort 
Good Hope, others planted themselves 
in the present Ulster County, in New 
York, and others founded Albany, 
where the Dutch had a fort called Fort 
( )range. Others, it is said, settled on 
the Delaware, then called the South 
River, near the month of Timber 
Creek, below the site of Philadelphia. 

\\''hen May's lieutenant, Joris, re- 
turned to Amsterdam with a ship laden 
with furs, and reported the success of 
the settlers, the Company sent out ships 
with cattle, horses, sheep, swine, farm- 
ing implements and seeds for their use, 
and more emigrants. 

The English were now in league with 
the Dutch against the Spanish. This 
promised non-interference on the part 
of the Engish, and the Dutch ^\'est In- 
dia Company proceeded to lay the poli- 
tical foundations of a state in New 
Netherland. 

They commissioned Peter Alinuit 
governor, with a council of seven men, 
a secretary of state, who also kept the 
Company's accounts, and a sheriff, who 
was public prosecutor and manager of 
the revenue. The council was invested 
with full powers, both civil and crimi- 
nal, except in capital cases, which were 
to be tried in Holland. The council 
were under the jurisdiction of the .Am- 
sterdam College or Chamber of Nine- 
teen. 

Governor Minuit arrived in IManhat- 
tan at the beginning of ^lay. 1626. He 
at once opened negotiations with the 
Indians for the purchase of the island, 
so as to procure a more valid title than 
that of discovery and occupation. It 
was purchased for the West India 
Company for twenty-four dollars and 
was estimated to contain twenty-two 
thousand acres. A fort was built 
where the "P)attery" now stands, and 
named Fort Amsterdam, and after- 
ward the city which grew up there was 
called New Amsterdam. 

About this time an event occurred 



which had a serious effect on the future 
success of the colony. Two adult In- 
chans and a small boy, of a tribe in 
\\"estchester County, went from their 
homes to the Dutch settlement with 
beaver skins for barter. Near a pond 
which was situated where the "Tombs" 
prison now stands, the two Indians 
were murdered and their skins stolen. 
The boy escaped. He vowed ven- 
geance: and in after years, when he 
was a stalwart brave, he fearfully exe- 
cuted his vow. The murder was im- 
known to the Dutch authorities for a 
long time, so the guilty men probably 
escaped punishment. 

The Company took measures im- 
mediately to secure their title to the 
domain by more extended occupation. 
They had taken possession of the 
country before their final organization, 
by virtue of their charter, because they 
knew how jealous were the English : 
and to give a show of actual occupa- 
tion, they had sent trading vessels 
which bore instructions to the officers 
of Manhattan and on the North River. 
and, as we have seen, proceeded to 
build fortifications. 

Within seventeen years from the dis- 
covery of the Hudson, the foundations 
of the great commonwealth of New 
York were laid by families, most of 
whom were voluntary exiles from their 
native land for the sake of freedom of 
thought and action. These were the 
first seeds of the State. To these were 
added genuine Hollanders, who 
brought with them the principles of 
toleration, which lie at the foundations 
of a truly Christian State. 

New Amsterdam gave to the state 
and nation a race in whose veins 
courses the blood of the Teuton, Saxon. 
Celt and Gaul. The colonists from 
Holland exhibited from the beginning, 
a more enlarged vision of the rights of 
conscience and respect for the dignity 
of personal freedom, than any other 
of the early American settlers. 

Their passion for far-reaching com- 
merce and adventurous enterprise has 
ever hovered over Manhattan Island 
like a tutelar deity, during all its social 
and political vicissitudes, and has made 



SECOND PF.RIOD— SETTLiaiENTS 



69 



Xcw York City llic commercial empor- 
ium of the \\'estern Continent. 

NEW IlAMPSniRE AXD AlAIXE. 

Sir Ferdinando Gorges and Captain 
John Mason obtained a patent for the 
country along the coast of New Eng- 
land, between the Merrimac and Ken- 
nebec Rivers, and back to the St. Eaw- 
rcnce, under the title of the "Province 
of Laconia." It was represented to be 
a terrestrial paradise in beauty and fer- 
tility. Mason and Gorges had agreed 
to (livide their territory at the Piscata- 
(|ua River, and in 1629 the former ob- 
tained a patent for the country between 
that river and the Merrimac, and gave 
it the name of New Hampshire. He 
built a house at the mouth of the Pisca- 
taqua, in 1631, and named the spot 
I'ortsmouth. Four years after he died. 
These settlers were now left to them- 
selves to fashion an independent state, 
but it was of slow growth. There was 
then only one agricultural settlement 
in all New England, excc])ting in Mas- 
sachusetts, and scarcely tlie germ of a 
state had appeared. The colonists were 
mostly squatters and moved from place 
to place. Feeble and scattered settle- 
ments grew in New Hampshire, and in 
1641 these formed a union with the 
flourishing colony of Massachusetts, 
and remained a part of that colony un- 
til 1680, when it became a royal pro- 
vince. Then was laid the foundation 
of the commonwealth of New Hamp- 
shire. 

The Plymouth Company being dis- 
solved, Ferdinando Gorges was ap- 
pointed Governor-General over New 
England, he sent his nephew, William 
Gorges, as his lieutenant, to administer 
the government. He made his head- 
quarters at Saco, where he founrl 
about one hundred and fifty inhabi- 
tants. He established a regular gov- 
ernment on the 28th of March. 1636, 
the first within the state of Maine. 
Soon after, a royal charter made the 
elder Gorges lord proprietor of a large 
territory in that region called the "Pro- 
\ince and County of Maine." He made 
laws for his domain, but they were 



little heeded in .America. He lived for 
eight years after his ap])ointment, and 
soon after his death the ]jrovince passed 
under the jurisdiction of Massachu- 
setts. 

MARYLAND. 

Sir George Cahert had taken great 
interest, from early youth, in the dis- 
covery and settlement of foreign coun- 
tries. He was a member of the London 
Company, by whom Virginia had been 
colonized. He purchased a part of 
Newfoundland, named his domain 
Avalon, and at once, in 1620, took 
measures to plant a colony there, and 
failed. 

In 161 7, Calvert had been Knighted 
by his King, and in i6ic^ was made one 
of the principal Secretaries of State. 
He was then thirty-seven years of age. 
In the summer of 1624, his leanings 
toward the Roman Catholic Church be- 
came so palpable that he was compelled 
to relinquish his secretaryship. The 
following March he was appointed by 
King James to the Irish peerage as 
"Baron of Baltimore," in the County 
of Longford. 

He made an attempt to found a 
colony in Newfoundland, and took his 
family there, but the climate was so 
rigorous in winter that he abandoned 
it. The Roman Catholics in England 
were suffering much persecution at that 
time from the Puritans oil one side, 
who were daily increasing in strength, 
and from the Church of England on 
the other. And this is what induced 
Lord Baltimore to make the attempt to 
found a colony in Newfoundland, to 
make an asylum for them in America. 
In the spring of 1629, he sent his chil- 
dren home, and at the beginning of 
autumn, with his wife and retainers, 
sailed for Virginia, arriving at James- 
town in October. Being a Roman 
Catholic he was not allowed to settle 
there, .so leaving his wife and retainers 
to winter there, he returned to Eng- 
land. 

Lord Baltimore, while in England, 
obtained a patent for the territory south 
of the James River, and returned for 
his wife and retainers in 1630. The 



70 



THE HOMF. AUXILIARY AN'D REFERENCE 



\'irgiiiia Company made S(i much up- 
position to his charter that he was in- 
duced to surrender it and accept one 
for the territory north and east of the 
Potomac River, and embracing the 
Chesapeake Bay, which he explored. 

Lord Baltimore desired to call that 
chartered territory Crescentia ; but in 
deference to the King, was named after 
the queen "Henrietta ]\Iary," and 
called Mar\<land. Lord Baltimore died 
in London, in 1632. 

The territory defined in tlie charter 
extended on each side of the Chesa- 
peake Bay, from the fortieth degree to 
the mouth of the Potomac, and west- 
ward along the line of that river. 

This charter gave greater democratic 
privileges to the settlers than any yet 
issued by monopolist or monarch. It 
declared that the territory was "out of 
the plentitude of royal power :" the 
people were exempted from taxation by 
the crown, except by their own con- 
sent; and other important political 
privileges were secured to them. It 
silently allowed religious toleration. 
While it was in accordance with the 
Church of England, the matter of state 
theology was left to the legislative 
powers of the colonists. This pro- 
moted the growth of the colony when 
it was established. For those who were 
persecuted for religion, went thither 
and found peace. In the charter, it 
stated that no laws were to be made, 
without the consent of the freemen of 
the colony, or their representatives con- 
voked in general assembly. This was 
the first instance of any provisions hav- 
ing been made in an American patent 
for securing to the citizens a share in 
legislation. 

Lord Baltimore's son Cecil, now 
Lord Baltimore, armed with this char- 
ter, set about the business of colonizing 
his domain. He appointed his half- 
brother, Leonard Calvert, governor ; 
and on the 22d of November, 1633, that 
kinsman and his brother, "with near 
twenty gentlemen, and three hundred 
laboring men" (so Lord Baltimore 
wrote), "sailed in two ships, the Ark 
and Dove. The greater portion of the 
laborers were not protestants. The 



emigrants were accompanied by two 
Jesuit priests. Fathers Andrew White 
and John Altham. 

They took the southern route, and 
late in February, 1634. sailed in be- 
tween the Capes of Virginia. They 
touched at Point Comfort and then 
went up to Jamestown. They then 
sailed for the Chesapeake and into the 
broad mouth of the Potomac River. 
They named this stream St. Gregory, 
in honor of a Pope of that name. The 
colonists sailed up the Potomac to the 
Heron Islands, and on Blackstone 
(which they named St. Clements) they 
landed at a little past March. 

Calvert now made a treaty of peace 
with the Piscataways, who were the rul- 
ing tribe of that region, and going to 
their village called Piscataway, above 
Alt. \'ernon, the chief readily gave 
them permission to settle anywhere 
within his empire, near him or more 
distant. Calvert thought it better to 
settle nearer the mouth of the Poto- 
mac, and returned to St. Clements. 
Ihere he found the natives friendly 
and familiar. The governor now ex- 
l^lored the Wicomico Ri\er, emptying 
into another one (which they called St. 
George ) twelve miles upward, and an- 
chored at an Indian village of the same 
name, where he and his com])any were 
hospitably entertained that night. Af- 
ter holding a friendly conversation 
with the reigning sachem, he deter- 
mined to plant his first settlement there, 
and make Wicomico the capital. 

He possessed delegated powers to 
take possession of the country without 
leave or reward, but he believed that 
there was more profit in honor than 
dishonor. He entered into a treaty 
with the sachem to purchase a large 
portion of his domain. Calvert gave 
the Indians some English cloth, axes, 
hoes, rakes, knives, and some trinkets 
for the women of little value, for about 
thirty miles of territory, including the 
village ; and he named the domain 
"Augusta Carolina." The Indians 
gave up to the colonists, for their im- 
mediate use, one-half of their village. 
Their houses were of "an oblong and 
oval shape," with a window in the roof, 



SECOND PERIOD— SETTLliMENTS 



wliicli adinitteci light ami allowed the 
smoke to escape from the fire built in 
the middle of the room. They also 
agreed to give the settlers one-half of 
their corn grounds, which they were 
then planting, and after the harvest the 
wiiole of the purchased domain was to 
be given up to the Britons. They mut- 
ually agreed to protect each other from 
injury, and were to be allies in war. 
The King regarded this as essential, 
for he wished a powerful ally, his terri- 
tory having been desolated, and his 
subjects driven from their homes by 
the powerful "Susquehanocs" of the 
north. 

On the 27th of March, 1634, Calvert 
look formal possession of the territory. 
The vessels came from St. Clements 
with the remainder of the emigrants. 
They built a storehouse and a small 
battery and planted a portion of the 
soil. There the governor, in April, 
with imposing ceremonies, named the 
.'■ettlement St. Mary's. The settlers 
immediately began to build, aided by 
the really gentle Indians. Governor 
Harvey, of Mrginia, visited the settle- 
ment, and was received by Governor 
Calvert with great ceremony. He gave 
a banquet to Harvey and several of the 
neighboring Indian chiefs. 

These settlers seemed to be exempted 
from the distresses which had befallen 
the earlier emigrants to other colonies. 
The surrounding native inhabitants 
were friendly ; they had a genial cli- 
mate, general good health prevailed : 
they had abimdance of food and the 
soil \ielded to moderate tillage, abun- 
dant fruit. They were vested with 
peculiar civil privileges ; were not ham- 
])ered by religious restrictions, and a 
year after they had established their 
capital of St. Mary's, a legislative as- 
sembly, composed of the whole people 
— a purely democratic legislature — con- 
vened there. In 1639, a representative 
government was established, the peo- 
ple being allowed to send as many dele- 
gates as they pleased. Then was 
founded the republican commonwealth 
of Maryland. 



CONNECTICUT. 

So early as 1623, the agents of the 
Dutch West India Company seems to 
have taken possession of the Connecti- 
cut River ( which was named by its 
discoverer, "Block," the "Freshwater") 
and the lands drained by its tributaries, 
in the name of the Company and the 
States-General of Holland. By seiz- 
ing one of the Indian chiefs they ex- 
asperated the natives, and were com- 
pelled to build a fort to protect them- 
selves at what is yet known as Dutch 
Point, near the site of the present city 
of Hartford. When the Indians were 
pacified, at their request the fort was 
abandoned. 

A friendly intercourse now opened 
up between the Dutch and the English 
at New Plymouth. In the spring of 
1627, Governor Minuit officially in- 
formed Governor Bradford, of Plym- 
outh, that a settlement had been 
founded on the Hudson River, and that 
the Hollanders wished to cultivate 
friendly and commercial relations with 
the Pilgrims. Bradford replied that he 
wished friendly intercourse with the 
Dutch, but they must not occupy or 
trade in the country north of the for- 
tieth parallel, as that region was 
claimed by the English. The Dutch 
answered that they obtained their 
rights from the States-General of Hol- 
land. Bradford did not answer this 
letter, as the strength of the Dutch ex- 
ceeded that of the English. 

The Dutch now sent a commission to 
Plymouth to' confer on all matters ot 
intercourse. That mission opened a 
profitable trade between the two settle- 
ments, and led to the speedy planting 
of an English colony in the A'alley of 
the Connecticut. 

The Dutch advised the Pilgrims to 
leave their sterile soil and make their 
home in the fertile country on the 
banks of the Fresh Water River. At 
the same time the Mohegan tribe of 
Indians offered Governor Winthrop, 
of Massachusetts, in i'')3i, to give them 
lands and an annual tribute if they 
would do so. The Indians' object was 
tc ])Iant a barrier between them and the 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



war-like Pequods. whose seat was on 
the hills between Newfoundland and 
Stonington. The Puritans would not 
consent to become subjects of the 
Dutch, nor a shield for the Indians. 

In 1632, Edward Winslow, one ot 
the Puritans, visited that region along 
tJie Connecticut River, and confirmed 
all that had been said as to its beauty 
and fertility. The lame of it had al- 
ready reached Old England and two 
years before Winslow's visit a charter 
had been granted for liie territory ex- 
tending "in a certain width through the 
mainland there, from the Atlantic to 
the Pacific Oceans" to the Earl of 
Warwick, who conveyed it to Lord Say 
and Seal, Lord Brook, Mr. Saltonstail 
and others, in 1632. The Dutch pur- 
chased the territories from the Indians, 
the rightful owners, and completed a 
fort already begun on Dutch Point, 
named it Fort Good Hope, and armed 
it with cannon. 

The New England colonies now pro- 
posed an alliance for the taking of im- 
mediate possession of the valley. Win- 
throp refused to join them. But sent 
a message to the Dutch, in a formal 
way, telling them that the country be- 
longed to the English and they must 
not build there. Governor Van Twiller 
answered, requesting him to defer his 
claim until their respective govern- 
ments should define the limit of the 
colonies. At the same time Van Twil- 
ler informed him that the Dutch had 
already purchased the soil and "set up 
a house with intent to plant." 

The Plymouth settlers "purchased a 
tract of land above Fort Good Hope 
from a number of banished Indians, 
from the Connecticut \'alley ( families 
driven away w-ith their chief by the 
Pequodj), prepared a house of wood 
and stowed it on board a boat com- 
manded by Capt. Wm Holmes. They 
sailed with these savages and some 
Englishman and approached Fort Good 
Hope, the commander of the fort or- 
dered them back, but they kept on, and 
without molestation landed above. 
1 lastily erecting the house they had 
hrought with them, they took posses- 
sion ot the country, and prepared to 



maintain their position. This house 
was built on the site of Windsor, Con- 
necticut. So was begun the first Eng- 
lish settlement in the region, in die 
autumn of 1633. The Dutch stormed 
at this intrusion, but the matter was 
finally referred to the authorities at 
Amsterdam. Before an answer could 
arrive, the subject became mixed with 
another of a serious nature. A Cap- 
tain Stone had been on a trading voy- 
age from Massachusetts to Virginia, on 
his return he sailed up the Connecticut 
River to trade with the Dutch garrison 
at Fort Good Hope. He and his com- 
panions were treacherously seized and 
murdered by the Pequods. This crime 
was soon followed by the massacre of 
some Indians friendly to the Dutch. 
Then the Dutch seized a guilty jld 
sachem and some of his followers and 
hanged them. The Pequods flew to 
arms and made a treaty with the Eng- 
lish, in which they were to give them 
the Connecticut \'alley and surrender 
the murderers of Captain Stone, for 
their passive friendship. So Winthrop 
gained a great advantage over Brad- 
ford, and both parties won powerful al- 
lies, as they supposed, in the expelling 
of the Dutch from the \'alley. At the 
same time the position and security of 
the settlers at Windsor were strength- 
ened. 

The Dutch, at this time, received in- 
structions to maintain their position at 
all hazards. They sent an expedftion 
against Windsor. The latter made a 
bold stand. After a parley the Dutch 
withdrew and friendly relations were 
established. The question as to whom 
tlie Valley of the Connecticut belonged 
was not considered and an influx of 
immigrants from Massachusetts Baj' 
followed. In the autumn of 1635, sixty 
Puritan men, women and children 
joined the colony at Windsor. In Oc- 
tober immigrants started from !Massa- 
chusetts Bay, settled Wethersfield, on 
the site of Plartford. 

Governor \Vinthrop's son John, then 
twenty-nine years of age, now arrived 
at Boston with a commission from the 
proprietors of the soil of Connecticut 
territory, as governor. His joint coin- 



SECOND PERIOD— SETTLEMENTS 



73 



niissioners were Hugh Peters and 
Harry \'ane, respectively thirty-five 
and twenty- four years of age. They 
were instructed to build a fort and 
plant a colony at the mouth of the Con- 
necticut River. The Dutch were driven 
away, and the dispute between tlie 
Massachusetts Bay and the Plymouth 
people in regard to the possession of the 
territory was amicably settled. This 
made way for the emigration of the 
English to the valley, which occurred 
in the summer of 1636. That summer. 
Rev. Thomas Hooker, a non-conformist 
minister, led lOO men, women and chil- 
dren, with over 150 head of cattle, to the 
Connecticut \^alley. They arrived in 
July, and some settled at \\'ethersfiel(I, 
some at Hartford and some went fur- 
ther up the river and settled Spring- 
field. There were now five feeble 
settlements in the Connecticut \'alley. 
One named in honor of Lords Say and 
P.rook, was called Saybrook, it was 
near the fort at the mouth of the river. 

Soon after this the settlers faced a 
storm, which seemed ready to sweep 
the little settlements from the face of 
the earth in a moment. The Pequods 
who were jealous of the English be- 
cause the latter appeared to be friendly 
with the Mohegans on the west and 
Xarragansetts on the east, the bitter 
enemies of this war-like tribe. Sassa- 
cus, a brave but treacherous sachem, 
vias ruler, and held sway over twenty- 
six inferior tribes, and his domain ex- 
tended from Narragansett Bay to the 
Hudson River, and over Long Island. 
He had the unbounded admiration of 
his warriors, who would follow him 
anywhere, and of whom there was al- 
most two thousand. Seeing the power 
of the English in garrison at Saybrook, 
and knowing that more would join 
them, he resolved to exterminate the 
intruders. He tried every means to in- 
duce the Mohegans and Narragansetts 
to become his allies. 

They kidnapped children, murdered 
Englishmen found alone, and destroyed 
or made captive families found on the 
borders of the settlements. Intending 
to exterminate the English in rletail. 
They captured a Massachusetts trading 



vessel on Block Island, plundered the 
vessel and killed the commander. 

An expidition was sent out by the 
authorities in Boston, they killed a few- 
Indians, burnt some wigwams and de- 
stroyed crops. The expedition, weak 
in numbers and injudiciously con- 
ducted, was looked upon with contempt 
by the savages, and intensified their 
hatred of the white intruders. 

The Pec|uods were now on the point 
of inducing the Narragansetts to join 
them in a war of extermination, when 
at this critical juncture. Roger Wil- 
liams, who had been driven from ]\Ias- 
sachusetts by persecution and had 
taken refuge with the Xarragansetts, 
who had learned to love and respect 
him, heard of the proposed alliance and 
perceived the danger. L^nmindful of 
the wrongs he had suffered from the 
Puritans, he hastened in an open boat, 
on a stormy day, across Narragansett 
Bay, to the dwelling of Miantonomoh, 
near the site of Newport, on Rhode Is- 
land. He was acting in place of his 
uncle (the chief Cononicus), who was 
very old, and was revered by them all. 

He there found ambassadors from 
Sassacus, and at the peril of his life he 
prevented the alliance with the Pe- 
quods, and induced Narragansett chiefs 
to go to Boston, where they concluded 
a treaty of peace and alliance with the 
colonists. 

The Pequods kept the settlements in 
constant fear all the autumn and win- 
ter. They plundered and murdere't, 
and finally attacked Wetherfield, killed 
se\eral and captured two girls. They 
had now slain more than thirty Eng- 
lishmen. 

At this time there were in the colon- 
ies two brave soldiers, who had served 
in the Netherlands. These were Cap- 
tains John Mason and John LTnderhill. 
Mason was in Connecticut and L'nder- 
hill was in Massachusetts, where he 
had been brought from England by 
Winthrop. Underbill was now placed 
ni command of about two hundred men 
to help the people in the Connecticut 
\ alley in the war. The settlers m the 
valley placed, under Mason, ninety 
men who rendezvoused at Harttord 



THE IIOMIC AUXILIARY AXU RKFEREXCE 



With twenty of them the captain has- 
tened to reinforced the garrison at Say- 
hrook. There he found Underhill, with 
an equal number of men. Mason hur- 
ried back, assembled his whole force, 
with these and seventy warriors of the 
Mohegans, under Uncas, he marched 
down to the fort. Uncas was of the 
royal blood of the Pequods, but was 
now in open rebellion against Sassacus, 
and a fugitive. He gladly joined the 
English against his enemy. As the war 
was begun by the Connecticut people, 
Captain Mason was regarded and 
obeyed as the commander-in-chief of 
the expedition. 

It was determined to go into the 
Xarragansett country and march 
against the rear of the Pequods. The 
expedition, in three vessels, sailed east- 
ward, and the savages concluded that 
the English had abandoned the Con- 
necticut \'alley in despair. This was a 
fatal mistake on their part, they relaxed 
their vigilance and the whites, joined 
by two hundred Narragansets and as 
many Niantics, marched swiftly to- 
ward the stronghold of the Pequods. 
This stronghold was a few miles north 
of Xew London and Sonington, on a 
hill near the Mystic River. 

Early on a June morning, in the 
bright moonlight, the stronghold was 
taken by assault, and in one hour, seven 
hundred men, women and children per- 
ished in the flames. Sassacus was not 
in the fort, and on hearing of the fate 
of his people, escaped and sought 
refuge among the Mohawks. 

The remnant of the Pequods were 
searched out and exterminated without 
mercy, with the exception of a few 
who surrendered. Sassacus was as- 
sasinated by the Mohawks and his scalp 
sent to the English. A blow had been 
struck which gave peace to New Eng- 
land forty years. Uncas remained a 
firm friend of the English, and was 
buried near the falls of the Yantic, in 
the city of Norwich, where a granite 
monument, erected by the descendants 
of his white friends, marks the place 
of his sepulchre. 

In 1637, there arrived in Pioston, the 
Rev, John Davenport, a popular Puri- 



tan preacher from London : Theophilus 
Eaton, a rich London merchant, and a 
third was Edward Hopkins, another 
rich London merchant. They were 
both members of Mr. Davenport's con- 
gregation and much attached to him. 
Their creed was, that you could carry 
out in practice the idea of finding in 
the Scriptures a special rule for every- 
thing in church and state. For the 
purpose of trying an experiment in 
government on the basis of that idea, 
^Ir. Eaton and a small party settled 
on the banks of a stream, which the 
Indians called Ouinnipiack, which 
emptied into a charming harbor on the 
north side of Long Island Sound. 
That was the site of Xev\' Haven, Con- 
necticut. In the spring of 1638, Mr. 
Davenport joined his friends on the 
Ouinnipiack, with a company of Lon- 
don merchants, and in proportion to 
their number, they formed the richest 
colony in America. They purchased 
the land from the Indians and pro- 
ceeded to plant the seeds of a new 
state, according to their peculiar ideas. 
The settlement was to be governed bv 
the Word of God (the Bible), and 
none should be allowed to settle there 
without their consent, whether they 
came in by purchase or otherwise. In 
1640 they named the settlement Neiv 
Haven. 

People from Ouinnipiack and the 
A'alley now settled Fairfield, Norwalk, 
Guilford and Stratford, and Milford 
on the Housatonic. Others settled as 
far westward as Greenwich. The 
Dutch, however, continued in posses- 
sion of their lands at Fort Good Hope, 
and a small garrison was kept there. 
When the English became strong in 
numbers, they paid little respect to the 
rights of the Hollanders. They 
ploughed up their lands and excused 
themselves with the plea that the soil 
was lying idle and ought to be culti- 
vated by somebody. 

In the middle of January, 1639, a con- 
\ontion was called to meet at Hartford, 
to frame a constitution of government. 
Like that of the X^ew Haven colony. 
It was framed without the slightest 
reference to anv other government. 



SECONM) PKRK )!)— SICTTLICMENTS 



This instrument whicli lias Ixx-n 
spoken of as the "first example in his- 
tory of a written constitution — a dis- 
tinct organic law. constituting a gov- 
ernment and defining its powers," and 
which recognized no authority outside 
of its own inherent potency, continued 
in force as the fundamental law of 
Connecticut one hundred and eighty 
years. It secured for that common- 
wealth a degree of social order and 
general prosperity rarely equalled in 
the life of nations. The political c- 
ganization under it was called the Con- 
necticut Colony, and the domain ac- 
quired the title of "the land of steady 
hahits." The two colonies were not 
united until twenty-six years later, but 
in 1639, was laid the foundations of the 
commonwealth of Connecticut. 

RHODE ISLAND. 

Narraganset Bay was discovered and 
thoroughly explored by Block, the 
Dutch navigator, as early as 1614, 
when he gave the name of Roode Ey- 
landt or Red Island to the insular do- 
main on its eastern side, now known as 
Rhode Island. New Netherland 
claimed the territory as far east as 
Narraganset Bay and westward from 
that line of longitude to Canada. That 
claim was made at about the time 
Roger Williams, the founder of the 
commonwealth of Rhode Island, 
sought refuge from persecution in the 
forests on the borders of Narraganset 
Bay. 

Mr. Williams was a Welsh Puritan, 
educated in England. At the age of 
thirty-two years he fled from persecu- 
tions to New England, where he ar- 
rived in 163 1, with his beautiful wife 
Mary. He was soon appointed assis- 
tant minister in the church at Salem, 
where he offended the ruling powers 
in both churches and state by his views 
respecting the freedom of conscience. 
He withdrew to Plymouth and after 
two years returned to Salem and be- 
came pastor of the congregation to 
whom he had ministered as assistant. 
His views again got him in conflict 
with the authorities, for he maintained 



that there was an aljsolute and eternal 
distinction between the functions of the 
ci\il government and the Christian 
Church. 

Late in the year 1635, he was ban- 
ished from the colony, but through 
the intercession of influential friends, 
the time of his departure was extended 
until the following spring. He now 
taught his doctrines with more fervor, 
and boldly proclaimed himself in his 
opinions. This was too much for his 
people and the authorities in church 
and state, and it was resolved to send 
the "troubler" back to England. He 
had refused a summons to appear be- 
fore the magistrate at Boston. Cap- 
tain L'nderhill had been sent with a 
warrant to arrest him, but he had been 
informed, and kindly, but secretly ad- 
vised by Ex-Governor Winthrop to 
"steer his canoe to the Narraganset 
Bay and Indians ;" and when Underbill 
arrived he had been gone three day.i. 
He made his way alone, through the 
forests and the deep snow, to the house 
of Massasoit, the venerable sachem of 
the Wampanoags, where he was 
warmly welcomed. The sachem gave 
him a tract of land on the Seekonk 
River, eastward of the site of Provi- 
dence, at which place he and some 
friends who had joined him seated 
themselves, in the spring of 1636. 
Some distance above them, on the See- 
konk or Pawtucket River, was a soli- 
tary settler named William Blackstone. 
He was a non-conformist minister who 
disliked the "lords brethren" of Massa- 
chusetts as much as the "lords bishops" 
of England. This place he had named 
Rehoboth-room. He was the first set- 
tler, but not the founder of Rhode Is- 
land, for he refused to join Williams 
and his friends. 

The new colony was just about to be- 
gin and plant near the present Man- 
ton's Cove, when they received a letter 
from Governor Winslow, saying they 
were within the jurisdiction of the 
Plymouth Colony, and as he did not 
wish to offend the "the Bay" and de- 
sired that exiles should not be dis- 
turbed, he advised them to pass to the 
other side of the Seekonk, where they 



76 



THE TIOME AUXILIARY A\D RHFERENCE 



would be beyond the juri^diclion of 
both colonies on the coast. 

The settlers heeded this kind and 
wise advice, and in June settled at the 
mouth of the Mooshansic River. Wil- 
liams named the spot Pvovidcncc, and 
tledicated it as "a shelter for persons 
distressed for conscience.' 

Williams purchased the land from 
the aged Canonicus and the younger 
Aliantonamoh, who had learned to love 
him. The land was obtained not for 
money, but through the personal in- 
fluence of the men who there estab- 
lished a pure democracy, under the fol- 
lowing simple articles of agreement : 

"W'e. whose names are hereunder 
written, being desirous to inhabit in 
the town of Providence, do promise to 
submit ourselves, in active or passive 
obedience, to all such orders or agree- 
ments as shall be made for public good, 
by the body in an orderh- way, by the 
major consent of the inhabitants, mas- 
ters of families, incorporated together 
into a township, and such others as 
they shall admit into the same, only in 
civil things." 

Every man was required to sign this 
compact, which left him free in all but 
"civil things." The conscience was left 
absolutely free. 

During the Pequod war, we have 
mentioned William's services to the 
Puritans in Massachu.setts and Con- 
necticut, for which they showed no 
gratitude. 

A brilliant and beautiful woman 
named Anne Hutchinson, a sister of 
the Rev. John Wheelwright, aroused 
the enmity of the authorities in Boston, 
through her preachings. She and her 
followers were invited by Williams to 
settle in the land of the Narragansets. 
They purchased from the Indians the 
beautiful island of Aquetneck, now 
Rhode Island ; and at the close of 
March, 1638, they began a settlement 
at Portsmouth, near its northern ex- 
tremity. They all signed an agreement 
similiar to the one of Providence 
Colony. The motto of this colony was : 
Amor vincit Omnia — "Love is all- 
powerful." 

I'nwilling to yield allegiance to 



either of the other colonies, Rhode Is- 
land and Providence settlements 
sought an independent charter which 
should unite them in one common- 
wealth. Through stern bigotry, they 
had been denied union with the other 
New England colonies for mutual de- 
fense. There isolation in case ot 
trouble with the savages, would be both 
jierilous and inconvenient. So Mr. 
\\'illiams was sent to England in 1643, 
and obtained a charter from the King 
on the 14th of March, 1644, wdiich con- 
nected the towns of Providence, Ports- 
mouth and Newport under the title of 
"the incorporation of Providence Plan- 
tations in the Narraganset Bay in New 
England." 

The charter which he bore to the 
people on the banks of the Narragan- 
set was the corner-stone of a state. 
Then was founded the commonwealth 
of Rhode Island. 

DELAWARE. 

The Dutch, to stimfllate emigration 
to their colony in New Netherland, 
granted a charter of "Privileges and 
Exemptions" to the Dutch ^^■est India 
Company, in 1629. 

This charter gave them the right to 
grant to each settler, as much land as 
he was able to improve, to offer to 
every person who should "discover fit 
places for erecting fisheries or the mak- 
ing of salt ponds," an absolute property 
in such discovery. Any member of the 
Company who should plant a colony of 
fifty settlers anywhere in the province 
outside of the Island of Manhattan, 
was allowed a grant of land sixteen 
miles along one side of a navigable 
stream or eight miles on both shores. 
He had absolute control political and 
otherwise. 

These proprietors were called "pa- 
troons" and the settlers under them 
were to be exempted from all taxes 
and tribute for the support of the pro- 
visional government for ten years, and 
were not to leave the patroon for the 
same period. Every colonist, whether 
patroon or independent settler, was 
liound to make satisfactory arrange- 



SECOND PKRIOD— SETTLEMENTS 



77 



ments with the Indians, for the land 
they should occupy. 

One of these estates, on the Hudson, 
with some of its privileges, existed un- 
ti' late in the last century. 

Under this charter, a large tract of 
land was purchased from the Indians, 
extending from Cape Henlopen, thirty 
miles northward and two miles inland, 
;uk1 Michael Pauw purchased another, 
the land around the mouth of the Hud- 
.son and the whole of Staten Island. 

Immediate steps were taken to settle 
on this domain, and in April, 1630, 
thirty settlers, under command of 
Peter Heyes, with their cattle and im- 
plements settled near the site of Lewes, 
Delaware, on Delaware Bay. Two 
years after, when another expedition 
sailed to the Delaware, they found the 
settlement destroyed and the colonists 
massacred. This crime was forgiven, 
and the Indians and Hollanders re- 
mained friends. 

William Usselincx, the projector of 
the Dutch West India Company, dis- 
satisfied with his associates in that cor- 
poration, visited Sweden. The great 
Gustavus Adolphus was then King, and 
from reports he had heard, looked with 
longing eyes on the rich countries in 
America. He entered warmly into the 
projects of Usselincx, for planting a 
colon\- on the Delaware, and was pre- 
paring an expedition when he was 
killed in battle. 

Mis Chancellor, Count Oxenstiern, 
had favored the project, and now be- 
ing regent of the kingdom, granted a 
charter to the Swedish West India 
Company, in 1634. 

Governor Minuit, who had been re- 
called from New Netherland, because 
he had favored the grasping patroons 
too much, offered his experience and 
personal services to the new company. 
They were gladly accepted ; and at near 
the close of 1637, he sailed with fifty 
emigrants in two vessels, bearing a 
commission to plant a colony on the 
west side of Delaware Bay. He landed 
at the site of Xewcastle. in .\pril, 1638, 
and purchased from the Indians the 
whole territory from Cape Henlopen to 
the falls of the Delaware River at 



Trenton, without the slightest regards 
for the claims of the Dutch. Then he 
sailed into the mouth of the river, and 
anchored in a creek at the site of Wil- 
mington. They named the place Chris- 
tiana, in honor of their Queen, and built 
a fort and a church. The country they 
named New Sweden. 

The Dutch made a protest against 
the Swedes making a settlement on 
what they deemed was their territory, 
but Minuit paid no attention to this, 
but built Fort Christiana on the present 
site of Wilmington, and erected posts 
for trading. Well acquainted with the 
Indian traffic from long experience, he 
soon drew to Christiana a profitable 
fur trade : and sent back to Sweden 
cargoes of peltry and other products 
of the land. The fort was well gar- 
risoned and provisioned, and the set- 
tlers there planted and reaped. So was 
established the first permanent settle- 
ment on the soil, and then and there 
was planted the fruitful seed of the 
commonwealth of Dchnvarc. 

NEW JERSEY. 

Eastward of the Delaware Bay and 
River (so called in honor of Lord De 
la \Vare, Governor of Virginia ) lies 
New Jersey. It was first included in 
the New Netherland charter. 

In 1622, transient settlements had 
been made at Bergen, and in the fol- 
lowing year Director May built a fort 
at the mouth of the Timber Creek, a 
few miles below Camden, on the Dela- 
ware River, and settled some Wal- 
loons, at the site of the present Glouces- 
ter. 

This was the first settlement on the 
soil of New Jersey that lived long, but 
it, too, withered away in time. Di- 
rector May gave his name to the cape 
at the southern extremity of the state 
(Cape May). 

Michael Pauw, when he made his 
purchase from the Indians, seven years 
later, named his territory Pavonia. 

Charles the Second, King of Eng- 
land, granted a greater portion of the 
claimed territory of New Netherland 
to his brother, the Duke of York. The 



78 



Til]'. IIOMP: AUXILIARY AND REFliRENCE 



Duke sent a licet and army lo take pos- 
session of his domain, the task was an 
easy one, and early in the autumn of 

1664, the province passed into the 
hands of the English. While the fleet 
was on the ocean, and without the 
knowledge of Colonel Richard Nicholls, 
its commander, and deputy-governor of 
the province, the Duke granted to two 
of his favorites, Lord Berkeley, bro- 
ther of the Governor of Mrginia, and 
Sir George Carteret, who had been 
governor of the island of Jersey, which 
he had gallantly defended against the 
forces of Cromwell, a charter to the 
territory extending from Cape May to 
the latitude of forty degrees and forty 
minutes north. 

Nicholls had named the territory, on 
taking possession of New Netherland. 
New York on the east of the Hudson, 
and Albania to the west of that river. 
So honoring his employer, who was 
Duke of York and Albany. 

Berkeley and Carteret hastended to 
make use of their patent. They 
framed a constitution of government 
for the new colony and named it Nova 
Caesarea or New Jersey. The consti- 
tution provided for a governor and 
council, appointed by the proprietors, 
and representatives to be chosen by the 
people, who were to have the choice of 
a president in the absence of the gov- 
ernor or his deputy. All legislative 
power was vested in the Assembly of 
Representatives. Liberal provisions 
were made for the encouragement of 
emigration to New Jersey. 

They appointed Philip Carteret, a 
cousin of Sir George, governor, and 
with about thirty emigrants, some of 
whom were Frenchmen, skilled in the 
art of salt-making, arrived in July, 

1665. Governor Nicholls was as- 
tounded by the folly of the Duke in 
parting with so much of his valuable 
domain, for he regarded Albania as the 
"most improvable part of the territory." 
He was mortified over the dismember- 
ment of a state over which he had been 
ruling so many months with pride and 
satisfaction. 

He received Carteret, however, with 
all the honors due his rank and station. 



In pursuance of the Duke's orders, 
Nicholls formally surrendered Al- 
bania into the quiet possession of Car- 
teret, and thenceforth that region ap- 
peared as New Jersey on the maps. 

Carteret entered his domain, as gov- 
ernor, early in August, with a hoe on 
his shoulder in token of his intention 
to become a planter among them. 

He chose for his seat of government 
a spot on the present site of Elizabeth, 
which he called Elizabethtown, in 
honor of the wife of Sir George Car- 
teret, where he found four English 
families living in as many neatly built 
log cabins, with gardens around them. 

He built a house for himself on the 
banks of the little creek, and there he 
organized a civil government. So was 
laid the colony and commonwealth of 
Xezv Jersey. 

PENNSYLVANL\. 

George Fox, a shoemaker of Leices- 
tershire, England, was the founder of 
the sect called Friends or Quakers. 
This sect preached morality so strict 
that they were called ascetics. Taking 
part in war, slavery, lawsuits, intem- 
perance and profanity of speech, was 
sufficient reason, if persisted in. for the 
expulsion of a member from the So- 
ciety. Their practices so generally 
agreed with their principles that it was 
admitted that the profession of a 
Quaker or Friend was a guarantee of 
a morality above the level of the 
world. 

Among the multitude of converts to 
the doctrines of George Fox was 
young William Penn, a son of the dis- 
tinguished admiral of that name. He 
embraced the doctrines while he was 
yet in college. On account of his con- 
victions, he had a long struggle with 
his father. He was beaten and turned 
out of doors by his angry parent. For 
preaching in the streets he was tried in 
court, and on being acquitted by the 
jury, was imprisoned for contempt ot 
court for wearing his hat. The young 
Quaker was then only about twenty- 
four years of age. 

Many "Friends" had emigrated to 



SECOXn PERIOD— SETTLEMENTS 



America, and two had become pro- 
prietors of New Jersey. Penn acted as 
umpire between them in a dispute that 
arose and so his particular attention 
was drawn toward this country. He 
looked with longing eyes across the .A.t- 
lantic, for a home for himself and his 
sectarian friends, out of the reach of 
persecution. 

Jn payment of a debt of eighty 
thousand dollars, due to his father 
from the government, he obtained a 
charter from the crown for a vast terri- 
tory beyond the Delaware. With the 
perpetual proprietorship given to him 
;ind his heirs, in the fealty of the an- 
imal payment of two beaver skins. 
Peim proposed to call the domain 
"New \\'ales," in honor of the land of 
his ancestors, but the Welsh secretary 
of state objected. Then he suggested 
'".Sylvania" as appropriate for such a 
woody country. The secretary who 
drew up the charter prefi.xed the name 
of Penn to Sylvania. in the document. 
The proprietor offered him one hun- 
dred dollars to leave it off. On his re- 
fusal to do so, Penn complained to the 
King, who insisted that the province 
should be called "Pennsylvania," in 
honor of his dead friend the admiral. 
.\nd so it was. The domain extended 
r.orth from Xew Castle, in Delaware, 
three degrees of latitude, and five de- 
grees of longitude west from the Dela- 
ware River. To Penn was given power 
to ordain all laws with the consent of 
the freemen, subject to the approval of 
the King. Xo taxes were to be raised 
except by the provincial Assembly ; and 
clergymen of the Angelican Church 
were to be allowed to reside in the pro- 
\ince without molestation. 

Penn's charter was granted on the 
14th of March, 1681. In May he sent 
his Kinsman William Markham, to 
take possession of his province and to 
act as deputy governor. .A large com- 
pany of emigrants went with him. 
They were employed by the Company 
of Free Traders, who had purchased 
lands in Pennsylvania of the proprietor. 
They settled near the Delaware. With 
the help of .Algernon Sidney, the 
sturdy republican, I'enn drew u]) a 



code of wise, liberal and benevolent 
regulations for the government of the 
colony, and sent them to the settlers 
tlie next year for their approval. It 
was not a formal constitution, but a 
body of wholesome laws for the bene- 
fit of all concerned. 

Penn found that the want of a sea- 
board for his colony would be a serious 
bar to its future prosperity. He desired 
Delaware for that purpose and re- 
•-olved to have it if possible. It was 
claimed by Lord Baltimore as a part of 
Maryland, and had been a matter of 
disi)ute between him and the Duke ot 
"S'ork. Penn advised the Duke that 
Baltimore's claim was "against law, 
civil and common." The Duke gladly 
assented to the opinion, and the wise 
Quaker obtained from the Duke a c[uit- 
claim deed for the territory comprising 
the whole State of Delaware, then, as 
now, divided into three counties, of 
Newcastle, Kent and Sussex : also for 
all of his interest in the soil of Penn- 
sylvania. 

Within a week after the bargain was 
settled. Penn set sail for .\merica. in 
the ship Welcome, with about one hun- 
dred emigrants, many of whom died 
of small-pox on the voyage. That was 
at the close of August, 1682. On his 
arrival at New Castle early in Novem- 
ber, he found almost a thousand new 
emigrants there. These, with the three 
thousand old settlers — Swedes. Dutch, 
Huguenots. Germans and English — 
composed materials for the solid foun- 
dations of a state. There, in the pre- 
.--ence of the people, he received from 
the agents of the Duke of York a for- 
mal surrender into his hands of that 
fine domain. By this transfer Penn in- 
herited for himself and descendants a 
dispute with the proprietors of Maryland. 
Penn now went many miles up the 
Delaware River, to the present Ken- 
sington district of Philadelphia, and 
there, under a wide-spreading elm, he 
concluded a treaty with the Indian 
chiefs, not for the purchase of lands. 
but to confirm what JMarkham had 
promised them for him, and to make 
an everlasting covenant of peace and 
friendship with them. "We will live 



So 



THE HOME AUXILL-\RV AND REFERENCE 



in lii\L' willi William Peiin and hi> 
children," they said, "as long as the 
sun and moon shall endure." And they 
did. Not a drop of the blood of a 
Quaker was ever shed by an Indian. 

There is no written record of that 
treaty, made in the open air. on the 
banks of the Delaware. We have ac- 
counts of the personal character of the 
council. Penn was then a graceful 
man, strong built and of fair complex- 
ion, and thirty-eight years of age. 
Most of his companions were younger 
than himself, and all were dressed in 
the garb of Quakers. The Indians 
were clad in the skins of beasts, for it 
was on the verge of winter. Penn was 
accompanied by the deputv governor, 
and a few others : and the Indian 
sachems brought their wives and chil- 
dren, who sat upon the ground, mod- 
estly back. 

Penn now journeyed through New 
Jersey to New York and Long Island, 
visiting friends and preaching with 
fervor. He then returned to the Dela- 
ware, and on the seventh of November 
he went to Uplands (now Chester), 
where he met the first Provincial As- 
sembly of his province. There he 
made known his benevolent designs to- 
ward all men, civilized and savage, and 
excited the love and reverence of his 
hearers. The .Assembly tendered their 
grateful acknowledgments to him, and 
the Swedes authorized one of their 
number to say to him in their name that 
they would "live, serve, and obey him 
with all they had," declaring that it 
"was the best day they ever saw." He 
informed the Assembly of the union of 
the "territories" fas Delaware was 
called) with their province. 

Then was laid the foundations of 
the commonwealth of Pcntisyk'ania. 

From Chester, Penn went to Mary- 
land to confer with Lord Baltimore, 
concernmg their boundary lines, but 
did not make a satisfactory arrange- 
ment. On his return he went up the 
Delaware in an open boat to Wicaco, 
to attend the founding of a city. Be- 
fore his arrival in this country he had 
determined to give to the future city 
the name of Philadelphia — a Greek 



word signifying brotherly love — as a 
token of the principles in which he in- 
tended to govern his province. Near 
a Iilock house, which the Swedes had 
liuilt and had changed into a church, he 
purchased lands extending from the 
banks of the Delaware to those of the 
Schuylkill. There his surveyors laid 
out the city of Philadelphia upon a 
plan which would embrace twelve 
square miles. 

NORTH AND SOUTH CAROLINA. 

The desire of the white man, to 
found colonies in the warmer portions 
of North America, had alwavs been 
-strong. The efforts -of the English and 
French had met with failure," and the 
country south of the James River, in 
\'irginia, was in the same virgin state 
as it was when discovered. Some few 
settlers went there to find homes or 
in search of fortune, but no permanent 
settlements were made until after the 
middle of the seventeenth century. 

Captain John Smith, in 1609, sent a 
few colonists, from Jamestown, who 
settled on the Nansemond River, near 
the Dismal Swamp. In 1630, Sir 
Robert Heath, the Attorney-General of 
Charles the First, obtained a charter 
for a large region in this section, but 
it was declared void in 1663, because 
the agreements had not been fulfilled. 

In 1653, a few Presbyterians, in or- 
der to escape persecution, left James- 
town and settled on the Chowan River, 
near the present village of Edenton. 
They were joined by others and the 
settlement grew. In 1661, some New 
Englanders purchased lands in the 
vicinity of Cape Fear, and were plant- 
ing a colony, when they were informed 
that the whole country had been 
granted by the King to some of his 
favorites. Most of the New Eng- 
huiders returned home, and reported 
that the soil was poor and the harbor 
dangerous. 

The above charter or grant was 
given in March. 1663. It included the 
region between .■\lbemarle Sound and 
the .St. John's River, in Florida, and 
west to the Pacific Ocean. 



SECOXD rF.RIOD— SETTLE.MEXTS 



Si 



The colonists on the Chowan Ri\er 
had now flourished to such an extent 
that they were organized into a sepa- 
rate government, under the title of the 
. ilbcmarlc Count\ colony, so named in 
honor of Monk, Duke of Albemarle. 
The colonists were given every free- 
dom which they could reasonabl}' de- 
sire, and they were left to grow into an 
independent state with \ery little hin- 
drance. 

Two years later some English emi- 
grants, from Barbadoes, purchased 
from the Indians thirty-two square 
miles of land on the Cape Fear River 
and settled there, this included the 
country abandoned by the Xew Eng- 
landers. This was near the present 
site of \\'ilmington, Xort Carolina. 
Sir John Yeamans was appointed gov- 
ernor, with jurisdiction from Cape 
Fear to the St. John's River. The 
settlers found on the land were treated 
very kindl}', and the name Clarendon 
County Colony was given to the settle- 
ment. The soil was poor, which re- 
tarded the growth of the colony as an 
agricultural settlement. But they soon 
found, in the immense pine forests, an 
industry that made them prosperous, 
they manufactured boards, shingles 
and staves, and gathered turpentine, 
for all of which there was a ready sale 
in the West Indies. The settlement 
became permanent ; and so, with the 
organization of the two colonies, the 
foundation of the commonwealth of 
Xortli Carolina was laid. 

.\nother charter was obtained in 
June, 1665, by the patentees wdiich con- 
firmed the former one. It granted to 
them the territory from the now 
southern boundary of A'irginia to the 
peninsula of Florida, and westward to 
the Pacific C)cean, comprising all of 
lair states excepting the lower part of 
I-"lorida, south of the thirty-si.xth de- 
gree, and a part of Mexico, the whole 
under the name of Carolina. The 
founding of a great empire was the ob- 
ject of the proprietors, and nothing 
was neglected to thai end. The in- 
terests of England or the colonists 
were not considered. 

Three ships, under the directions of 



William .Sayle and Joseph West, were 
sent with emigrants, early in 1(170, to 
settle the southern portion of Carolina. 
They entered Port Royal harbor and 
settled on Beaufort Island, near the 
place where the Huguenots built Fort 
Carolina a hundred years before. 
There Sayle died and was buried. 
Beaufort was soon abandoned and 
sailing northward the emigrants en- 
tered Charleston harbor, and on the 
hanks of a stream, a few miles above 
Charleston, they settled, built houses 
and tilled the soil. This spot they 
called Old Town, and there was the be- 
ginning of the colony of South Caro- 
lina. Yeamans. the governor, arrived 
a little later, and brought with him 
fifty families and many negro slaves. 
This was the introduction into South 
Carolina of slave-labor, which has al- 
ways been a planting state. 

The settlement of Old Town was or- 
ganized under the title of Carteret 
County Colony, and representative gov- 
ernment was established there in 1672. 
This was the tounding of the common- 
wealth of Sonfli Carolina. 

It was known as the place where 
freedom was enjoyed, and emigrants 
flocked to it, from England, Holland 
and Xew York. Tiiey spread over the 
])eninsula between the .\shley and 
Cooper Rivers, named in honor of 
Ashley Cooper, one of the proprietors. 

-At Oyster Bay, on the verge of £ 
fine harbor, in the sight of'the sea, and 
at the junction of three streams, was 
foundetl, eight or ten years later, the 
capital city Charles Town (Charles- 
ton) named after the King. Old 
Town was now abandoned. 

The Constitution which w-as framed 
to establish a great empire in the Caro- 
linas, was the ideas of Sir .\shley 
Cooper and John Locker, and Was per- 
fected in i66q. Neither of these men 
were fittcrl to the task of forming a 
government for a free people. It pro- 
\ided for titles, and classes, and aristo- 
cratic distinctions in .-Vmerica. It was 
submitted to the people and rejected. 
The colonists had made their own laws, 
were satisfied with them and would 
have nothing to do with the laws of 



Till': iiuMi': 



AUXILIARY AXU REF ERF.N'CE 



the proprietors. Under their own laws 
they remained over sixty years, when 
they were separated and formed the 
colonies of North and South Carolina. 



GEORGIA. 

Between the Savannah and the Ala- 
tamaha Rivers, there was a region 
wholly unoccupied by white inhabitants 
at the end of the first quarter of the 
eighteenth century. At that time in both 
Europe and America, the English and 
the Spaniards held an unconquerable 
antagonism to each other. The Eng- 
lish were rapidly filling up the terri- 
tory bordering on the Spanish posses- 
sions in Florida, with emigrants, and as 
the Indians of that region had an abid- 
ing hate for the Spaniards, the English 
were rapidly gaining all the trade with 

tbem. , , , • c *t, 

Nearlv all the manual labor in boutn 
Carolina at this time, was performed 
by negro slaves, imported from Africa. 
Thev had become essential to the pros- 
peritv of the colony. To prevent the 
Engfish planters from settling below 
the Savannah River, the Spaniards 
were enticing their slaves away with 
promises of freedom and the privileges 
of Spanish subjects. They were suc- 
cessful, and it was from this alarming 
state of things that the South Carolin- 
ians were seeking a remedy. 

At this time in England, the condi- 
tions of the prisoners for debt was hor- 
rible in the extreme. They were en- 
during sufferings worse than the slaves 
in the West Indies. Colonel James Ed- 
ward Oglethorpe, a graduate of Ox- 
ford a brave soldier, and then a mem- 
ber of Parliament, caused an act to be 
passed to inquire into the condition of 
these unfortunates. The revelations of 
the prisons were horrible and sicken- 
ing. , 

Oglethorpe now proposed to plant a 
colony of the unfortunates in the un- 
occupied country below the Savannah. 
His colleagues readily assented, an ap- 
propriation was made, and on the gth 
of Tune. 1732. the King granted a 
charter for founding a colony with the 
name of Georgia, in compliment to 
King George the Second. 



Colonel Oglethorpe was appointed 
governor. The legislative power was 
vested in twenty-one trustees, the gov- 
ernor being one of the number, and 
their powers were to last twenty-one 
years. , 

Thirty-five families, one hundred 
and twenty emigrants, men, women, 
and children, now set sail, accompanied 
by Oglethorpe as governor, and arrived 
at Charleston at the middle of January. 
173^. They w^ere received with great 
iov'by the inhabitants, and the As- 
sembly of South Carolina voted them a 
large 'supply of cattle and other pro- 
visions, for they were regarded as 
valuable auxiliaries. 

Oglethorpe, accompanied by a guide, 
went forward to select a suitable place 
for settlement. He chose Yamacraw 
Bluff on the Savannah River, about ten 
miles from the sea. There he laid out 
a town and returned to P.eaufort. 
where the emigrants had been sent 
from Charleston. Then they all pro- 
ceeded to the spot he had chosen, and 
arrived on the first of I-ebruary. The 
settlement was named Savannah. 
They were now in the territory of the 
powerful Creek Confederacy, and not 
far from the seat of the tribe over 
whom presided Tomochichi, a vener- 
able chief, ninety-one years old, of 
commanding person and grave de- 
meanor. His power was supreme and 
he had great weight throughout the 
confederacv. Oglethorpe now made a 
treaty with this powerful Indian chief, 
by which all unoccupied lands within 
defined boundaries were assigned to the 
Eno-lish This treatv was ratified by 
the'' trustees on the i8th of October, 
1-1!^ when the English obtained sover- 
eio-nty over all the domain between the 
Savannah and Alatahama Rivers, west- 
ward to the extent of tide water, and 
all islands but three from Tybee to St. 
Simons. 

In the spring of I734. Oglethorpe 
went to England, leaving the colony in 
the care of others. He took along with 
him Tomochichi, his Queen, his 
nephew and several other chiefs, be- 
lieving that the sight of the power of 
the English would increase the respect 



SECOND PERIOD— SETTLEMENTS 



83 



of the savages. Tlie Indians remained 
in England four months, were pre- 
sented to the King and were every- 
where given the pleasantest welcome. 
They returned, with a considerable 
number of new emigrants, in Decem- 
l)er, 1734. 

Oglethorpe returned to Georgia in 
the beginning of iy^f>. He brought 
with him about one hundred and fifty 
Scotch Highlanders, who constituted 
the first army in Georgia during its 
early struggles. With him also came 
the Rev. John Wesley, the founder of 
the Methodist Church, and his brother 



I'hark--^. wlio came to preacii the gos- 
l>cl to the heathen. 

With a population of more than five 
hundred souls ; with a military force, 
and with means of religious instruc- 
tion, the foundations of the colony of 
Georgia was now firmly laid. 

We have now considered the more 
prominent events in the history of the 
planting of settlements in .America, and 
the development of many of them into 
permanent colonies. 

We will now consider the processes 
by which small settlements grew into 
great commonwealths in the form of 
P.ritish-.'Kmerican colonies. 



84 



THE liU.ME AUXILIARY AND RHFERKNCE 



THIRD PERIOD 



COLONIKS 



VIRGINIA. 

The first permanent ICnglisli colony 
in America was established in Virginia, 
when Governor Yeardley, in 1619, or- 
ganized a representative government 
there. 

At about this time, an element was 
introduced into Virginia society which 
had a powerful influence on its destiny, 
and on the nation which it afterward 
formed a part. That was the introduc- 
tion of negro or African slavery. The 
planters had heard of the capacity of 
the black men and women to endure 
labor in the warm regions. They pur- 
chased twenty of these from a Dutch 
slave trader, and finding them good 
workers and docile, imported more. So 
began the system of slavery in our 
country. 

The London Company had spent 
large sums of money in colonizing Vir- 
ginia, and now, twelve years after its 
settlement, there was only six hundred 
Europeans there. Sir Edwin Sandys, 
whose reputation for candor and other 
virtues was well known among the 
colonists, was sent to investigate what 
retarded its progress. In one year he 
purged Mrginia of its bad name, and 
induced more than twelve hundred 
emigrants to go to the James River. 

The sagacious Sandys perceived tne 
needs of the colony. The English, 
more delicate in their tastes and habits 
than the I'rench or Portuguese, refused 
to marry the Indian women. And very 
few English women had crossed the 
.\tlantic. \'ery few of the settlers ex- 
pected to remain in the colony. Most 
of them looked for a return to Eng- 
land when they had obtained the means. 
Sandys proposed to send to \'irginia. 
one hundred virtuous and attractive 
young English women of the middle 
class in society, to become the wives of 



ilic planters. Their transportation to 
be paid by their future husbanils. 

Ninety young women were induced 
to go to Virginia, early in 1620. In a 
few days after their arrival at James- 
town they were all married. The 
young matrons sent home word for 
other maidens to come, and sixty more 
arrived the next year, others followed. 
The price of a wife was fixed at one 
hundred and twenty pounds of tobacco 
or about ninety dollars. It finally rose 
to one hundred and fifty dollars. To 
encourage wedding, the Company gave 
preference to married men in confer- 
ring employments. Men no longer 
talked of returning to England, but 
called \'irginia their home. Emigra- 
tion rapidly swelled the population, and 
at the close of 1621, there were three 
thousand five hundred inhabitants of 
European blood in \'irginia. Settle- 
ments had already been made on the 
James River as far remote from the 
capitol as the present site of Richmond. 
And at Dutch Gap, then named Henri- 
copolis, a church had been built and a 
grammar school established for the 
education of the Indian children. 
Seventy years afterward, during the 
reign of William and Mary, a college 
was established at Williamsburg, 
named after those sovereigns, which 
still flourishes. 

In the year 1621, the London Com- 
pany granted a written constitution to 
\'irginia, modelled after that of Eng- 
land, but exceedingly simple ; the pil- 
grims in the May-Flower, more demo- 
cratic, gave to themselves a written 
constitution about the same time, fash- 
ioned to meet the circumstances of 
their case, and still more simple. A 
century and a half afterward, as we 
shall discover, the inhabitants of these 
two colonies, then founded, were lead- 



THIRD PERIOD— COLON'TES 



ers in the struggle for that pohtical 
independence which these early consti- 
tutions forshadowed. The Virginia 
constitution provided for a governor 
and council to he appointed by the 
Company, and a popular legislative 
body to be chosen by the people, called 
a House of Burgesses, and these, with 
the governor and council, composed the 
General Assembly. The acts of the 
Assembly were not valid unless they re- 
ceived the sanction of the Company in 
London. But with unexampled justice, 
it was also provided that no orders 
from the Company should be binding, 
unless ratified by the Assembly. 

The colonists now rejoiced in the 
prospect of long years of peace and 
prosperity before them, and the atmo- 
sphere of their daily life appeared per- 
fectly serene. 

Powhatan, the friend of the Eng- 
lish, was dead, and his younger 
brother, the truly savage Opechanca- 
nough (the captor of Smith), was 
ruler of his empire. He hated the 
English and believed they intended to 
seize his lands, and exterminate his 
race. He therefore determined to 
strike a blow for his countr\' and his 
])eople. He professed great friendship 
for the English, but at the same time 
used every means to inflame the anger 
of his people against them. 

There had never been a war with the 
Iiidians. The settlements were scat- 
tered, some of them in solitary places, 
and }et no one had ever been disturbed 
since the happy marriage of Poca- 
hontas. At mid-day, on the first of 
April, 1622, the Indians fell upon all 
the remote and isolated settlements, 
and in one hour, three hundred and 
fifty men, women and children were 
slain. Among the victims were six 
members of the council and several of 
the wealthier inhabitants and even the 
missionary who taught the Indian chil- 
dren. 

The people at Jamestown were 
warned by a friendly Indian, and were 
so prepared. In the course of a few 
days, eighty inhabited plantations were 
reduced to eight. But a large part of 
the colonv was saved. 



The English, in revenge, now im- 
mediately waged a vindictive and ex- 
terminating war. Every man capable 
of bearing arms, appeared in the field. 
They spread death and desolation over 
the peninsula between the York and the 
James Rivers. The Indians were 
slaughtered by scores, or driven far 
back in the forest. Before the war. 
there were about six thousand Indians 
within sixty miles of Jamestown, at the 
close of the war, there were probably 
not a thousand within that territory. 
Opechancanough escaped, but his 
power was broken, and the strength of 
his people had departed. 

The blight of war, pestilence and fa- 
mine fell upon the colony. Large areas 
of land were left uncultivated ; and 
many of the settlers returned to Eng- 
land. From four thousand souls, the 
colony was reduced to twenty-five hun- 
dred. The condition of the colonists 
excited sympathy in England, and shijis 
were sent with supplies. 

King James, finding a majority of 
the London Company drifting toward 
republicanism, decided to obtain con- 
trol of the Company and the colony. 
.\t an election of officers for the Com- 
pany, in 1622, he tried to control the 
candidates, and failed. He sent a 
commission to \'irginia, to inquire into 
the affairs of the colony, and to 
frighten the House of Burgesses into a 
relinquishment of their rights, under 
the charter. Not being successful, the 
King in July, 1624, cancelled the 
charter and \'irginia became a royal 
province again. Sir Francis Wyatt was 
appointed governor by the King, wnth 
twelve councillors of state, but he did 
not interfere wath the House of Burg- 
esses. King James died soon after- 
ward, and was succeeded by his son, 
Charles the First, on the 6th of April, 
1625. 

Charles did not change the political 
situation in the colony. He appointed 
Sir George Veardley, governor and 
gave to the planters a monopoly of 
the English market for their tobacco. 
But. however, they were compelled to 
sell their product to the agents ap- 
jjointed by the King. One of these 



86 



HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



agents was the harsh Sir John Harvey. 
The colony prospered until Harvey 
was made governor in 1629, two years 
after the death of Yeardley. In 1628, 
not less than a thousand English people 
emigrated to \'irginia. Harvey as- 
sumed the duties of his appointment 
in 1630, and very soon made himself 
very unpopular, and caused much con- 
fusion. His land grants tended to place 
the soil in the hands of a few ; he 
offended the Republicans in many 
ways. The House of Burgesses de- 
posed him and sent him to England. 
The King sent him back with power 
to rule the state independently of the 
people. 

Harvey was succeeded in 1639 by Sir 
Francis W'yatt. whose administration 
was an uneventful one. In February, 
1642, Sir \\'illiam Berkeley, brother of 
Lord Berkeley (one of the earliest 
English proprietors of New Jersey), 
arrived at Jamestown as governor. He 
was only thirty-two years of age, and 
of fine appearance, educated at Oxford 
and polished by extensive travel in 
Europe. 

He was very popular in \'irginia for 
many years. He was a staunch royal- 
ist, but his adhesion to the cause of the 
King during the civil war between the 
years 1641 to 1649 was so prudent that 
a greater part of the Virginians were in 
sympathy with him. The majority of 
the colonists were members of the 
Church oi England, but a considerable 
number of Puritans had settled there. 
Berkeley being of the cavalier class, 
despised the non-conformists, and 
knowing their leanings toward repub- 
licanism decreed that no Puritan 
minister should preach in public. And 
this was soon followed by the banish- 
ment of non-conformists from the 
colony. It was a calamity ; but a 
heavier one soon fell upon the \'ir- 
ginians. 

Ever since the massacre in 1622 
there had been deadly hostility between 
the colonists and the Indians. Ope- 
chancanough was yet living, and past 
ninety years of age. When Thomas 
Rolf, the son of Pocahontas, came from 
England with the consent of the \'ir- 



ginia Assembly, to visit his uncle, the 
chief heard from his lips of the civil 
war raging in England. This was in 
1643. The old chief concluded this was 
the time to strike. \'ery soon a con- 
federacy was formed among the In- 
dians over an area many hundred 
square miles in extent. A day was 
fi.\ed for the execution of the scheme. 
Early in April, 1644, the savages fell 
upon the colonists, and in the space of 
two days killed three hundred of the 
settlers. 

Berkeley met the murderers with an 
armed force and drove them back with 
great slaughter. The old chief was 
taken prisoner, and having been mor- 
tally wounded soon died. The remain- 
ing chiefs acknowledged allegiance to 
the authorities, and after ceding large 
tracts of land the confederacy expired. 
The colonists then had peace and 
jjrosperity. 

The colonists felt none of tlie op- 
pressions nor disputes that afflicted 
their kindred in England. When the 
King was beheaded the cavaliers 
flocked to \'irginia in great numbers, 
bringing valuable additions to the 
refined society of the colony, and 
strengthened the royal cause in that 
pro\ince. The colonists exercised the 
freedom of an independent govern- 
ment. In 1648 there was over twenty 
thousand inhabitants in Virginia. When 
the King was slain the \'irginians 
recognized the exiled son as sovereign ; 
and Sir \\'illiam Berkeley conducted 
the affairs of the colony as governor 
under a commission sent him by that 
prince. Virginia was the last country 
belonging to England that submitted 
to the government of the common- 
wealth under Cromwell. 

In the spring of 1652 a powerful 
fleet was sent to Virginia by the Repub- 
lican Parliament in England. On their 
arrival they were met with such firm- 
ness, and astonished at the boldness of 
the colonists, deemed it prudent to 
compromise with them. Berkeley re- 
sisrned, and Richard Bennet was elected 



Sfovernor. 



When Berkeley and the cavalier 
party in Mrginia had received news of 



THIRD PERIOD— C()I.nXIKS 



87 



tlie expedition to be sent to subjugate 
tbem the}- had in\ited Prince Charles 
to come o\er and be tlieir King. Events 
liowever foreshadowed the restoration 
of the monarchy, which took place in 
16C0, when Prince Charles ascended 
the throne, as Charles the Second of 
F.ngland. From the circumstance the 
title of the "Old Dominion" was given 
to \ irginia. 

When Matthews died (1660), whom 
Cromwell had appointed governor, the 
people elected Berkeley. He refused 
to serve unless he should receive the 
royal commission, and went to England 
to obtain it. The King made him gov- 
ernor, and he returned to \'irginia 
prepared to execute the King's will in 
full. Cavaliers and land-owners were 
elected to the House of Burgesses, and 
Berkeley had a pliant assembly of roy- 
alists. Laws were passed which modi- 
fied, abridged or abolished nearly every 
franchise which the people possessed. 
The Church of England was made 
supreme, and attempts were made to 
sweep every other sect out of the 
colony. Large numbers of Quakers 
and Puritans sought the wilds of North 
Carolina, where they formed settle- 
ments away from persecution. 

As Berkeley grew older he became 
less tolerant, and drifted in thought 
and action to the cavaliers, who hated 
everything that marked the character 
of the Puritans. There were no free 
schools, and printing was a crime. 
There were no roads or bridges, and 
every planter was compelled to be his 
own mechanic. Most of the houses 
were mean log huts with unglazed 
windows. Milages existed nowhere. 
Even the capital of the colony consisted 
only of a church, state-house and 
eighteen dwellings at this time. 

Meanwhile the large land-owners 
were living in luxury in fine mansions, 
surrounded by slaves or indentured 
servants. The "common people" saw- 
that the tendency in Virginia was to- 
ward a landed aristocracy and an im- 
poverished peasantry, and thev longed 
for a pretext to as.sert their natural 
rights. 

The King, in i'')7,^, actually gave to 



Lord Culpep]ier and the Earl of 
Arlington all the dominion, "land and 
water called X'irginia, for the term of 
thirty-one years. 

Oppression vigorously stimulated 
Republicanism in \"irginia. The men 
of toil, and righteous ones of the aris- 
tocracy, soon formed a powerful party, 
and the act of the King increased its 
strength. 

Rebellious murmurs were heard 
everywhere. The toiling people were 
made to regard the aristocracy as their 
natural enemies. 

In i<>/S 3. war broke out between 
Maryland and the Indians, and \ ir- 
ginia sent a company of soldiers, under 
John Washington, the great-gran- 
father of George Washington, to help 
the people of Maryland. When they 
arrived on the Potomac the Susque- 
hannas sent six of their chiefs to treat 
for peace, but the \'irginians killed the 
entire number. This enraged the 
Susquehannas, and they marched over 
the border into \'irginia and killed ten 
men for every one of theirs whom the 
\'irginians had slain. In their distress 
the people called upon Berkeley to send 
soldiers to their aid, but he was more 
interested in the fur trade, and made 
no effort in behalf of the unprotected 
settlements. The people then called on 
Nathaniel Bacon, a young Englishman, 
a lawyer and a patriot, to take com- 
mand of their volunteer soldiers, but 
Berkeley, who disliked Bacon, refused 
tr grant him a commission. The In- 
dians continue^ their bloody work until 
tlic situation became so desperate that 
the volunteers put themselves under 
command of Bacon and marched 
against the Indians. On hearing of 
this action Berkeley proclaimed Bacon 
a traitor and his soldiers rebels. At 
this time the more populous counties 
that were not molested by the Indians 
exhibited signs of dissatisfaction at the 
usurpation of the Assembly and the 
haughty actions of the governor, and 
as soon as Bacon had returned success- 
fully with his troops the people forced 
the obnoxious Asseml)ly to dissolve, 
and an election for new members was 
called. Among these Bacon was elected 



RR 



TIIF. HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



to represe;it Henrico County, and the 
new Assembly corrected the evils of its 
usurping predecessor. They also elected 
Bacon commander of the army, to 
which at first Berkeley refused to give 
his sanction, but after having done so, 
as soon as Bacon again went in pur- 
suit of the Indians Berkeley again pro- 
claimed him a traitor. In reply to this 
Bacon said : "It vexes me to the heart 
that while I am hunting the wolves 
which destroy our lambs, I should my- 
self be pursued like a savage." 

To thwart the will of the people 
Berkeley then gathered a motley army 
of English sailors and Indians and pre- 
pared to subjugate the people to his 
will. In anticipation of his intentions 
tlie people met in convention at Middle 
Plantation, and resolved to oppose his 
tyranny by force. Soon after this 
Berkeley with five ships sailed to 
Jamestown to put down what he termed 
an insurrection of the people. At 
Jamestown he was met and defeated 
by Bacon and the army of the people. 
and Berkeley and his mongre army 
fled, leaving Jamestown in possession 
of Bacon. To protect Berkeley from 
again securing possession of James- 
town, a council of war was held, and 
it was resolved to burn the town. 
Drummond and Lawrence and other 
prominent patriots applied the torch to 
their own dwellings. Thvis the first 
town built on this continent by English- 
men crumbled to ashes as a sacrifice- 
to civil liberty, and all that to-day re- 
mains is the old vineclad ruin of the 
church tower. 

It was now believed that the people 
of Virginia had secured the fruits of a 
permanent victory over usurpation, 
but their noble leader was soon seized 
with an illness which ended his brave 
and useful life. The tyrant Berkeley 
seized upon, the opportunity to again 
possess himself of the government, 
and began to prosecute with fines, con- 
fiscation and death all who had sided 
with the patriots. The first who was 
condenmed to death was Hansford, who 
was not permitted to be shot like a 
soldier, but was executed by hanging, 
being the first white native of America 



who perished on the gallows. When 
Drummond was taken Berkeley said 
with an air of triumph : "You are wel- 
come : I am more glad to see you than 
any man in Virginia. You shall be 
hanged in half an hour." Before the 
vengeance of Berkeley was satiated 
twenty-two persons were executed. 

At last Berkeley left the country and 
returned to England ; and to celebrate 
the departure the people built bon-fires 
and held a public rejoicing. In Eng- 
land he was received with loathing and 
disgust, and even King Charles ex- 
claimed : "The old fool has taken away 
more lives in that naked country than 
I for the murder of my father." 

The cup of \'irginia was not yet full. 
In 1678 Charles gave the government 
of \'irginia to Culpepper for life, and 
in 1680 he came and began enriching 
himself by taxing and impoverishing 
the people, and when he had sufficiently 
robbed them he took his departure, and 
a more impecunious and avaricious 
governor named Effingham succeeded 
him. 

A new Assembly convention con- 
vened in 1688. It was "more turbu- 
lent," the governor and council said, 
"than any which had preceded." They 
]jaid very little attention to the un- 
lawful orders of the magistrate, and 
boldly discussed the rights of citizens. 
The governor determined to dissolve 
the Assembly. The people flew to 
arms, and were on the verge of an open 
insurrection when the news came over 
the sea that King James had been 
driven from the throne. In February. 
1689, William and ]\Iary were pro- 
claimed joint monarchs of 'England. 
From the accession of those monarchs 
a great change was made in the policv 
of the English government toward its 
colonies in .America. From that period 
to the beginning of the French and 
Indian War at the middle of the 
eighteenth century the history of Vir- 
ginia is the story of the steady, quiet 
progress of an industrious people who 
were ready in "the fullness of time'' 
to join with other colonies in the estab- 
lishment of a great republic. 



THIRD PERIOD—COLONIES 



89 



NEW NETHERLAXD— .\E\\^ 
YORK, 

Peter Miiuiit was the first tiirector- 
general or governor of the colony of 
Xew Xetherland, with his seat of 
government at New Amsterdam ( now 
New York). He was an able and 
energetic man, and the colony flour- 
ished under his direction. The inter- 
coiu'se between the Dutch and the In- 
dians was friendly for some time. The 
Hollanders had extended their traffic to 
the upper waters of the Hudson, and 
built a fort on the site of .-Xlbany. called 
Fort Orange. Eight families had set- 
tled there. The Mohawk Indians on 
one side of the river and the Mohegans 
on the other, quarreled and w'ent to 
war. The Dutch became involved in 
tile quarrel, and the commander of the 
fort and three of his men were slain. 

The settlers fearing massacre aban- 
doned their farms, and with all the 
women in the fort removed to New 
Amsterdam. That was in the year 
1626. 

From that time, until 1628, wars 
with the Indians checked settlement 
outside the bounds of Manhattan 
Island. To increase the value of 
the province nothing seemed wiser than 
to increase the population ; so they 
adopted the plan of making separate 
and independent colonies on the Hud- 
son and Delaware Rivers. To enlist 
private capital in the undertaking it was 
proposed to give "patroon" privilege. 
This proposition was approved by the 
States-General in 1630; and so the feu- 
dal system as displayed by the manorial 
estates in Holland was transferred to 
.\merica. 

Governor ^linuit returned to .\m- 
sterdam in 1632, leaving the province 
in a state of increasing prosperity. He 
was succeeded the following year by 
Walter \'an Twiller, a narrow minded 
and inexperienced clerk in the employ 
(if the Comjjany. He had married a 
niece of one of the directors, and had 
no fitness for the position of governor. 
He was entirely ignorant of public 
affairs and had not a single quality of 
a statesman. 



\'an Twiller's administration lasted 
four years, and the colony prospered 
in spite of him. Just before his ap- 
pointment Captain de \'ries, one of the 
' patroons" who had an estate on the 
Delaware River, had sailed for James- 
town, and opened up friendly inter- 
course with the settlers there. On his 
return he sailed up the Delaware and 
found his affairs far from prosperous; 
so he abandoned the country to the 
Intlians and sailed into the harbor of 
New Amsterdam, at about the time 
\'an Twiller arrived from Amsterdam. 
Jacob Elkens came a few days after 
de \^ries arrival, in the English ship 
U'illiain, with the intention of going 
u]) the Hudson to trade with the In- 
dians. Elkens had been a former com- 
missary at Fort Orange and knew Van 
Twiller at Amsterdam, and counted on 
his impotence. When the governor 
demanded his papers he refused, saying 
"The country belongs to England, for 
it was discovered by an Englishman. 
I command an English ship and will 
go where I please." De \'ries advised 
the governor to send an expedition 
after the intruder, which the stupid 
governor did, and very soon Elkens w^as 
sent to sea with an injunction not to 
attempt any further interference with 
the Dutch on the Hudson. 

The province lacked the prime ele- 
ment of independent farmers tilling 
their own land. The wealthy monopo- 
list owned the land ; the tiller might 
own the house he li\ed in — no more. 
There were continued disputes between 
the grasping "patroons" and the agents 
of the Company concerning the fur- 
trade, wliich each was seeking to secure. 
The governor had lost respect of all 
parties, and was simply a clog to pro- 
gress. Parson Bogardus. who had come 
over with him from Holland, called 
him a "child of the devil" to his face ; 
and he also told him on one occasion 
that if he did not behave himself he 
woidd give him such a "shake from the 
l>ulpit" the next Sabbath as would make 
liim tremble like a bowl of jelly. Van 
Twiller was finally recalled. 

In 1^)37. Van Twiller was succeeded 
hy William Kieft. He has been de- 



TME HOME AUXILIARY AND RKF KRICXCE 



scribed as spiteful, rapacious, energetic 
and never so happy as when in trouble 
with some one ; unscrupulous and a 
petty tyrant. He was, nevertheless, a 
better man for the Company than Van 
Twiller. He was an agitator and agita- 
tion is healthier than stagnation. 

Kieft's administration was stormy, 
therefore a delightful one for him. He 
had regarded Minuit as a model gov- 
ernor, and Minuit for a long time was 
the bane of Kieft's official peace and 
quiet. He had just commenced his 
duties, as governor, when news reached 
him of the settlement of the Swedes, 
led by Minuit, on the Delaware. They 
had built a house and claimed the whole 
country westward, from Cape Hen- 
lopen to Trenton. Kieft issued a proc- 
lamation protesting against this inva- 
sion of the territory of New Nether- 
land. 

Kieft begar 'nis administration by 
concentrating all the power in his own 
hands. He reformed the abuses which 
abounded everywhere. Fort Amster- 
dam was repaired, and he caused by 
example and command fruit trees to be 
planted where there had been brambles. 
Police ordinances were framed and 
thoroughly enforced. Religion and 
morality was fostered for a time, and a 
church was built in the fort. 

In 1638, the States-General com- 
pelled the Company to throw open the 
internal trade of the colony to free 
competition for all the inhabitants ot 
Holland, under restrictions; and the 
governor of New Netherland was in- 
structed to accommodate every emi- 
grant with as much land as he and his 
family could cultivate. Emigrants 
])assed into Amsterdam to seek oppor- 
tunity to go to New Netherland. The 
Com])any wisely offered a free passage 
to respectable farmers. A good class 
of citizens sought homes in the colony 
— men of culture and fortune. De 
\'ries, with emigrants, planted a colony 
on Staten Island. Strangers came from 
A'irginia and New England, for there 
was freedom of conscience. The only 
obligation was an oath of fidelity and 
allegiance to Holland. 

New Englanders now became trou- 



blesome. They were spreading over 
the country westward of the Housa- 
tenic River. It being evident that they 
intended to push their settlements to 
the Hudson River Kieft, in 1640, pur- 
chased from the Indians, in the name 
of the States-General, all the islands 
near Norwalk and the domain west- 
ward, which comprised nearly the whole 
of Westchester County. The English 
disregarded the title deeds of the In- 
dians, and the Dutch proclamations, 
and mocked the officials at New Am- 
sterdam. Kieft was a more energetic 
man than \'an Twiller. He soon put a 
stop to their encroachments and com- 
pelled the settlers on the newly pur- 
chased domain to take the oath of alle- 
giance to the States-General. 

Had Kieft's policy and conduct been 
as wise and just as it was firm and 
energetic his administration might 
have been marked by peace and great 
prosperity. But he pursued a policy 
toward the Indians that inflamed whole 
tribes with resentment toward the 
Dutch. His partiality for the Mo- 
hawks, with whom the Dutch came in 
contact at Fort Orange, e.xcited the 
jealousy of the river Indians. They 
were sold rum and cheated by the 
traders while intoxicated. Kieft winked 
at these offenses and shared in the 
plunder. He exacted tribute from the 
tribes around Manhattan, and when he 
saw the clouds of vengeance gather- 
ing his fears awakened his cruelty. 

Some swine had been stolen from De 
\'ries' plantation on Staten Island. The 
innocent Raritan Indians of New Jer- 
sey were charged with the crime, and 
the governor sent an armed force to 
chastise them with a belief that a show 
of power would disarm the vengeance 
of the savages. .Several Indians were 
killed, and all the neighboring tribes 
were aroused for war. The Raritans 
murdered the Hollanders whenever 
they met them in the forests, and the 
settlement on Staten Island was ruined. 
Fifteen or twenty years before some 
of Minuit's men had murdered an 
Indian belonging to a tribe beyond the 
Harlem River. His nephew, then a 
boy, made a vow of vengeance. He was 



THIRD PERIOD— COI.OXTES 



now a lusty man. He proceeded to 
execute liis vow by murdering an un- 
offending Dutchman in his wheel- 
wright shop high upon Manhattan 
Island. With his scalp and the plunder 
of his dwelling the savage returned to 
his tribe in triumph. 

Kieft demanded the murderer, but 
the chief would not gi\e him up. say- 
ing he had been revenged according to 
the customs of his race. 

It was now evident to the people 
tliat it was the rapacity and greed of 
Kieft that caused all the trouble. They 
reproached him for his selfish cow- 
ardice, they blamed him, who had not 
slept out of the fort a single night since 
liis arrival, for endangering their lives 
and homes in' undefended places. In 
order to get the good will of the people, 
and to carrv out his designs, he now' 
called the heads of families to meet 
him in convention. They assembled at 
l-'ort Amsterdam and chose twelve 
men a> their representatives. So were 
planted the seed of a representative 
democracy in Xew Netherland, and the 
first congress for political purposes in 
the \-ear 1641, almost on the spot where 
Washington, a century and a half later, 
was inaugurated first President of the 
L'nited States. 

De Vries was chosen president, and 
the twelve counselled peace and pro- 
ceeded to establish a government sim- 
ilar to that of the Fatherland. Kieft 
now agreed to make popular conces- 
sions if the Twelve would allow him 
to make war on the offending Indians. 
When they agreed to his proposition 
the governor dissolved them, saying 
he had no further use for them, and 
forbade any popular assemblage there- 
after. 

In T642. a treaty was made with the 
iift'ending tribes. In the winter of 1643, 
the fierce Iroquois invaded the country 
nf the Indians on the lower Hudson, 
who sought the protection of the Dutch. 
De Vries now counselled was the time 
to make enduring peace with these In- 
dians, but was overruled by Kieft and 
some leading citizens. In February. 
1643, Kieft sent an armed force against 



these natives, and they were massacred, 
men, women and children. 

This treachery aroused the fury of 
the savages far and near, and for two 
}ears a devastating war was raged. The 
white people were butchered wherever 
found, and the colony was on the verge 
of ruin. The people had now lost all 
confidence in the governor, and de- 
manded his recall. This was granted, 
and the colonists saw him depart in the 
spring of 1647. The vessel in which 
Kieft sailed was lost, and the governor 
perished. 

The new governor, Peter Stuyvesant. 
arrived in Xew Netherland late in ^lay, 
1647. He was tiien a man in the prime 
of life, physically strong, stern and in- 
flexible, but a just and honest man. He 
had lost a leg in an attack on the Portu- 
guese, and had a wooden one, all cov- 
ered with silver bands in place of it. 
He commenced his administration by 
reforming all the most flagrant abuses 
of the colony. His kindness to the In- 
dians soon won their friendship and 
confidence. He found the finances of 
the colony in such a low state that taxa- 
tion was imperative. Knowing that 
taxation was imperative without repre- 
sentation had been considered as tyr- 
anny in Holland for two centuries he 
dared not tax the people without their 
consent, although he was by nature a 
despot. He therefore called a conven- 
tion of citizens to represent the tax- 
payers, but he was careful to hedge 
them about with restrictions. Nine 
were to be selected, who were to be 
a co-ordinate part of the government. 

By prudent and adroit management 
Stuyvesant soon swept awav annoy- 
ances in the shape of territorial claims. 
In 1647, a representative of Lord Stir- 
ling landed on Long Island and set up 
a claim as governor. He was arrested, 
sent to Holland, but allowed to escape. 

In T650, by a treaty at flartford, he 
^-ettled all the disputes with the New 
Englanders. He now went with an 
expedition against the Swedes on the 
Delaware, built Fort Cassimer, near 
the site of New Castle. Delaware, and 
crossed the river to New Tersev at Fort 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



Nassau. He had obtained fiDni the 
Indians a deed to all the land occupied 
by the Swedes. The Swedish governor 
protested in vain. The two magistrates 
promised to keep neighborly friendship 
and correspondence together. That 
was in the year 1651. 

The next year the colonists of New 
Amsterdam were granted a charter 
like the free cities of Holland, the 
officers to be appointed by the gover- 
nor, and in 1653 it was organized as a 
city. 

To escape the intolerance of the 
authorities English families had been 
coming to New Netherland for several 
years. Land was freely granted to 
them, and an English secretary ap- 
pointed. They had intermarried with 
the Dutch, and formed strong allies of 
the Nine. The arbitrary and despotic 
rule of Stuyvesant, although an honest 
n^an and believing in his convictions, 
fostered the growth of Republicanism. 

That popular feeling had expression 
when, late in the autumn of 1653, a 
convention of Nineteen delegates as- 
sembled in New Amsterdam ostensibly 
to take measures to secure themselves 
against the savages and pirates. The 
governor tried to control their actions, 
but they paid no attention to him. He 
saw it would be prudent to yield to the 
demands of the people to call another 
convention, so he gave legal sanction to 
the election of delegates thereto. These 
meet in New Amsterdam on the loth 
of December. 1633. There were ten 
Dutch and nine English delegates. 

The object of the convention was to 
form and adopt a remonstrance against 
the tyrannous rule of the governor. It 
was drawn by Baxter, the English sec- 
retary. Stuyvesant met this with his 
usual pluck, and ordered them to dis- 
]icrse, but tlie convention was not to be 
silenced, and they sent an advocate to 
1 lolland to ask for the reforms. The 
Swedes now sent an expedition to the 
Delaware. They captured Fort Cassi- 
mer, and changed its name to Fort 
Trinity. The surrender occurred on 
Trinity Sunday, 1654. 

In September of the following year 
(1655) with seven vessels and more 



than six hundred soldiers, Stuyvesant 
sailed from New Amsterdam. They 
arrived in the Delaware and retook 
I'^ort Cassimer without a struggle. The 
captives were wisely made citizens ot 
New Netherland, and they became loyal 
friends of the Dutch. 

When Stuyvesant returned to Man- 
hattan he found the wildest confusion. 
Van Dyck, a former civil officer, had 
killed a squaw detected stealing peaches 
from his garden. The fury of her 
tribe was kindled. The Indians found 
and killed \'an Dyck, and ravaged New 
Jersey and Staten Island. Stuyvesant 
soon brought order, and prevented a 
like calamity by ordering those who 
lived in secluded places to gather in 
villages "after the fashion of their 
New England neighbors,." New Neth- 
erlands now prospered in quiet for 
almost ten years. 

This whole country had been as- 
signed, by Charles the Second of Eng- 
land, to his brother, the Duke of York. 
Including Long Island and a part of 
Connecticut, with the authority to take 
possession and hold the territory. Four 
ships of war, bearing four hundred and 
fifty soldiers commanded by Colonel 
Richard Nicolls, arrived before New 
Amsterdam at the close of August, 
1664. Stuyvesant had just brought a 
war with the Indians above the high- 
lands of the Hudson to a close, and was 
then at Fort Orange. When he heard 
the news of the invasion of the English 
he hastened back to his capital, where 
he received a formal notice to surrender 
the fort and city. Nicolls also sent a 
proclamation to the citizens, promising 
perfect security of person and property 
to all who should quietly submit to 
English rule. The magistrates and 
burghers were anxious to submit, as 
their force was not strong enough to 
make any resistance successful. Stuy- 
vesant held out for a week and surren- 
dered on the 8th of September. 1664. 

The fort was renamed Fort James, 
and the city and province to New York, 
in honor of the Duke of York. Colonel 
Nicolls was proclaimed deputy-gov- 
ernor, and all officers were required to 
take the oath of allegiance to the Brit- 



THIRD PERIOD— COLONIES 



ish crown. So passed into history tlie 
domination of the Dutch in America, 
after an existence of half a century. 
England was now the mistress of all 
the domain on the Atlantic coast from 
Florida to Acadie. At the end of the 
war between the Dutch and English in 
1667, Stuyvesant was granted by King 
Charles of England trading privileges 
with New York for seven years. He 
returned to his old home in New York, 
where he was cordially welcomed, and 
enjoyed on his farm the peace and 
f|uiet of a domestic life. There he died 
in 1682. Stuyvesant. known as Peter 
the Headstrong, left his mark as a 
strong and courageous man. 

Nicolls ruled wisely, and his suc- 
cessor, Francis Lovelace, in 1667, ruled 
mildly. Although he showed consid- 
erable energy in dealing with the 
French and hostile Indians on the 
northern frontier of New York. In the 
summer of 1672 a Dutch squadron 
sailed into the harbor of New York 
and demanded its surrender. There 
was war again between the Dutch and 
English. On the 9th of August, 1672, 
New York passed into the hands of the 
Dutch, and in a short time the whole 
of the province followed. At the 
treaty of peace, made in London early 
in 1674, the province again was re- 
stored to the British crown. 

In June. 1674, King Charles gave the 
Duke of York a new grant of terri- 
tory, which consisted of all the domain 
west of the Connecticut River, to the 
eastern shore of the Delaware ; also 
Long Island and a territory in Maine. 

Major Edmund Andros was ap- 
pointed governor. He was then about 
thirty-seven years of age, a thorough 
royalist a good Dutch and French 
scholar. His private character was 
without blemish, and he nas well fitted 
for the part he was about to play. He 
soon became known in the province as 
the "tyrant." With all their political 
disabilities under Andros the people 
were prosperous and therefore com- 
paratively happy. 

He was succeeded in 1683 by Thomas 
Dongan. a Roman Catholic. He was 
a mild mannered and enlightened 



Irishman, and under instructions from 
the Duke of York, granted the people 
the right to elect an Assembly of 
Representatives, (^n the 17th of Octo- 
ber, 1683, the first General Assembly 
of the Province of New York was in 
session at New York. 

When the Duke of York ascended 
the throne of England as King James 
the Second, in 1685, he immediately 
demolished civil and religious liberty in 
New York. A direct tax was ordered; 
the printing press was forbidden a 
place in the colony. He determined to 
establish the Roman Catholic religion, 
and all the provincial ofifices were filled 
with adherents of that church. He 
tried to introduce French priests among 
the Iroquois, but fortunately for the 
English it did not succeed, and they 
stood, in after years, a powerful barrier 
between the French and English. 

Dongan stood by the people and the 
interests of England, that finally of- 
fended the monarch. He was dismissed 
from office, and Andros appointed in 
his place, and the government consoli- 
dated with that of New England in the 
spring of the year 1688. 

When James was driven from the 
throne of England William and Mary 
succeeded him. When the news reached 
New England Andros and his political 
associates were seized at Boston and 
sent to England. Fort James was 
seized in New York, and Jacob Leisler, 
an influential merchant and commander 
of militia took an active part. He was 
a German colonist, a Presbyterian, an 
admirer of William of Orange, but with 
democratic tendencies. A provisional 
government was organized, and Leisler 
made governor until a regularly author- 
ized one should be appointed. Leisler 
had considerable opposition in the 
colony, and did not show good judg- 
ment in the treatment of his political 
enemies. The awful destruction of 
Schenectady by the Indians in Febru- 
ary, 1690, united the people in common 
defense, and the authority of Leisler 
was ackuDwledged. 

Henry .Sloughter was appointed gov- 
ernor of New York by the crown, and 
on his arrival, in March, 1691, arrested 



THE nO.ME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



Leislcr, ]Milbouniu and six others for 
high treason. They were tried, con- 
victed, and condemned to be hanged. 
They appealed to the King. Sloughter 
was prevailed to sign their death war- 
rant while intoxicateil. and they were 
hanged. It was murder, and when 
Sloughter came to his senses, he was 
so tortured with remorse for his act 
that he died in three months, of dclir- 
iiiin tremens. 

Four years afterward the P.ritish 
Parliament passed an act declaring 
them innocent of treason. From that 
hour republicanism grew vigorously in 
Xew York, and gave future royal gov- 
ernors a great deal of trouble. 

Benjamin Fletcher succeeded Slough- 
ter as governor of New York. He was 
also appointed commander of the 
militia of Connecticut, New York and 
Xew Jersey. He disgusted all parties 
by his recklessness, and caused more 
resistance to the royal power than ever 
before. He visited Hartford in the 
autumn of 1693 and attempted to call 
out the militia. They paid no attention 
to him. He compromised by making 
I-Tetcher commander of the Connecti- 
cut militia only in time of war. 

The French and Indians under 
Count Frontenac, were seeking a pas- 
sage through the Five Nations to the 
English settlements below. Mayor 
Schuyler, of Albany, who had great in- 
fluence over the Iroquois, led an ex- 
pedition, with about three hundred 
English and as many Mohawk war- 
riors, against the foe. They beat the 
French back to the St. Lawrence, and 
50 desolated the French settlements 
around Lake Champlain. that Fronte- 
nac was glad to remain quiet at Mon- 
treal. 

During the whole of the seven years 
of Fletcher's administration, the As- 
sembly was in constant opposition to 
him, although filled with the bitter 
enemies of Leisler. .\nd when he was 
superseded by the Earl of Bellamont, in 
1698, he seemed as glad to leave the 
province as the people were to get rid 
of him. 

Bellamont was an honest and ener- 
getic Irish peer. He knew the circum- 



stances and causes of the trial and 
death of Leisler. He settled the differ- 
ences of factions, opened the way for 
just legislation, and reformed abuses in 
public affairs. Through the influence 
iif Bellamont, and a letter from the 
King, the Assembly, in 1700, confirmed 
the verdict of Parliament in favor of 
the innocence of Leisler and granted 
indemnity to his family. During this 
time, English commerce suffered 
greatly from French privateers and 
pirates. A company was formed of 
which Bellamont was the American 
member, to suppress them. Captain 
Kidd, of New York, was duly commis- 
sioned as commander of a vessel, called 
the Adventure, by the King. He sailed 
under the orders of this Company and 
did much to suppress these sea-robbers 
and to protect English commerce in 
American waters. Kidd collected 
about one hundred and fifty men under 
him, sailed into the Indian Ocean and 
turned pirate himself. His acts be- 
came so scandalous that when he re- 
turned to .\merica he was arrested, 
sent to England and hanged. It was 
believed at the time that Bellamont was 
his business partner, and that the Com- 
pany shared in his plunders. This cast 
a cloud over the character and other- 
wise good conduct of his administra- 
tion as governor. 

Sir Edward Hyde, uncle of Queen 
Anne, was the next governor, and on 
occasions was a persistent enemy of 
popular freedom and a religious bigot. 
In 1705, the Assembly obtained the 
right from the Queen to make appro- 
priations of money, and appoint their 
own treasurer. In 1708, the Queen 
yielded to the wishes of the people and 
recalled Hyde. From this time until 
1732, democratic principles were al- 
lowed to grow and flourish, and friend- 
ship between the English and the Five 
Nations, which had been disturbed, 
was restored. 

Robert Hunter was the next gov- 
ernor, and during his administration 
three thousand German Lutherans, 
from the Palatinate of the Rhine, 
settled in different parts of New York 
and Penns\l\ania. They were chiefly 



THIRD PERIOD— COLONIES 



95 



llic ancestors of the German population 
of the latter state. 

■ William Burnet succeeded Hunter. 
While he was governor, William Brad- 
ford, in the autumn of 1725, established 
the first public newspaper in New York. 
Jolin ■Montgomery succeeded Burnet, 
in 1728. He died in 1731, when Rip 
\'an Dam, the senior member of the 
council, took charge of public affairs 
initil the arrival of William Cosby as 
governor, in 1732. 

Cosby's first act as governor was the 
bringing of a law-suit against Van 
Dam, for one-half the salary he had 
received while acting-governor. The 
court being the governor's personal 
friends gave judgment against Van 
Dam, with the exception of the Chief- 
Justice Morris, who decided against the 
governor. He was removed without 
consulting the council, and James De- 
Lancey put in his place. 

The sympathies of the people were 
with Van Dam, and they induced John 
Peter Zenger, who had been an appren- 
tice and business partner with Brad- 
ford, to establish a newspaper to be 
the organ of the democratic party. In 
November, 1733, he published the 
"New York Weekly Journal," with 
Van Dam behind him as financial sup- 
porter. Bradford's paper was then 
controlled by the government. 

The "Journal" made vigorous war- 
fare upon the governor and his politi- 
cal friends. It finally charged theiti 
with violating the rights of the people, 
and the perversion of their official sta- 
tions for selfish purposes. In the 
autumn of 1734, Zenger was arrested 
for libel, and kept in jail until the next 
August, when he was brought to trial. 
The case caused intense excitement 
throughout the country, because it in- 
volved the great question of liberty of 
speech and of the press. 

An association known as the "Sons 
cif Liberty" obtained the services of 
Andrew Hamilton, of Philadelphia, 
then eighty years of age and the fore- 
most lawyer in the country, to defend 
him. Zenger was acquitted, and this 
triumph of the popular cause — this vin- 
dication of the freedom of the press — 



tliis evidence of the people to protect 
Ihcir champions, and this success of an 
organization in its infancy, which ap- 
peared in power thirty years later un- 
der the same name of "Sons of Lib- 
erty," was a sure prophecy of that 
political indepen<lence of the colonies 
which was so speedily fulfilled. 

From the arrival of Cosby until the 
beginning of the I'rench and Indian 
War, at the middle of the century, the 
history of the province of New York is 
composed chiefly of party strife. 

NEW ENGLAND. 

William Bra^ord was the successor 
of John Carver, the earliest governor 
of the Plymouth Colony, and the first 
historian of Massachusetts. 

He was born in Ansterfield, York- 
shire, in the north of England, in the 
year 1588. From early life he had 
been accustomed to the teachings of the 
Puritans, and attempted to fly to his 
persecuted brethren in the Netherlands, 
when only seventeen years of age. Be- 
trayed, he was seized and imprisoned 
at Boston, in Lincolnshire, for awhile, 
but escaped and joined the fugitives at 
Amsterdam, where he learned the silk 
weaver's art and pursued that occupa- 
tion. He lost his patrimony in unsuc- 
cessful business ventures, and when the 
establishment of a free colony in Am- 
erica was projected at Leyden, he was 
one of the most zealous prompters of 
the measure ; and he and his young 
wife were among the earliest emigrants 
to that land of promise. Mrs. Brad- 
ford was the first death among the 
Pilgrims, after their arrival. While 
still riding at anchor in Cape Cod Bay, 
before a settlement was selected, she 
fell into the sea and was drowned. 
Shrewd, wise, active, humane and gen- 
erous, Bradford was very popular ; and 
he was in the chair of state almost con- 
tinuously from 1 62 1 until his death in 
1657. a period of thirty-six years. 

The I'ilgrims of Plymouth, in the 
autumn of 1621, rejoiced in an abun- 
dance of food, it being the first year of 
their settlement. Therebv their hearts 
were filled with gratitude, and after the 



q6 



THE HOMK AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



fruits of their labor had all been 
gathered, the governor sent out hunts- 
men to bring in supplies for a general 
and common thanksgiving. That was 
the first celebration of the great New 
England festival of Thanksgiving, now 
annually held in almost every state and 
territory of the Union in the month of 
November. Great quantities of wild 
turkeys and deer were gathered at 
Plymouth, and for three days the Pil- 
grims indulged in rejoicing, firing of 
guns and feasting — entertaining at the 
same time. King Massasoit and ninety 
of his dusky followers, who contributed 
five deer to the banquets. 

A second ship had arrived during the 
summer, among the new-comers was 
the Rev. Robert Cushman, one of the 
founders of the colony, who, in Decem- 
ber, 1 621, preached the first sermon in 
New England. 

Governor Bradford had already se- 
cured the friendship of J^Iassasoit, and 
his people ; but Canonicus, the chief of 
the Xarragansets, living on Canonicut 
Island, oposite the site of Newport, 
was loth to bo friendly at first. To 
show his contempt for and defiance of 
the English, he sent a messenger to 
Governor Bradford with a bundle of 
arrows in a rattlesnake skin. That was 
in the dead of winter, 1622. It was a 
challenge to engage in war in the 
spring. Bradford acted wisely on the 
occasion. He accepted the challenge to 
fight the multitude of savages by send- 
ing the significant quiver back, filled 
with gunpowder and shot. The sav- 
ages had heard of the great guns at 
the seaside, and they dared not keep 
the symbols of the governor's anger, 
but sent them back to Plymouth in 
token of peace. Canonicus subdued, he 
and the other cliiefs humbly begged the 
English for friendship. The English 
built a fort which served as a meeting 
house, and in April, when they received 
the news of the massacre by the In- 
dians in Virginia, they kept their 
houses barricaded and a careful watch 
was constantly kept. 

Not long after this, the first war be- 
tween the English and savages broke 
out. Weston, a wealthy and dissatis- 



fied member of the Plymouth Com- 
])any, sent o\'er a colony of sixty un- 
married men to plant a settlement on 
his own account, somewhere on the 
shores of Massachusetts Bay. They 
were mostly idle and dissolute young 
men, and after living several weeks 
upon the scanty means of the Plymouth 
families, they went to the site of Wey- 
mouth, where they began a settlement. 
They exasperated the Indians by plun- 
dering their corn fields, and other 
sources of supplies. The savages, fear- 
ing the vengeance of the white people 
should they destroy the young men at 
Weymouth, determined to exterminate 
all the English in the land. ^Massasoit 
revealed the plot to the English, 
and the Plymouth people immediately 
sent Captain Standish, with a few 
soldiers, to protect the ofl:'ending 
Englishmen, and in a contest that en- 
sued an Indian chief and several of his 
followers were killed. The Indians 
Avere very much frightened, and sued 
for peace. The colony at Weymouth, 
too weak to endure was broken up a 
year after it was planted, and the most 
worthless of its members returned to 
England. 

At the end of seven years, the colon- 
ists purchased the interest of the part- 
ners in London, in the colony, and gen- 
eral prosperity was soon manifested. 
The community system, or the common 
sharing of labor and its products was 
abandoned, the cultivators of the soil 
became freeholders. The restless en- 
terprise of the Pilgrims compelled 
them to obtain other landed possessions. 
They acquired the right of domain on 
Cape Anne and on tlie borders of the 
Kennebec. The colony had been 
spared the affliction of a governor sent 
from England, and had from the be- 
ginning enjoyed self-government with- 
out the royal sanction. That govern- 
ment was simple. At first the only 
officers were a governor and one assis- 
tant magi.strate. In 1624, five assis- 
tants were chosen, in 1630, when the 
colony nut:ibered five hundred souls, 
seven assistants were chosen by the 
whole people. This pure democracy 
existed at Plymouth until 1639, a per- 



THIRD PERIOD— COLONIES 



97 



iod of nineteen years, when a repre- 
sentative government was establislicd, 
and a pastor was chosen as a spiritual 
guide. Mr. Robinson, although in 
Holland, was regarded as the head of 
the Puritans in New England, until 
his death in 1625 ; but he was never 
iillowed to emigrate to America, 
tl'.rough the influence of the London 
I'artners of the colony with the crown 
and Church of England. 

Two independent colonies had been 
planted during this time, one at Wes- 
ton, and the other where Gloucester 
now stands, both failed. The latter 
had been attemjited by the Rev. John 
White. With several other powerful 
citizens. White, in 1628, formed a 
company and purchased a tract of land 
extending from three miles north of 
the Merrimac River to three miles 
south of the Charles River, and west- 
ward to the Pacific Ocean. 

In the summer of that year, the Com- 
pany sent John Endicott. one of their 
number (including his wife and chil- 
dren) with emigrants, to settle on the 
domain. Endicott was commissioned 
governor or general manager of the 
colony ; and then he began his long and 
eventful career in New England. He 
was then forty years of age ; possessed 
of an imperious and unyielding will ; 
was a most rigid Puritan in thought 
and manner, benevolent though austere 
and was intolerant of all dissenting 
opinions. 

Endicott settled at Naumkeag, 
where some of White's men from Cape 
Anne were seated. The place was 
named Salem, the Hebrew word for 
"peaceful." There he soon displayed 
his stern opposition to all vain amuse- 
ments, by causing a May-pole to be cut 
down. 

Several persons of wealth and in- 
fluence in Boston. Lincolnshire, and 
elsewhere, joined the colony, early in 
1629, and in March a royal charter was 
granted, creating them a corporation 
under the name of "The Governor and 
Company of the Massachusetts Bay, in 
New England." The administration of 
public affairs was intrusted to a gov- 
ernor, deputy, and eighteen assistants 



nr magistrates, who were to be elected 
annually by the stockholders of the 
Company. A general assembly of the 
freemen was to be held at least four 
times a year to legislate for the colony. 
The King claimed no jurisdiction, for 
he regarded the whole affair as a trad- 
ing operation. The charter conferred 
upon the colonists of Massachusetts 
I '-ay all the rights of English subjects, 
without exacting many corresponding 
duties : and it was afterward used as a 
text for many powerful discourses 
against the usurpations of royalty. 

The Company was careful to make 
ample provisions for the spiritual af- 
fairs of the colony, and sent three min- 
isters — Skelton, Higginson and Bright 
— to Salem, that summer, with two 
hundred additional settlers. ,-\ church 
society was organized, antl Samuel 
Skelton, with Francis Higginson as as- 
sistant, was appointed pastor. An in- 
\ itation was sent to the Plymouth peo- 
ple to be present. Governor Bradford 
and others joined the society, and so 
v.'Hs founded the first church in New 
England. They said they were not 
Separatists from the Church of Eng- 
land, but a better part of it. Yet to 
all outward things they were Separa- 
tists. Two brothers, named Browne, 
were sent back to England for worship- 
]>ing according to the Church of Eng- 
land, and the Company did not disclaim 
the act. 

This high-handed act, unreproved, 
established the fact that the authorities 
of Massachusetts might, at their dis- 
cretion, exclude all persons from the 
colony who did not conform to the pat- 
tern of morals and religion prescribed 
by the governor and ministers. This 
was the beginning of the blind intoler- 
ance of the Puritans of Massachusetts 
which appears as a dark stain on the 
annals of New England. 

The government of the colony was 
transferred from the Company to the 
people on the 2yth of ."\ugust, 1629, es- 
tablishing a democracy like that at 
Plymouth. This act gave a mighty im- 
jnilse to emigration to Massachusetts. 
The old officers resigned and John 
Winthrop was chosen governor, 



g& 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



Thomas Dudley, a veteran soldier, de- 
puty-governor. Eighteen assistants 
were also chosen. 

Winthrop was then forty-two years 
of age. He was a native of Groton, 
Suffolk County, where he had consider- 
able landed property. He was a lawyer 
and learned in statesmanship, polished 
in manners and had been in the society 
of men eminent in church and state. 
Dudley was well along in years and had 
served under Henry the Fourth, of 
France. The assistants were all noted 
men. 

Winthrop and his companions, con- 
sisting of about three hundred families, 
arrived at Salem, in June, 1630. They 
found neither a church or a tow-n. A 
rather stately house where the gov- 
ernor lived, and a few hovels among 
cornfields. Death had been busy 
among the old settlers during the pre- 
vious winter. Provisions w^ere scarce. 
Disease attacked the new-comers, and 
before the close of autumn, two hun- 
dred had died. 

The colonists now sought more at- 
tractive places for settlement than 
Salem. Some went to the present sites 
of Charlestown, Dorchester, Roxbury, 
Watertown and Cambridge. It was 
proposed to found the capital of the 
colony at Charlestown, but the un- 
w'holesome water induced them to re- 
move to the peninsula of Shawmut, the 
present site of Boston, vi-here they 
found an abundance of pure spring 
water. The capital was named Boston, 
in commemoration of the native place 
of some of the emigrants from Lin- 
colnshire, in England. At the close of 
the year 1630, a large number of emi- 
grants had arrived. 

The people well knew the tendency 
toward tyranny, of men exercising un- 
lestrained control, so, in May, 1631, 
it was agreed that all the officers of the 
government should be chosen annually 
by the freemen of the colony. These 
consisted of only men wdno were mem- 
bers in good standing o fsome church. 
This w^as an attempt to establish a 
religious aristocracy to control the 
state. 

There was another change in 1634, 



when a representative government was 
established, the second in America. 
There were now eight distinct settle- 
ments in Massachusetts, and the 
growth of the colony was now more 
rapid and sturdy than that of Plymouth. 
Winthrop, whom the people re-elected, 
ruled wisely. He cultivated the friend- 
ship of the surrounding Indians, and 
also with the neighboring settlements 
and distant colonies. He visited Gov- 
ernor Bradford at Plymouth, and ex- 
changed friendly communications with 
New Netherland about the occupation 
of part of the Connecticut Valley. His 
policy was peace and good-fellowship. 

The intolerance of the authorities of 
^Massachusetts, in church and state, al- 
most put an end to emigration, until 
the religious persecutions in England 
against all Non-conformists gave an 
amazing impetus to emigration to Am- 
erica. 

During the year 1635, three thousand 
new settlers went to Massachusetts, 
among whom were men of wealth, in- 
fluence, and distinction. Among these 
men Hugh Peters, an eloquent Puritan 
preacher, and Harry Vane, then 
twenty-five years of age, took a 
conspicuous part in the affairs of the 
colony. 

The rigid discipline and the intem- 
perate zeal of the Massachusetts 
authorities, under Endicott, in their 
proceedings against those who did not 
conform to their teachings, aroused 
both church and state in England. Or- 
ders were issued to the authorities of 
Massachusetts to produce their charter 
before the Privy Council in England. 
This was followed, in the spring of 
1634, by an arbitrary commission with 
Loud, the premate of England at their 
head. He and his associates received 
full power over the .\merican colonies 
to organize new governments and dic- 
tate laws ; to regulate pubic worship, 
and to inflict punishment and revoke 
charters. 

^^'hen the news reached Xew Eng- 
land, with a rumor that a viceroy was 
on his way, it was resolved not to re- 
ceive a governor appointed by the 
crown, and to resist as long as possible. 



THIRD PERIOD— COLONIES 



It was at this time tliat the great emi- 
,t;;ration just spoken of took place. 

Hugh Peters, on his arrival at Bos- 
ton, was made pastor of the church va- 
cated by Roger Williams, when he was 
banished, whose doctrines he de- 
nounced, and whose followers he ex- 
pelled from the church. 

\'ane was the son of one of the 
King's high officers of state, and a 
young man of purest morals. He had 
flcil to Xew England to enjoy the free- 
dom of worship among those whose 
cause lie had espoused. He was re- 
garded as the forerunner of the speedy 
emigration to Massachusetts of leading 
men of the realm. 

He was received with open arms, and 
the colonists, forgetting their old 
leaders, elected him governor of the 
colony. He defended the broad views 
of Mr. Williams and Mrs. Hutchin.son, 
and a strong opposition was organized 
against him. After a tempestuous 
year, \'ane was defeated at the next an- 
nual election, when he returned to 
England. 

Soon after \'ane's departure, Mrs. 
Hutchinson was banished and she 
settled in Rhode Island. Then to be 
entirely free from religious bigotry, 
slie settled near the present village of 
Xew Rochelle, in West Chester County, 
in. what was then, New Netherland. 
When the Indians made war upon the 
Dutch, in revenge for the cruelties 
suffered by them under Governor 
Kieft, Mrs. Hutchinson and her family 
were not spared. The Indians, in their 
blind fury, swept through the forests, 
and she and her family were murdered, 
with the exception of her grandchibl, 
who was made captive. The child, fair 
and curlv-liaired and eight years of age, 
was tenderly cared for by the savages. 
\Mien four years afterwards, little 
Anna Collins was delivered to the 
Dutch governor at New Amsterdam to 
be returned to her friends at Boston, 
in accordance with the terms of a 
treaty, she had forgotten her own 
language and was unwilling to leave 
her Indian friends. 

.\ confederation of New England 
colonies for mutual defense had been 



proposed by Connecticut immediately 
after the war with the Pequods. In 
1638, when the crown threatene^I to 
deprive Massachusetts of her charter, 
the other colonies counselled resistance, 
and the people from the Bay threatened 
secession from the British realm. The 
civil war in Old England broke out in 
1 641, and the people of New England 
relieved from royal displeasure, ■ re- 
solved to unite in a political league. 
They very soon agreed upon twelve 
articles of Confederation, and consti- 
tuted a confederacy under the title of 
"The United Colonies of New Eng- 
land." That written agreement was 
signed on the 20th of August, 1643, by 
deputies from Plymouth. Connecticut, 
New Haven and Massachusetts, at 
Boston. Rhode Island and the settle- 
ments in New Hampshire and Elaine 
were not admitted on account of their 
liberty of conscience in religious mat- 
ters. 

This famous league, of which Massa- 
chusetts assumed control, because of its 
greater population, and its being a 
"perfect republic," remained in exis- 
tence more than fortv years, during 
which period the government of Eng- 
land was changed tiiree times. They 
found in Oliver Cromwell a sincere 
friend and protector. 

The colony of Massachusetts in par- 
ticular, prospered. The trade with the 
West Indies brought gold and silver 
bullion into the colony, and led to an 
act of sovereignty on the part of the 
authorities in 1652, by the establish- 
ment of a mint. This was the first 
coinage within the territory of the 
United States. 

The laws of the Puritans in tliose 
days, in relation to religion, were very 
strict. Their iron rule was condemned 
at the time, and has been ever since. 
Their persecutions of the Friends or 
Quakers, fully proved their bigotry am! 
austerity. These people had amongst 
them members, who, by their intem- 
perate zeal, offended the authorities, 
and they were compelled to suffer im- 
prisonment, banishment and death. 
The severity of the laws against them 
lasted from 1656 until ifi6i, when a 



THE HOMF. AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



rcvulsiuii was caused in public seiiti- 
ineiit, and the laws were repealed. 

At the restoration of the monarchy 
in England, in May, 1660, the members 
of Parliament, who had signed the 
death warrant of Charles the First, 
were hunted by the royal vengeance. 
.\mong those who fled to New England 
were Edward Whalley and William 
Goffe. The former was a cousin of 
Cromwell, and a distinguished cavalry 
officer. Goffe was Whalley 's son-in- 
law and had been a colonel of infantry. 
These regicides, as they were called, 
were closeh' hunted, but the people of 
New England effectually concealed 
them. It is related that soon after the 
arrival of General Goffe, at Boston, a 
fencing master defied anyone to fight 
him with swords. Goffe accepted the 
challenge. He wrapped a huge cheese 
in a cloth as a shield, and arming him- 
self with a mop filled with muddy 
water, he appeared on the platform 
erected for the contest. The fencing 
master made a thrust at him which 
Goffe received in the cheese, in which 
he held the sword until he had 
smeared his antagonist with mud. The 
enraged fencing master caught up a 
broad sword, when Goffe exclaimed: 
"Stop, sir; hitherto, you see, I have 
onlv played with you, but if you come 
at me now with the broadsword, know 
that I will certainly take your life." 
The alarmed fencing master cried out, 
as he dropped his sword, "Who can 
you be? You must be either Goffe, or 
Whalley, or the Devil, for there were 
no other men in England who could 
beat me." 

The New England colonies, espec- 
ially Massachusetts, expected very little 
favors from the new monarch, Charles 
the Second, for their republicanism 
was decided and conspicuous. 

They sent agents to London to per- 
suade the King of their loyalty, at the 
same time to secure their independence 
in local affairs, as a self-governing 
people. It was a difficult task, but John 
Newton and .Simon Bradstreet success- 
fully performed it. In the autumn of 
1662, the King confirmed the Massa- 
chusetts charter, and granted a condi- 



tional amnesty or general pardon for 
all past offenses in the civil war ; at the 
same time the King asserted his right 
to interfere with the domestic con- 
cerns of the colony. 

False stories were carried to the 
King, leading him to believe that there 
was a rebellion in the colonies, and 
there was a general belief in London, 
for awhile, that Whalley and (joffe 
were at the head of a Xew England 
army, and that the New England Con- 
federacy had been formed for the ex- 
press purpose of casting oft" all de- 
pendence on the mother country and 
establishig a republic in .-Vmerica. In 
1664. when the English fleet was sent 
to take possession of New Netherland, 
under command of Colonel Nicholls. 
Commissioners were sent. Colonel 
Nicholls being one of the members, to 
rule New England as deputies of the 
monarch. All the colonies protested 
except Rhode Island. The acts and 
orders of the commissioners were dis- 
regarded, and the democratic spirit 
throughout New England was stimu- 
lated. They departed in 1666. leaving 
the colonies triumphant. Massachu- 
setts ever afterwards held a front rank 
in the sturdy battle for independence 
which was waged for more than a hun- 
dred years. .\t about the time when 
she triumphed over the eft'orts of the 
Crown to enslave her, she was in- 
volved in a most disastrous war with 
Metacomet, or King Philip, a son of 
the dead Massasoit. That contest is 
known in our history as King Philip's 
War. 

Massasoit died in 1661, at the age 
of eighty years, leaving two sons whom 
the English called, respectively, Alex- 
ander and Philip. The former did not 
long survive his father, when Philip 
became chief sachem and warrior of 
the Wampanoags, with his royal resi- 
dence on Mount Hope, not far from 
Bristol, Rhode Island. He was called 
King Philip. He resumed the treaty 
made by his father, and observed it 
faithfully a dozen years. 

Massasoit saw, before his death, that 
the Indians would soon be deprived of 
tlieir lands, and become vassais of the 



THIKn PERIOD— COLONIES 



pale race. Philiii. being more war- 
like, pondered with deep bitterness 
these possibilities. He resolved to 
strike an e.xterminating blow against 
the English in defence of his country 
and race. His resolution was natural 
and patriotic. The number of his own 
warriors being inadequate, he planned 
a confederacy of the New England 
tribes, which might have numbered 
twenty-five thousand souls. Before 
any actual conspiracy was effected, 
Philip found himself compelled to de- 
clare war and lift the hatchet. 

There were many Christian converts 
among the Indians, who were firmly 
attached to the English. A converted 
Wampanoag, John Sassamon, who had 
been educated at Cambridge, where 
John Harvard had established a col- 
lege, was a sort of secretary to Philip. 
He revealed to the authorities at 
Plymouth the conspiracy, and was 
murdered for his treachery. Three 
Wampanoags, who were convicted of 
the crime on very slender testimony 
were hanged. The anger of the tribe 
was fiercely kindled by- the event, and 
they were clamorous for war. Philip 
knew his weakness and hesitated. The 
young warriors of the tribe demanded 
war. and taunted him with causing all 
their wrongs, by allowing, a few years 
before, the jealous white man to take 
all their firearms away from them. 
This enraged Philip, and he started his 
warriors on the war-path. It was but 
the storm in which the ancient inhabi- 
tants of the land were to vanish away. 
They rose without hope, and therefore 
they fought without mercy. 

On the 4th of July, 1675, Swanzey, 
twenty-five miles southwest from 
Plymouth, was attacked. Many of the 
inhabitants were killed, and the rest 
fled to the surrounding settlements. 
The country was aroused, .\rmed men 
from Plymouth. Boston, and other 
places near, joined, and making a 
forced march toward Mount Hope, be- 
sieged the Wampanoags in a swamp 
several days. Philip escaped with most 
of his followers, and took refuge with 
the Nipmucs in the interior of ^lassa- 
chusetts, who espoused his cause. At 



the head of fifteen hundred warriors 
he pressed through the forests to the 
beautiful valley of the Connecticut to 
lay waste the settlements there. 

Meanwhile, the Narragansets were 
compelled to make a treaty with the 
English, by armed force. When Phili]:) 
heard of this he was amazed. His 
stout heart almost failed. He now saw- 
that it was only vigorous action that 
could sa\-e him. He aroused other 
tribes to join him in exterminating the 
pale- faces by the methods of treachery, 
ambush and surprise. The scourge 
that now appeared was terrible. Men 
in the fields, families in their beds at 
mid-night, and congregations in houses 
of worship, were murdered. The Eng- 
lish settlements east of the Hudson 
then numbered about fifty thousand 
souls, and, at one time, it seemed prob- 
able that few of them would escape the 
fury of the savages. The Connecticut 
\'alley was desolated from Springfield, 
northward almost to the present line 
between Massachusetts and Vermont. 
Brookfield was burned, and early in 
September a hot battle was fought at 
Deerfield. where seven hundred In- 
dians were defeated by one hundred 
and eighty Englishmen : but a week 
later, prowling savages laid the town in 
ashes. On the same day — Sunday — 
Hadley was attacked, but was saved by 
the bravery of Goffe. A few days af- 
ter, Springfield was burned and a small 
body of young men were murdered by 
several hundred Indians, on the banks 
of a little stream near Deerfield, now 
known as Bloody Brook. 

The Indians were now masters of the 
situation, and Philip, encouraged by 
his siiccesses. now resolved to attack 
Hatfield, the chief settlement above 
Springfield. In October, Philip, with 
the help of new allies from Indians 
who had been friendly with the Eng- 
lish had one thousand warriors. He 
attacked Hatfield, but the people were 
prepared, and he was driven off with 
great slaughter of the Indians. Philip 
left the Connecticut \'alley. with his 
shattered forces, and fled to Rhode 
Island. The Narragansets, in viola- 
tion of their treaty with the English. 



TH1-: HOMK AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



received him with open arms, hecame 
liis alhes, and, late in the year, went out 
upon the war-path with him. For this 
perfidy the Narragansets were terribly 
punished. Massachusetts, Plymouth 
and Connecticut gathered together, 
under Captain Josiah Winslow. fifteen 
hundred armed men. They marched 
into the Narraganset country. Snow 
had fallen to a great depth, and the 
savages felt secure for the season. 
Suddenly, at near the close of Decem- 
ber, Winslow and his little army ap- 
peared before the fort of the Indians, 
which was in a swamp near the present 
village of Kingston, Rhode Island. The 
English captured the fort and in a few 
hours hundreds of men, women and 
children perished in the fire, and over 
a thousand warriors were killed or 
wounded and several hundred taken 
prisoners, among whom was Canon- 
chet, the chief, who was put to death. 
Philip, and a remnant of the Xarra- 
gansets escaped, and took refuge with 
the Nipmucs. So disappeared the do- 
minion of the Narragansets. 

Philip, during the winter, induced 
some of the exasperated Indians east 
of Massachusetts to join his standard. 
He also tried his influence with the 
powerful Mohawks, but they stood 
firm in their friendship with the Eng- 
lish. Early in the spring of 1676 the 
work of destruction began. Villages 
and isolated dwellings were burned, 
and their inmates destroyed. \\'ey- 
mouth, Groton, ^iledford, Lancaster 
and Marlborough, in Massachusetts, 
were laid in ashes : and \\'arwick and 
Providence, in Rhode Island, were 
given to the flames. 

Quarrels among themselves soon 
weakened the power of the Indians. 
The Xipmuc and the Xarragansets 
charged their misfortunes to the am- 
bition of Philip. The alliance was 
dissolved. The eastern Indians has- 
tened to their mountain fastnesses. 
Many who had been in arms surren- 
dered to avoid starvation. Others went 
to Canada and joined tribes there ; and 
Captain Benjamin Church, the most 
famous Indian fighter of his day, 



hunted and slew all the hostile red men 
he could find. 

Philip eluded his pursuers for many 
months, hiding in many places, with a 
resolution never to surrender. His 
wife and son were captured, and a few 
days afterward a faithless Indian shot 
him in a swamp when Captain Church 
was close upon his track. 

Philip's son, the heir to Massasoit, 
was sold as a bond slave in Bermuda. 
So perished the dynasty of the good 
Massasoit. and so ended the famous 
A'/;.'^t: Pliilip's JJ'ar. The war was car- 
ried on a little longer by the Eastern 
Indians, for they drew their supplies 
from the French, in Acadie. Finally, 
in 1678, hostilities were ended by a 
treaty. 

About this time the English govern- 
ment attempted to carry out a long 
cherished desire of the King to resume 
control of the colony. They sent Ed- 
ward Randolph, a greedy adventurer 
to collect the customs at Boston, and 
to exercise other authority as agent of 
the crown. Randolph excited the 
cupidity, fears and jealousy of the 
King, by exaggerating the population, 
wealth, power and independence of the 
colony. The governor ( Leverett") was 
firm in his opposition to Randolph's 
pretensions, ^^'hen Randolph, by roj'al 
authority, declared the charter ot 
Massachusetts void, and attempted to 
govern, the people spurned him. The 
King now intended to take possession 
of the domain, under a decision of the 
High Court of Chancery, when he died. 
That was early in 1685. 

The Duke of York now ascended the 
throne of England as James the Sec- 
ond. He declared the charter ot 
Massachusetts to be void, and ap- 
pointed Joseph Dudley president of the 
country from Rhode Island to Nova 
Scotia. 

Edmund Andros succeeded Dudlev. 
He arrived in Boston late in 1686, 
bearing the commission of viceroy or 
governor-general of all New England. 
He abridged the freedom of the press; 
interfered with marriage contracts — 
levied "blackmail" — advanced the fees 



THIRD PERIOD— COLONIES 



103 



of all officers of the government, and 
threatened to make the Church of 
England the established religion in all 
America. The people of Massachu- 
setts resented his conduct, and were 
about to drive him from the colony by 
force of arms when news came to 
Boston in May. 1689. that James had 
been driven from the throne. 

The people immediately reinstated 
Simon Bradstreet as governor. He 
had been deposed by Andros. Andros 
and about fifty of his most obnoxious 
associates were arrested and cast into 
prison. In May, William and Mary 
were proclaimed King and Queen in 
the colony : and from their sovereigns 
the provisional government of Massa- 
chiLsetts received a letter sanctioning 
their late proceedings, and directing 
them to send Andros to England to 
answer the charges preferred against 
him. 

War began in this year between Eng- 
land and France, and soon extended to 
their colonies in .America. This con- 
flict lasted seven years, and is known 
in our history as King William's W^ar. 

The power of France had been car- 
ried into the American continent by a 
Roman Catholic religious society, 
known as the Order of Jesuits. They 
regarded as a brother ever\' man with- 
out respect to skin or lineage ; and the 
French Jesuits who were the pioneers 
of French dominion in America re- 
garded every convert to Christianity 
among the savages an enfranchised cit- 
izen of France. Whole tribes came 
under their sway, and many of the 
traders made wives of the Indian 
maidens, and so established strong 
social ties between the French and the 
savages. The French could rely on the 
Indians as allies, which made border 
wars for the New England colonists 
tenfold more distressing. Xew York 
had the powerful Iroquois Confeder- 
acy, like a strong wall, between them- 
selves and the Indians of Canada. 

Dover, a frontier town of Yew 
Hampshire, was the first to feel the 
violent hands of the mongrel foe. In 
July. i68q, it was taken by the French 
and Indians, twenty of the garrison 



were killed, and thirty persons taken 
prisoners and sold as slaves to the 
French in Canada. In August the gar- 
rison at Pemaquid was captured. In 
February following, Governor Fronte- 
nac sent three hundred French and 
Indians from Montreal to destroy Al- 
bany. They made their way as far as 
Schenectady, burned the dwellings and 
murdered more than sixty of the in- 
habitants there. Seventeen of the slain 
were children. Early the next spring 
several eastern villages suffered the 
same fate, and scores of women and 
children were carried away as captives 
and suffered untold cruelties. 

Massachusetts sent an expedition 
against the French early in 1690. under 
Sir William Phipps. He seized Port 
Royal, and plundered the town. In 
June. English privateers again plun- 
dered the town. In the preceding May 
a Congress of the colonies met at Xew 
York, and resolved to invade Canada 
by land and sea. The army was under 
command of a son of Governor Win- 
throp, of Connecticut. It was the end 
of September before the army reached 
the head of Lake Champlain, Colonel 
Peter Schuyler with some troops and 
Indians from the Five Xation's pushed 
on toward the St. Lawrence. Schuyler 
was repulsed by Frontenac and the 
whole army returned to Albany. The 
fleet under Phipps made an expedition 
against Quebec, but believing the forti- 
fications of the town too strong for 
them returned to Xew England before 
the winter storms set in. 

Sir William Phipps was now sent to 
England to obtain aid for the colonies, 
and to procure the restoration of the 
charter of Massachusetts. Aid was 
refused. A new charter was granted 
by William in which Massachusetts, 
Plymouth, !Maine and Xova Scotia 
were united under the name of 
'■^lassachusetts Bay Colony," and was 
made a royal province, with Phipps as 
governor. He arrived with the new 
charter in 1692. The new charter was 
in some respects an improvement upon 
the old. Although it abridged the 
rights of the citizens it granted tolera- 
tion to religious worship except to 



104 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



Roman Catholics, and tlie right to vote 
was made ahnost universal. 

The Puritans brought the belief in 
witches and witchcraft to America. 
They established laws for the punish- 
ment of witches ; and before 1648 four 
persons had been executed for the 
alleged ofifense in the vicinity of Bos- 
ton. In 1688, a wayward daughter of 
John Godwin, of Boston, about thirteen 
years of age, accused a servant girl of 
stealing some of the family linen. The 
mother of the servant girl, an Irish 
woman and a Roman Catholic, rebuked 
the accuser as a false witness. The 
young girl in revenge pretended to be 
bewitched by the Irishwoman. Some 
others of her family followed her ex- 
ample. The Rev. Cotton Mather, a 
credulous and egotistical clergyman, 
with other ministers from Boston and 
Salem, prosecuted the ignorant Irish 
woman as a witch, and she was hanged, 
"for the glory of God." In the spring 
and summer of 1692 an epidemic dis- 
ease broke out in Danvers (then a 
part of Salem), and spread rapidly. 
The physicians could neither control 
nor cure it ; and with the statements 
of Mather before them they readily 
ascribed the malady to the work of 
witches. Other old and ill-favored 
women now shared with the Irish- 
woman in the suspicion of being 
witches, and several of them were pub- 
licly accused and imprisoned. At length 
the "afflicted" and the accused became 
so numerous that no person was safe 
from suspicion and its consequences. 
Malice, revenge and rapacity impelled 
persons to accuse others who were 
innocent. When the magnates in 
church and state saw themselves in 
danger they cautiously expressed their 
doubts as to the justice of the proceed- 
ings against accused persons. A citizen 
of Andover, who was accused, wiser 
and more bold than governor or clergy, 
immediately caused the arrest of his 
accuser on a charge of defamation of 
character, and laid his damages at five 
thousand dollars. The spell was in- 
stantly broken, and witchcraft was no 
more heard of in Andover, and so it 
died out through the province. 



During the time this delusion pre- 
^■ailed twenty persons had been exe- 
cuted, over fifty had been tortured, and 
over two hundred had been named as 
worthy of arrest. This strange episode 
in the history of Massachusetts aston- 
ished the civilized world and made an 
unfavorable impression on the sur- 
rounding Indians, who despised a 
people that cherished a religion which 
sanctioned such cruelties toward their 
countrymen. The Jesuit missionaries 
contrasted their own mild and beni- 
ficent system of religion with that of 
of the Puritans. It had a serious eflfect 
upon the future destiny of New Eng- 
land, for the Indians on the frontiers 
were henceforth strongly wedded to 
the fortunes of the French. 

Phipps tried to make an alliance 
with some of the Indian tribes on the 
frontier with whom he had made a 
treaty. They were willing to abide by 
the teims of the treaty, but, more at- 
tached to the French than ever, they 
refused an alliance with a people who 
believed in such a religion, and refused 
to associate with a people who cher- 
ished it. Phipps returned to England 
and left his deputy, Stoughton, as chief 
magistrate. 

During- Stoughton's administration, 
which lasted about three years, the 
French and Indians spread terror and 
desolation over the frontier. Nova 
Scotia submitted to the rule of France, 
and the summer of i6g6 Fort William 
Plenry, at Pemaquid, was attacked and 
captured. The French and Indians 
penetrated New England as far as 
Haverhill, within thirty miles of Bos- 
ton, which was attacked by the Indians 
in March, 1697, when forty persons 
were killed or taken prisoners, .\mong 
those captured was the wife of Thomas 
Dustin, who was an invalid, and her 
nurse, whose name was Mary NefT. 
They were compelled to walk several 
days in the snow and slush to the vil- 
lage of the Indians, where they met an 
English lad, whose name was Samuel 
Leonardson, and who had been a cap- 
tive for more than a year. The In- 
dians did not believe that the women 
would have courage enough to attempt 



THIRD PERIOD— CCJLONTKS 



to escape. So they did not keep watch, 
and they beheved the lad faithful to 
them. Mrs. Dustin ascertained 
through the lad how to kill a man in- 
stantly, and how to take off his scalp. 
I'.efore daylight the next morning, 
while the Indians were in deep sleep, 
Mrs. Dustin awakened the nurse and 
the lad, and -with their assistance killed 
ten of the twelve sleepers. After 
scuttling all the boats but one, they 
started down the river. They had not 
proceeded far when Mrs. Dustin, re- 
flecting that her friends might demand 
ocular proof of the truth ojf her story, 
went back with her companions, 
scalped the Indians and carried them 
away in a bag. 

They journeyed down the Alerrimac, 
and succeeded in reaching the settle- 
ments in safety, where they were re- 
ceived as persons risen from the dead. 
In 1874, a monument was erected on 
Dustin's Island, the place where the 
Indian wigwam stood, to commemo- 
rate this heroic deed. 

During the summer of 1697, other 
places suffered dreadfully, and con- 
tinued until the treaty of peace be- 
tween France and England, in the same 
year, stayed the flow of blood. 

In 1702, England and France again 
became involved in war, and as before, 
was carried to the colonies of the two 
governments in America. In England 
it is known as Queen .\nne's war, \\''il- 
liam having died. 

The Earl of Bellamont was now the 
governor of New England, and on his 
arrival in Boston, in 1699, he found 
public affairs in pleasant shape. The 
prosperity and peace of the colonists 
was rudely broken, however, on the 
breaking out of the war between Eng- 
land and France. The Indians who 
had professed friendship for the Eng- 
lish suddenly in the summer of 170;^ 
fell with remorseless fury on the 
frontier settlements, and swept them 
out of existence. The French Jesuits 
were blamed for the treachery of the 
Indians, and incurred the intense hatred 
of the English colonists. By acts of 
legislation they had been driven from 
all the New England colonies. 



During the winter of 1703-04, the 
people along the New England frontier 
lived in perpetual dread of the foe. In 
March the village of Deerfield, on the 
Connecticut River in Massachusetts, 
was laid in ashes and its inhabitants 
either killed or made captives. Remote 
settlements were abandoned. The 
farmers gathered in fortified villages 
and labored in the fields in groups and 
well armed. There was no civilized 
warfare in the methods of the French 
and Indians, and their cruelties in- 
spired good men everywhere with 
horror. At length in 1707, Massachu- 
setts, New Hampshire and Rhode 
Island, resolved to carry the war into 
the French domain on the east. An 
expedition was sent againt Port Royal, 
but it was a failure. In 1710 another 
expedition was fitted out at the joint 
expense of New York, New Jersey and 
the New England colonies, and a fleet 
from England, under command of 
Colonel Nicholson. They sailed for 
Port Royal, which surrendered on the 
13th of October, and the name was 
changed to Annapolis, in honor of 
Queen .^nne. Acadie was annexed to 
the realm of Great Britain, under the 
title of Nova Scotia. 

Nicholson carried the news to Eng- 
land, and urged the conquest ot 
Canada. An expedition for that con- 
quest was planned, and fifteen war 
ships, forty transports and six stores 
>hips were placed under command of 
.Admiral Sir Hovenden Walker, witli 
marines and veteran soldiers, which 
sailed for Boston and arrived in June, 
171 1. New England promptly raised 
a provincial force, and the ships sailed 
for Quebec on the loth of .A.ugust bear- 
ing about seven thousand troops. At 
the same time other colonies raised an 
army, under command of Nicholson, 
for the capture of Montreal. The 
French received news of these move- 
ments and prepared themselves for the 
invasion. 

Quebec was never reached. The fleet 
was overtaken by a storm at the mouth 
of the St. Lawrence, eight of the ves- 
sels driven ashore, and almost a 
thousand perished in the sea. The ex- 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



pedition was abandoned, and the dis- 
heartened admiral returned to England. 
Nicholson hearing of the calamity and 
the result, unwillingly retraced his 
steps to Albany, and left Montreal un- 
molested. 

In the spring of 1713 the war was 
ended by a treaty of peace, and Eng- 
land received large accessions of terri- 
tory from France. ^Massachusetts and 
New Hampshire now made solemn 
treaties of amity and peace with the 
eastern Indians on the 24th of July. 
A long peace ensued, and for thirty 
years the colonists enjoyed compara- 
tive repose. It was broken only by 
discontented Indians in the East — the 
powerful Abenakes. They disputed 
the claim of Massachusetts to their 
territory, which the French had sur- 
rendered. After laying the town of 
Brunswick in ashes, the Indians were 
conquered and subdued by the exas- 
perated English. In one of these 
forays Father Rale, a Jesuit mission- 
ary, was killed. He was the last of 
that society in New England, and witii 
him perished French influence in the 
East. 

From that time until late in the 
spring of 1744 the history of Massa- 
chusetts is chiefly a record of warm 
political disputes between the gover- 
nors and the representatives of the 
people. When news reached the colon- 
ists that France had declared war 
against England they prepared for the 
conflict, which is known as "King 
George's War." Before war had been 
declared some French soldiers sur- 
prised, captured and carried to Louis- 
burg a small English garrison at 
Canseau. Then some Indians attacked 
the fort at Annapolis, but were re- 
ptilsed. The men taken from Conseau 
had been paroled and sent to Boston, 
where they gave a minute account of 
the fortress at Louisburg. It had been 
built by the French at a cost of five 
and a half million of dollars, and be- 
cause of its strength it was known as 
"The Gibraltar of America." 

The English colonists now resolved 
to attempt the capture of this fortress. 



All the colonies joined in the move- 
ment, either with men or supplies, and 
they had reason to expect the help of a 
British fleet, then in the West Indies, 
under Admiral Sir Peter Warren. In 
April, 1745, New England troops 
sailed from Boston for Canseau, under 
command of William Pepperill, of 
Maine. In about a month they were 
joined by the fleet under Warren and 
more troops from Connecticut. 

Finally, a combined attack of the 
fleet and army was made on Louisburg, 
and on the 17th of June, the city, 
fort, garrison and batteries surren- 
dered to the English, together with the 
Island of Cape Breton. The value ot 
the stores and prizes captured was over 
five millions of dollars. 

The French sent a powerful fleet to 
retake Louisburg, under command of 
Duke d'Anville. His vessels were 
wrecked by violent storms, and disease 
wasted hundreds of his men, and the 
enterprise was abandoned without 
striking a blow. 

Peace was declared at Aix-la- 
Chapelle, in October, 1748, when it was 
agreed that all property and territory 
should be restored as it was before the 
commencement of hostilities. So 
Louisburg passed into the hands of 
the French by peaceful means. 

The most intense hatred was created 
by religious and national causes be- 
tween the English and French colon- 
ists, and the horrid acts of the Indians 
made the people on the frontier re- 
gard them as almost as obnoxious as 
ravenous beasts of prey. 

At about the middle of tlie eight- 
eenth century they came to blows, and 
then began the fierce struggle of the 
English and French for supremacy on 
this continent, known in history as 
"The French and Indian War." 

MARYLAND. 

In the year 1639 a representative 
form of government was established 
in Maryland. The freemen chose as 
many representatives as they pleased. 
So did the proprietor. Lord i?altimore. 



THIRD PERIon— COLONIES 



107 



riiese, with a governor appointed by 
the proprietor, and a secretary, com- 
posed the government of the colony. 

The Indians were friendly, and 
everything social and political prom- 
ised for Maryland a long career of 
])eace and prosperity. 

William Clayborne had received 
from the governor of Virginia in 1627 
authority to explore the headwaters of 
the Chesapeake Bay north of the 34th 
degree north latitude. Four years 
later King Charles gave him the privi- 
lege of making discoveries in the same 
region and trafficking with the na- 
tives. He established a trading post 
on Kent Island, in Chesapeake Bay. 

Clayborne insisted upon the exemp- 
tion of Kent Island from the jurisdic- 
tion of the Maryland proprietor, and 
the Virginia Assembly secretly sup- 
ported the claim : and when Calvert 
insisted that Clayborne should either 
leave the island or take oath of alle- 
giance to the governor he would do 
neither, but fitted out an armed vessel 
to protect his domain and cruise 
against the colonists. His vessel was 
captured by a Maryland force, and 
Clayborne, who was not in the expe- 
dition, prudently fled to \^irginia, and 
there efl^ectually excited the hostility 
of the Indians against Calvert's colony, 
telling the savages they were Span- 
iards. When Calvert demanded him 
from the governor of Virginia he fled 
to England. The ]\Iaryland legisla- 
ture in 1638 deprived him of all his 
civil rights and property in their 
jurisdiction. He laid the case before 
the King, and it was decided against 
him. 

The King of the Paxutents now 
showed unfriendly actions toward the 
colonists, and it alarmed and disquieted 
ihem. But the more powerful King . 
of the Piscataways, who had been very 
sick, and had been cured by Father 
White, a Roman Catholic priest, was 
\ery grateful. He asked to be bap- 
tized. On a summer day in 1640 the 
King, his queen, and their little child, 
with several of their council were bap- 
tized in the presence of the governor 
and other distinguished citizens. His 



ilaughler, an intelligent young woman, 
followed her father's example, and was 
sent to school at St. Mary's. The old 
King of the Piscataways died, and his 
daughter was made queen. She could 
not protect the Christians against hos- 
tile pagans within their borders and 
beyond, with whom Clayborne and his 
emissaries had tampered. 

In 1642, the Indians, alarmed at the 
increasing nutnber of Englishmen in 
their country, and made suspicious by 
Clayborne, made war on the colonists. 
It lasted two or three years, but did 
not cause much damage. It had just 
ended when Clayborne, assisted by 
Captain Richard Ingle, stirred up the 
people to rebellion. Civil war was then 
raging in England, and Calvert could 
expect no help from the monarch. The 
rebels, with the help of disaffected In- 
dians, instantly triumphed, and the 
governor and his council were com- 
pelled to fly to Virginia. The rebellion 
was crushed in the summer of 1646, 
when the governor returned to his chair 
of state. Many of the records of the 
province had been destroyed during the 
civil war, and those carried away by 
Captain Ingle were lost. Clemency was 
extended to all the rebels, excepting 
Ingle, and peace was speedily restored. 

William Stone, of Virginia, a Prot- 
estant, was appointed governor, and 
through his influence numbers of Puri- 
tans settled in the colony, coming from 
\'irginia. The "Maryland .\ssembly, 
composed of Puritans, Church of Eng- 
land men, and a few Roman Catholics, 
met in 1649, and paassed the "Tolera- 
tion Act" under the pressure of strong 
Puritan influence. This act tolerated 
all Christians, but Jews and Unitarians 
were excluded. The persecuted in other 
colonies now flocked to Maryland to 
enjoy this freedom of conscience. This 
act was the pride and glory of Mary- 
land's early legislation, yet it was not 
the first act of the kind passed in 
America. In May, 1647, two years be- 
fore, the General .Assembly of Rhode 
Island adopted a code of laws which 
closed with the declaration that "all 
men may walk as their consciences 
persuaded them, without molestation — 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFEREXXE 



cvenone in the name of his God." It 
was absolute toleration. 

The republican Parliament in Eng- 
land now appointed a commission, with 
Clayborne as a member, to govern 
Afaryland. Three commissioners de- 
posed Stone, and abolished the author- 
ity of the proprietor of the province. A 
few months after they reinstated Stone, 
put Kent and Polmer's Islands into the 
]jossession of Clayborne, and so enabled 
the vigorous "outlaw" to trample over 
his enemy, Lord Baltimore. In 1653, 
Cromwell restored full power to Lord 
Baltimore as proprietor. Stone dis- 
placed all officers appointed by the 
commissioners. They in turn, in- 
censed at his conduct, deposed him and 
\ ested the government of the province 
in a board of commissioners. 

When the General Assembly con- 
vened in the fall of 1654 the Protest- 
ants were still in the majority. They 
disfranchised members of the Roman 
Catholic Church and of the Church of 
I-Lngland. They also flogged and im- 
prisoned Quakers. Lord Baltimore 
secured an order from Cromwell, sent 
to the commissioners, "not to busy 
themselves about religion but to settle 
the civil government." 

So encouraged. Lord Baltimore or- 
dered Stone to raise an army for the 
icstoration of the proprietor. Stone 
acted vigorously, he raised a force, 
chiefly of Roman Catholics. Finally, 
a battle was fought in April. 1655, near 
the site of Annapolis, in which Stone 
was made prisoner. The governor and 
others were tried for treason. His life 
was saved, but four of his colleagues 
were hanged. 

Josiah Fendall, a former insurgent, 
was appointed governor by Baltimore. 
For two years there was bitter strife 
between the people and the agents of 
the proprietor. The latter finally made 
important concessions, and Fendall was 
]jermitted to act as governor. By pru- 
dent conduct he secured the confidence 
of the people. When Cromwell died 
the people did not wait upon England, 
but boldly asserting their authority 
dissolved the proprietary portion of the 
Assembly in the spring of ififo. and 



assumed the whole legislative power of 
the state. Fendall was given a com- 
mission as governor. Three months 
after monarchy being restored in Eng- 
land, Lord Baltimore was restored to 
liis proprietary rights. Baltimore 
wisely pardoned all political offenders, 
and for thirty years Maryland enjoyed 
peace and repose. The province pros- 
pered and the people were happy. 

Emigrants came from every part of 
Europe to enjoy the tolerant rule there. 
The population of the province con- 
sisted of about ten thousand white 
people living together in harmony and 
religious tolerance. Lord Baltimore 
died in 1673, after a rule in Maryland, 
with several interruptions, for forty- 
three years. He had never trodden 
the soil of his colony, but a grateful 
people cherished his memory by nam- 
ing the chief city of the state "Balti- 
more." 

In 1678. the General Assembly es- 
tablished the right of suffrage on a 
broad basis. When Charles Calvert, 
the son of Lord Baltimore, returned to 
the province in 1681 he annulled this 
act. and the King issued an order that 
all offices of government should be 
filled by Protestants alone. In 1684, 
Charles Calvert, now Lord Baltimore, 
again went to England, leaving the 
government in the charge of several 
deputies. While he was in England 
A\illiam and Mary ascended the throne. 
The Protestants in the colony believing 
there was a plot between the Roman 
Catholics and the Indians formed an 
armed association, led by a man named 
Coode. They took possession of Mary- 
land's capital and organized a provin- 
cial government in May, 1689. Lord 
Baltimore was deposed by the sover- 
eigns ; and Coode was ordered to ad- 
minister the government in the name 
of the King. The people became di.s- 
gusted with Coode's rule, and he was 
displaced in 1692. and Sir Lionel 
Copley appointed governor by the 
King. During his administration the 
capital was changed from St. Mary's 
to the present site at Annapolis in 1694. 
Copley made the Church of England 
the state church, and supported it by 



THIRD PERIOD— COLONIES 



a tax on the whole people. The pro- 
prietary rights of the Baltimore fam- 
ily were not restored until 1715, the 
Lord Baltimore at that time being a 
Protestant. This man was a contem- 
porary of W'liliam Penn, and was 
equally conspicuous for benevolence. 
Thev are regarded as the best of the 
proprietors who owned chartered do- 
mains in America. 

Charles, Lord Baltimore, died in 
1 75 1, after ruling the province in per- 
son and by deputies thirty-six years. 
During that period the growth of the 
province in wealth and population was 
remarkable. The inhabitants then 
numbered about one hundred and 
thirty-five thousand souls, of whom 
about forty thousand were slaves. 

When the French and Indian war 
broke out in 1755 Maryland became 
involved, at first simply in an attitude 
of self-defense, and a generous assist- 
ant of the other colonies. When the 
Indians commenced to plunder her 
own frontiers the General Assembly, 
aroused to the imminent danger voted 
men and money for a vigorous prose- 
cution of the war ; and the command 
of all the forces engaged against the 
French on the Ohio was given, by a 
royal commission, to Governor 
Sharpe of Maryland. The people of 
that province were forced by circum- 
stances to consent to a union which 
was finally cemented by the blood of 
the Revolution. 

CONXECTICUT, RHODE ISLAND 
AND NEW JERSEY. 

The Connecticut colonists managed 
their private and public affairs pru- 
dently and were prosperous, and they 
worked in harmony until they were 
united into one commonwealth in 1665. 
.""^tuyvesant, when he visited Hartford, 
in 1650, had settled all their troubles 
with the Dutch. The Indian tribes 
had given them some disquietude and 
made them approve and join the New 
England Confederacy in 1643. The 
following year the little independent 
colony at Saybrook, at the mouth of 
the Connecticut River, was annexed. 



.\t the breaking out of the war l.ie- 
tween England and Holland in 1653 
alarming rumors had spreaad through 
Xew England that the Dutch and the 
Indians intended destroying the Eng- 
lish colonies. Connecticut, being on 
the frontier, asked the aid of Massa- 
chusetts in making war on the Dutch. 
When Massachusetts refused Connec- 
ticut asked aid of Cromwell, who sent 
four ships-of-war, but before their 
arrival a treaty of peace between Eng- 
land and Holland ended the war. 

On the restoration of monarchy in 
England in 1660 the General Assem- 
bly of Connecticut resolved to make a 
formal acknowledgment of their alle- 
giance to the crown and ask the King 
for a charter. Governor John W'in- 
throp, a son of Winthrop, of Massa- 
chusetts, took a petition, signed in May, 
1 63 1, to England. He obtained an 
interview with the King, and after 
^ome delav a charter was issued on 
the 1st of May, 1652. It confirmed 
Ihe popular constitution of the colony, 
;ind contained more liberal provisions 
than any yet issued by royal hands. It 
defined the boundary so as to include 
the Xew Haven colony and a part of 
Rhode Island on the East, and west- 
ward to the Pacific Ocean. The New 
Haven colony reluctantly gave its 
consent to the union in 1665, and the 
boundary between Connecticut and 
Rhode Island remained a subject for 
dispute for more than sixty years. That 
old charter, engrossed on parchment, 
if among the archives in the Connec- 
ticut State Department. During King 
F'hilip's war the colonists of Connec- 
ticut did not sufifer much from hostile 
Indians excepting some remote seettle- 
ments high up the Connecticut River. 

Governor Andros, of New York, 
claimed jurisdiction as far east as the 
Connecticut River. He went with a 
small naval expedition in 1675 to the 
mouth of that stream to assert his 
authority. Captain Bull, commander 
of the fort at Saybrook, compelled him 
to return to Xew York. For a dozen 
years after this expedition nothing oc- 
curred to disturb the repose of the 
colonyy. 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



King James the Second was deter- 
mined to have absolute rule over all 
New England. So Andres, on liis ar- 
rival in Xew York, demanded a suf- 
render of all the colonial charters into 
his hands. The authorities of all com- 
plied excepting Connecticut. Andros, 
to subdue their stubbornness, pro- 
ceeded with sixty armed men to Hart- 
ford, and demanded the surrender of 
the charter in person. On his arrival 
there on the 31st of October (old 
style), 1687, he found the General As- 
sembly in session. The members re- 
ceived him with the courtesy due his 
rank. Before that body, with armed 
men at his back he demanded a formal 
surrender of that precious document 
into his own hands. 

It was now near sunset. A subject 
of some importance was under debate, 
and the discussion was purposely con- 
tinued until some time after the can- 
dles were lighted. Then the charter 
contained in a long mahogany box was 
brought in and laid upon the table. A 
IJreconcerted plan to save it from the 
grasp of the usurper was now instantly 
executed. As Andros put forth his 
hand to take the charter the candles 
were all snuffed out and the document 
was snatched by Captain Wadsworth, 
whose train-bands were near to pro- 
tect the Assembly from any violence 
which the royal soldiers might offer. 
Wadsworth bore away the charter, the 
crowd opening as he passed out, and 
closing behind him, and hid it in the 
hollow of a venerable oak tree on the 
outskirts of the village. When the 
candles were re-lighted the members 
were seated in perfect order, but the 
charter could not be found. The tree 
in which the document was hidden was 
ever afterward known as the "Charter 
Oak." It was destroyed by a storm in 
.August, 1856. 

Andros, however, declared the 
charter forfeited and annulled, and 
from that time until he was expelled 
in 1689 from the country he governed 
Connecticut as an autocrat. Then the 
charter was brought out from its place 
of concealment in May, i68q: a pop- 
ular Assemblv was convened; Robert 



Treat was chosen governor, and Con- 
necticut again assumed the position of 
an independent colony. 

From the time that Benjamin Flet- 
cher, in 1693, was foiled in his at- 
tempts to exercise control over the 
militia of Connecticut until three- 
fourths of a century later, the history 
of Connecticut is intimately woven 
with that of the other colonies of 
America settled by the English. 

The inhabitants of Connecticut, by 
prudent habits and good government, 
steadily increased in numbers and 
wealth. They went hand in hand with 
the other colonies in measures for the 
promotion of the welfare of all ; and 
when in the fullness of time the pro- 
vinces were ripe for union, rebellion 
and independence the people of Con- 
necticut were foremost in their eager- 
ness to assert their rights as a free 
people. 

Rhode Island was favored by Parlia- 
ment with a charter, in 1644. The 
General Assembly, in a code of laws 
adopted in 1647, declared "all men 
might walk as their conscience permit- 
ted them — everyone in the name of his 
God." Throughout the whole com- 
m.unity, so independent in thought and 
action, appeared a healthier religious 
sentiment than in Massachusetts, 
where the people were straight-laced 
by creeds and dogmas, and were con- 
stantly tempted to be hypocrites. 
There was a high-toned morality, and 
every man was safe in his person, 
name and estate. 

In 1651, the Executive Council of 
State, in England, granted to William 
Coddington a commission for govern- 
ing the islands within the limits of 
Rhode Island charter. The people 
were alarmed, Roger Williams and 
John Clarke hastened to England, and 
with the assistance of Sir Henry \"ane, 
the "sheet-anchor of Rhode Island," 
the commission was recalled and the 
charter given by Parliament was con- 
lirmed. That was in October, 1652. 
This act put an end to the persevering 
efforts of Massachusetts to absorb the 
little commonwealth. 

Williams, on his return in the fall of 



THIRD rKRlOD— COLONIES 



1654, was chosen president of the 
colony, and the charter given by Par- 
liament was confirmed by Cromwell, 
the following year. 

On the restoration of the monarchy 
in 1660, the inhabitants of Rhode Is- 
land sent an address to Charles, in 
which they declared their loyalty and 
begged his protection. This was fol- 
lowed by a petition for a new charter. 
In July. 1663, the King issued a patent 
highly democratic in its general feat- 
ures, and similar in every respect to 
the one granted to Connecticut. Bene- 
dict Arnold was chosen the first gov- 
ernor, and it continued to be the 
supreme law of the land until 1842, or 
one hundred and eighty years. 

\\'hen Andros demanded the surren- 
der of the colonial charters, in 1687, 
Rhode Island instantly yielded. An- 
dros proceeded to Rhode Island, where 
he found no opposition and where 
he was graciously received. He for- 
mally dissolved the Assembly, and as- 
sumed the functions of governor, ad- 
mitting five of the inhabitants into his 
legislative council. But he did not take 
away the parchment on which the char- 
ter was written. 

When Andros was deposed, in the 
spring of 1689, the people assembled at 
Newport, resumed popular government 
under the old charter, and began a new 
and independent jjolitical career, 
h'rom that time until the enforced un- 
ion of the colonies for mutual defense 
at the breaking out of the French and 
Indian War, the inhabitants of Rhode 
Island always bore their fair share in 
defensive efforts, especially when the 
hostile savaares hune along the fron- 
tiers of New England and New York. 

From the beginning of King Wil- 
liam's War, soon after the expulsion of 
Andros, the history of Rhode Island is 
identified with that of all New Eng- 
land. 

We will now consider the history of 
New Jersey as a colony. Agents were 
sent by the authorities to New Eng- 
land to invite settlers, and a company 
from New Haven were soon seated on 
the banks of the Passaic. Others fol- 
lowed, and the first legislative as- 



sembly that met at Elizabethtown. in 
1668, was largely made up of New 
England Puritans. The soil was fer- 
tile, the climate salubrious, and the In- 
dians friendly, so the colony rapidly in- 
creased in population and prosperity. 
In 1670, specified quit-rents of a half- 
penny for each acre of land was de- 
manded. The people murmured, and 
refused to pay, not on account of the 
amount, but because it was an unjust 
tax levied without their consent. 

These disputes continued for two 
years, and the province was in confu- 
sion. There was actual rebellion ; and 
in May, 1672, the disatifected colonists 
sent deputies to a popular Assembly, 
which compelled Philip Carteret, the 
])roprietary ruler, to vacate his chair 
and leave the province. While the pro- 
prietors were making preparations to 
recover the province bv force of arms, 
New Jersey and all the rest of the ter- 
ritory claimed by the Duke of York, 
fell into the hands of the Dutch, with 
whom the English were then at war. 
That was in August, 1673. 

When this domain was returned to 
the English, fifteen months afterward, 
the Duke received a new charter from 
the King and appointed Andros gov- 
ernor of the whole domain. Carteret 
complained, and his authority was 
partly restored ; but sufficient was re- 
served to give Andros a pretext for as- 
serting his authority and annoying the 
proprietors and the people. 

Lord Berkeley, becoming disgusted, 
sold his interest in the province to 
John Fenwick and Edward Byllinge, 
English Friends or Quakers, for the 
sum of five thousand dollars. This 
tract of land was in the western part of 
the province. Fenwick and a companv 
of emigrants, mostly Friends, settled 
on a spot not far from the Delaware 
River, which was named .Salem, on ac- 
count of the peaceful aspect of the 
country, and of the surrounding In- 
dians. 

Byllinge's interest in the province 
was sold to William Penn and others. 
In July, 1676, the province was divided. 
Carteret taking the eastern part and 
the associated purchasers taking the 



THE HD.Ml'. AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



wcslcni part. From that time until 
tiiey were united and became a royal 
province, in 1702, these divisions were 
known as East and JJ'est Jersey. 

The proprietors of West Jersey gave 
tlie settlers, who were mostly Friends, 
;i \ery liberal constitution of govern- 
ment.' In 1677, more than four hun- 
dred Friends came from England and 
settled below the Raritan River. An- 
dros at this time required the colonies 
to acknowledge his authority as repre- 
>entative of the Duke of York. They 
refused, and the matter was referred 
to the eminent crown-lawyer. Sir AVil- 
liam Jones, for adjudication. Sir 
William decided against the claim of 
the Duke, who submitted to the decis- 
ion, released both provinces from al- 
legiance to him, and the Jerseys be- 
came independent of foreign control. 
The first popular Assembly in West 
Jersey met at Salem, in November, 
1681, and adopted a code of laws for 
the government of the people. One of 
these laws provided that in all criminal 
cases, excepting treason, murder, and 
theft, the aggrieved part should have 
])ower to pardon the offender. 

Carteret died in 1679, and in 1682 his 
Jersey estate was purchased by William 
Venn and others, among them the Earl 
of Perth, the friend of Robert Barclay, 
whom the proprietors appointed gov- 
ernor for life. This purchase was 
made in the interest of a land specula- 
tion, and not in the interest of religion 
or liberty. 

liarclay governed the province by 
deputies until his death, in 1690, when 
only forty-two years of age. Immi- 
grants flocked into East Jersey from 
England and Scotland and from Long 
Island, to find repose and peace, for 
tiiey were mostly members of the so- 
ciety of Friends. But they were com- 
]iclled to submit to the tyranny of An- 
drns, when he was made viceroy by 
James the Second. When that de- 
tested viceroy was driven from the 
country, in 1689, the Jerseys were left 
without a regular civil government and 
so they remained several years. 

The proprietors wearied with their 
contentions with the people and the 



goxernment in England, and their los- 
ses in unprofitable speculation, sur- 
rendered their rights in the Jerseys to 
the crown, in 1702. Sir Edward Hyde, 
governor of New York, was appointed 
governor, with absolute legislative, ex- 
ecutive and judicial power. Liberty of 
conscience was granted, except to Ro- 
man Catholics. Printing was prohibi- 
ted in the province, and the traffic in 
negro slaves was especially encouraged. 

The province of New Jersey re- 
mained a dependency of New York, 
with a distinct legislative assembly of 
its own, until the year 1738, when, 
through the efforts of Lewis Morris. 
its chief justice, it was made an inde- 
pendent colony, and so continued unti-1 
the war for independence. Mr. Morris 
was commissioned its first governor, 
after the province had gained its free- 
dom from New York. He was the son 
of an officer in Cromwell's army who. 
at about the year 1672, settled on a 
farm of three thousand acres on the 
Harlem River, New York, which was 
named Morrisania. 

The last of the royal governors of 
New Jersey was William Franklin, son 
of Dr. Benjamin Franklin, who was 
;i])pointed, in 1763. and closed his 
official career in the summer of 1776. 
v\hen he was deposed by the Conti- 
nental Congress, and sent under guard 
to Connecticut, where he was released 
on parole and sailed for England. He 
died there in 1813. 

PENNSYL\'ANIA. 

William Penn founded the city of 
Philadelphia, at the close of 1682, and 
with the help of his surveyor, Thomas 
ITolme, laid out a town and caused the 
boundaries of the streets to be marked 
on the trunks of the chestnut, walnut, 
locust, spruce, pine and other forest 
trees that covered the land. Several 
streets of that city yet bear the names 
of those trees, then given to them. 
The new town had a rapid growth. 
Within a year after the surveyor had 
finished his task, almost a hundred 
houses had been erected there, and the 
Indians came daily with the spoils of 



THIRD PERIOD— COLONIES 



tlic forest as presents ior "I'atluT 
I'eiin," as tliey delighted to call the 
proprietor. 

The second AssembI}- of the pro- 
\ ince, honored the new city by gather- 
ing there in the March following. At 
this meeting, Penn offered the repre- 
sentatives of the people a new charter. 
It was so liberal in all its provisions 
that when the question, "Shall we ac- 
cept the new constitution or to adhere 
I > the old one?" came up in that body, 
there was a solid vote in favor of the 
new one. 

.\ re])resentative republican govern- 
ment, with free religious toleration and 
having justice for its foundation; con- 
stituted the main grants in the charter, 
and the proprietor, unlike those of 
other provinces, surrendered to the 
people his chartered rights in the ap- 
pointment of officers. From the be- 
ginning, the happiness and prosperity' 
of his people appeared to be uppermost 
m the heart and mind of \A'illiam Penn. 
It was this happy relation between the 
proprietor and the people, and security 
against Indian raids, that made Penn- 
sylvania far outstrip her sister colonies 
in rapidity of settlement and perma- 
nent prosperity. 

A small house was erected on the 
site of Philadelphia, late in 1682, for 
the use of Penn. It occupied a place 
in Letitia Court, between Front and 
Second Streets, and survived until late 
in the last century. There were fash- 
ioned those excellent laws, with Penn's 
assistance, which gave Pennsylvania a 
high character. .\t about the same 
time Pennsylvania was divided into 
three counties — Bucks, Chester and 
Philadelphia ; and the annexed terri- 
tory was also divided into three count- 
ies — New Castle, Kent and Sussex — 
known for a long time afterward as the 
"Three lower counties on the Dela- 
ware." 

When I'enn returned to England in 
the summer of 1684. He left the gov- 
ernment of the province, during his ab- 
sence, in the care of five members of 
the council and Thomas Lloyd as presi- 
dent. His luission in America had been 
a triumphant success. His wise and 



beneficient conduct had s])read a rejiort 
all over Europe that William Penn had 
opened, in a beautiful land beyond the 
ocean, an asylum to the good and op- 
pressed of every nation and creed. 
These and others came from Scandi- 
navia, the borders of the Rhine, and 
from England, Wales and Scotland and 
Ireland, to plant quiet homes in the do- 
minion of the "Quaker King." His 
"City of Brotherly Love" had, in the 
course of two years, grown more 
rapidly than had the city of New York 
in almost half a century. At the close 
of 1685, it contained si.x hundred 
houses; schools were established, and 
William Bradford, who had landed 
where Philadelphia was afterward laid 
out, had set up a printing press there. 
His ".\lmanack for the Year of the 
Christian's Account, 1687," was printed 
there in March of that year. 

At the death of Charles, when James 
the Second ascended the throne of 
England, there was great political and 
religious excitement in England. Penn 
and the new King had long been per- 
sonal friends : and through Penn's in- 
fluence, twelve hundred persecuteil 
l'"riends had been released from prison, 
in 1686. King James was known to be 
under the influence of the Jesuits, and 
Penn was suspected of being one of 
them ; and after James had been driven 
from the throne, he was arrested three 
times, on false charges of treason, and 
as often acquitted. The last time was 
in 1690. In the meanwhile, great re- 
ligious and political commotions dis- 
turbed Pennsylvania, and in April, 
1 891, the Three Lower Counties on the 
Delaware, withdrew from the union, 
offended at the action of the council at 
Philadelphia. Penn yielded to the se- 
cessionists so far as to appoint a sepa- 
rate deputy-governor over them. 

William and Mary were now on the 
throne of England. From accusations, 
which came from Pennsylvania, made 
against Penn, he was deprived of his 
rights as governor of his province in 
1692. Governor Fletcher, of New 
York, was placerl in control and ap- 
peared at the head of the council in 
Philadelphia, on the 13th of May, 1693, 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



with William Markhani, Penn's deputy, 
as lieutenant governor. He reunited 
the Delaware counties to the parent 
province. 

Penn was called before the Privy 
Council in England, to answer the ac- 
cusations. He was proven innocent 
and powerful friends interceded with 
King William for the restoration of his 
rights. In the summer of 1694. a few 
months afterward, all his rights were 
restored. He lingered in England in 
comparative poverty, his fortune hav- 
ing been wasted, until 161)9. when, with 
his daughter and his second wife, Han- 
nah Callowhill, he sailed for Philadel- 
phia. The province under William 
Markham, his old deputy, had asserted 
their right of self government, and 
made laws for themselves while he was 
in England. The province was pros- 
perous, but clamorous for political 
privileges guaranteed them by law. 
Penn gave them a new constitution, in 
November, 1701, more liberal than the 
former ones, and perfectly satisfactory 
to all. The people of the "Three 
Lower Counties" had been forced into 
union with Pennsylvania, so he made 
provisions for their permanent separa- 
tion in legislation, in 1702; and the first 
independent legislature in Delaware 
was assembled at New Castle, in 1703. 
Although Pennsylvania and Delaware 
ever afterward continued to have 
separate legislatures, they were under 
the same governor until the revolution 
in 1776. 

Penn had come to Philadelphia to 
live and die there ; and had built a fine 
bfick house to reside in, which stood on 
the corner of Second Street and Norns 
Alley, but the news from England that 
measures were pending before the 
Privy Council for bringing all the pro- 
prietory governments under the crown, 
determined him to return to his native 
country to defend his rights. He did 
so late in 1701, and succeeded. He 
never returned to America. Business 
troubles connected with the province 
harassed and wearied him, and he wa> 
about to sell his rights in the province 
in 1 71 2. for sixty thousand dollars, 
when he was prostrated by paralysis. 



He survived six years when he died, 
leaving his estates in America to his 
three sons. His family governed 
Pennsylvania, as proprietors, until 
the revolution made it a free state 
in 1776. Meanwhile, the province had 
sustained its share of mutual defense 
with its sister colonies, during the 
troubles with the French and Indians. 

NORTH AND SOCTH CAROLINA. 

The new scheme of government, 
formed by Locke and Cooper, was 
signed in March, 1670, and Alonk, 
Duke of Albemarle, was created vice- 
roy for the new empire. The simple 
.^ettlers had something to say. when the 
governor of Northern or Albemarle 
County colony attempted to introduce 
the new government. When the ques- 
tion was forced upon them, "Will you 
accept it?" They said, "No." They 
resolved to adhere to the form of gov- 
ernment of their own far better adap- 
ted to their needs than the one sent 
from England. 

The attempts to enforce obedience 
to the new form of government, op- 
pressive taxation, and the restrictive 
English navigation laws, spread wide 
discontent. This was encouraged by 
refugees from Virginia, who had been 
implicated in "Bacon's Rebellion," and 
who had sought safety among the peo- 
ple below the Roanoke. These refu- 
gees scattered the seeds of popular 
freedom, and successful oppression was 
made difficult, if not impossible. 

The whole state of North Carolina 
did not, at that time, contain four thou- 
sand inhabitants. They carried on a 
small trade with New England, in to- 
bacco, maize and cattle, and in return 
received those articles of foreign pro- 
duction, which otherwise thev could not 
procure. English cupidity envied them 
their privileges, and in 1672, the navi- 
gation laws were put in force. A tax 
of a penny on every pound of tobacco 
sent to New England was demanded. 
The colonists resisted and tax-gathers 
were sent to collect the levy. There 
were frequent collisions with the peo- 
l)le, and on one occasion, a tax-gatherer 



THIRD PERIOD— COLONIES 



H5 



tried to drive away a steer, seized for 
the payment of the tax on a shipment 
of tobacco to New England by a 
planter. The wife of the sturdy yeo- 
man beat him off with a mop stick, and 
saved the animal. 

Finally, the exasperated people, led 
by John Culpepper, a refugee from the 
Southern or Carteret County colony, 
■-eized the governor and the public 
funds : imprisoned him and six of his 
councillors ; called a new representative 
Assembly, and appointed a chief magis- 
trate and judges. That was in Decem- 
ber, 1677. The colonists conducted the 
affairs of their government for two 
years without any foreign control. 
Meanwhile, Culpepper, whom the 
royalists denounced as one who merited 
hanging, conscious of his integrity, 
went boldly to England to plead the 
cause of the colonists. While in Eng- 
land he was arrested and tried for 
treason, for which he was acquitted. 
Returning to North Carolina, he was 
appointed surveyor-general of the pro- 
vince ; and in 1680 he was employed in 
laying out the city of Charleston, in 
South Carolina. 

Seth Sothel had purchased a share 
in the soil of the jjrovinces and was 
sent to administer the government 
there, as governor. He reached North 
Carolina in 1683, after having been 
captured by the Algerian pirates. His 
advent disturbed tranquility, for he was 
avaricious, extortionate and cruel, and 
plundered both the projirietors and the 
[jeople. After ruling about six weeks, 
the people rose in rebellion, seized and 
imprisoned him. He was tried before 
the colonial Assembly and sentenced to 
one year's banishment and perpetual 
disqualification for the office of gov- 
ernor. Sothel then withdrew to the 
Southern colony. 

Philip Ludwell. an energetic and 
honest man, succeeded Sothel. He 
soon restored order and good feeling in 
the colony. He was succeeded by other 
honorable men, among them the good 
John Archdale, a member of the society 
of Friends, who was made governor of 
the two colonies. The people of North 
Carolina, o\er whom he ruled, were 



almost as free in their opinions and act- 
ions as the air they breathed. They 
were widely scattered, with not a city 
or town, and scarcely a hamlet in their 
sylvanian domain. There were no 
roads but bridle paths from house -to 
house, and these were indicated by 
notches cut in trees. There was no 
settled minister of the Gospel among 
them until 1703. The first church was 
erected in North Carolina in 1705. No 
building for a court house was con- 
structed until 1722; and it was not 
until 1754 — about a hundred years af- 
ter the first permanent settlement was 
made in the region of the Chowan — 
that a printing press was set up in the 
province. 

The first legislative assembly of 
.South Carolina convened in the spring 
of 1672, at the place on the Ashley 
River where the colony was first seated. 
The Southern or Carteret colony ha<l 
been steadily advancing in population 
and wealth, since its first settlement. 
They had not conformed to the plan of 
government drawn up by Locke and 
Cooper. 

In the Assembly, there were many 
parties, all bigoted and resolute. Their 
debates became so warm at times, that 
the members almost came to blows, and 
it was a relief to the people when the 
Assembly adjourned. The danger from 
hostile Indian foes finally healed the 
dissensions among the settlers. Moved 
by the instinct of self-preservation, 
they joined in a successful warfare 
upon the Indians, who had begun to 
plunder the plantations, and to menace 
the lives of the colonists. The Indians 
were subdued in 1680. Old Town was 
abandoned, and on Oyster Point. 
Charleston, the future capital of the 
colony was founded. It was chiefly 
settled by the English, the Dutch and 
others, spreading over the country 
along the Edisto and Santee Rivers. 
Immigrants from Europe rapidly 
swelled the population of Charleston 
and its vicinity, and aspirations for 
political independence were manifested 
there at that early day. 

A second popular Assembly met at 
Charleston in 1682. Harmony to a 



ii6 



THE HOME AUXILLA.RV AND REFEREN'CE 



great extent iirexailed, wise laws were 
framed, and immigrants flowed in witli 
a continuous stream. Families from 
Ireland, Scotland and Holland; and 
when the edict of Nantes was revoked, 
large numbers of French-Huguenots 
sought an asylum in the Carolinas. 
The hatred of the English for the 
French prevented these French refu- 
gees from obtaining citizenship in the 
colonies for full ten years. 

A little colony that had been settled 
by the Scotch, in 1682. at Port Royal, 
led by Lord Cardross. was destroyed 
by the Spaniards, in 1686. 

The Huguenots were being persecu- 
ted with the utmost rigor in France. 
They were a sturdy and industrious 
people, and fully five hundred thous- 
and of them left France. Those that 
settled in America were blessings to 
every community in which they made 
homes. The warmer climate of the 
Carolinas was more congenial to these 
children of sunny France, and great 
numbers settled there. They gave 
some of their best blood to the Caro- 
linas, and their descendants have borne 
a conspicuous part in the building up 
of those states, and of our free Re- 
public. 

In 1686. John Colleton, one of the 
owners, was appointed governor of 
South Carolina. He ruled four years 
and his administration was a very tur- 
bulent one. He was in continual col- 
lision with the people and drove them 
into open rebellion. They seized the 
public records: imprisoned the secre- 
tary of the province ; called a new As- 
sembly, and defied the power of the 
governor. He declared the province 
under martial law, and called out the 
militia. They did not respond to his 
call, and he was impeached and ban- 
ished from the colony by the Assembly, 
in 1690. 

Seth Sothel, who had been banished 
from North Carolina, arrived in the 
colony and espoused the cause of the 
people. He was made governor, and 
for two years hs plundered the colony 
and the people. He was removed in 
1692, and died two years afterward. 
It was during the ;idministration of 



Sothel that the I luguenots in South 
Carolina were granted the liberty of 
citizenship. This act of enfranchise- 
ment was repealed in 1697. 

Colonel Philip Ludwell, of ^^irginia, 
and then governor of North Carolina, 
was appointed successor of Sothel. He 
had a brief and unhappy administra- 
tion and gladly retired. The pro- 
prietors, after a trial of twenty years, 
were now satisfied that the government 
planned by Locke and Cooper, could 
never be imposed on the people, so it 
was abandoned. They sent John Arch- 
dale to govern both colonies. His ad- 
ministration was short, but highly 
beneficial. He healed dissensions ; es- 
tablished equitable laws, religion had 
full toleration, and he made the In- 
dians love and respect him. He intro- 
duced the growth of rice into the 
colony, and so the cultivation of that 
valuable cereal was introduced into our 
country. 

From the close of Archdale's admin- 
istration, the history of the two Caro- 
linas should be considered separate and 
distinct, although they were politically 
disunited until 1729. 

The Indians along the sea-board of 
North Carolina had disappeared before 
the advance of the white man, at the 
end of the seventeenth century. The 
broad domain from the sea to the 
Yadkin and the Catawba then lay al- 
most uninhabited. 

In 1704, Deputy-Governor Daniells 
was sent to the province to establish the 
dominion of the Church of England. 
As the colonists were nearly all dis- 
senters, he was opposed in his scheme. 
The Friends led in the opposition. For 
a while there were two governors and 
two Assemblies. The dissensions were 
soon quieted, but they did not become 
Churchmen. Several years afterward, 
there was only one clergyman in the 
provinces, for no congregations could 
be gathered. 

In 1707, some Huguenots came from 
\'irginia, and settled on the banks of 
the Trent, a tributary of the Xeuse. At 
about the same time a hundred German 
families came from the devasted Pala- 
tinate on the Rhine, led by Count Graf- 



THIRn TERIOD— COLON'lliS 



fenreid. ami settled al the headwaters 
of the Xeuse ami uii the Ijanks of the 
Roanoke. Emigrants from Switzer- 
land, founded New Berne. 

A fearful calamity fell upon the Ger- 
mans soon after they were planted. 
The remnants of the native tribes, 
driven to the forests, were incited and 
led by the Tuscaroras, a fierce .\lgon- 
quin tribe, and joined by the Corees. a 
tribe near the sea-board further south, 
to exterminate the whites and re-pos- 
sess themselves of their lands. 

They fell upon the German settle- 
ments along the Loanoke, and on an 
October night, in 1711, they slew one 
hundred and thirty men, women and 
children, and laid their settlements in 
ashes. John Lawson, surveyor-general 
of the province, and Count Graffenreid 
were taken captives. Lawson was 
Inirned to death but the Count escaped. 

There was the wildest excitement in 
North Carolina, and South Carolina 
was called upon for helj). Colonel 
Barnwell hastened northward with 
some Carolinians and a body of 
friendly Indians, composed of Creeks. 
Catawbas, Cherokees and Yammasees. 
The Tuscaroras were driven to their 
fortified town, and there made a sol- 
emn treaty of peace with the white 
man. The South Carolinians, on their 
way homeward, aroused again tlie en- 
mity of the Indians. The Tuscaroras 
again went on the war-path, but were 
defeated by Colonel Moore and some 
Indian allies. Those of the Tuscaroras 
that were not made captives, fled to the 
North and joined the Iroquois Con- 
federacy. The Corees soon afterward 
made a treaty of peace, and North 
Carolina never afterward suffered 
from the hostility of Indians. 

The first issue of paper money in 
North Carolina was to pay the cost of 
this war. 

When England went to war against 
France and Spain, in 1702, James 
Moore, governor of South Carolina, 
proposed an expedition against the 
Spaniards at St. Augustine. The As- 
sembly agreed with the governor and 
appropriated nearly ten thousand dol- 
lars for the enterprise. A fleet and 



army were now sent against St. .\ugus- 
tine. Colonel Daniels, in command of 
the army and Governor Moore in com- 
n;and of the fleet. The expedition was 
unsuccessful and returned to Charles- 
ton. The cost of this to the colony was 
lieavy, and the first issue of paper 
monev by South Carolina was to pay 
this debt. 

The following year, governor Moore 
made war against the hostile Appala- 
chians, a Mobilian tribe, who occupied 
a region in Georgia between the Savan- 
nah and Atlantamha Rivers. He laid 
v.ast their country and made captives 
of eight hundred men, women and chil- 
dren, and the Indians of the whole re- 
gion were made vassals or subjects of 
tlie English. 

Trouble over religion now disturbed 
South Carolina. The majority of the 
Assembly were members of the Chiu'ch 
of England. They deprived the dis- 
senters from the rights of citizenship. 
The dissenters appealed to the crown, 
and in the fall of 1706, tlie Assembly, 
by order of Parliament, repealed the 
law of disfranchisement. But the An- 
gelican Church maintained its suprem- 
acy in religious affairs until the war 
of the revolution. 

The attack on St. Augustine, by the 
South Carolinians, had angered the 
Spaniards. An expedition consisting 
of five vessels-of-v\'ar, imder command 
of the French admiral LeFeboure, and 
a large body of troops, was sent from 
Havana to attack Charleston, to con- 
quer the province and annex it to the 
Spanish territory in Florida. The 
squadron arrived oflf Charleston in 
May, 1706, landed about eight hundred 
troops, and demanded the surrender of 
the city. It was met by the reply tliat 
the people would not surrender and 
were ready to meet any attack. 

The South Carolinians now made a 
furious assault on the landing party, 
killed many, captured more, and drove 
the remnant back to their ships. At 
the sajne time the little provincial navy 
prepared to attack the invading squad- 
ron. The French admiral, amazed and 
alarmed by the display of valor, 
weighed anchor and fled to sea. A 



THE HOME AUXn.IARV AXD REFERENCE 



l<"rench ship soon after this, unin- 
formed of these events, sailed into the 
harbor with troops, and was captured. 
The Spaniards, in Florida, and the 
French, on the Mississippi, had been 
for some time secretly inciting the In- 
dians to exterminate- the English. A 
confederacy was formed among the In- 
dians, from Cape Fear on the north to 
the St. Mary's on the south, and back 
to the rivers beyond the mountains in 
the west. This league was formed in 
forty days. The warriors of the league 
numbered six thousand. It comprised 
the Cherokees, Choctaws, Chicasaws, 
Catawbas and Congarees on the west, 
and the Creeks, Yammasees and Ap- 
palachians on the south. At the same 
time a thousand warriors broke forth 
from the forests of the Neuse region to 
avenge their misfortunes in the war 
two or three years before. 

The savages had managed so secretly 
that not a whisper of warning had 
reached Charleston. The Yammasees, 
on the morning of April 13th, 171 5, 
began an indiscriminate massacre of the 
white people along the sea-board. The 
news had now arrived of the outbreak 
to the settlers at Port Royal. These 
fied to Charleston with the news. 
Charleston now became the centre of a 
stream of terror stricken planters and 
their families. Governor Craven acted 
promptly. He took measures to pre- 
vent men from leaving the colony. He 
declared the province to be under mar- 
tial law ; took measures to secure all 
arms and ammunition to be found, and 
called upon the citizens to prepare to 
fight valiantly for their lives and prop- 
erty. With a motley army of whites, 
I)lacks and Indians, twelve hundred 
strong, he marched to meet the savages. 
after severe fighting, the governor 
drove the Yammasees across Georgia, 
and giving them no rest until they were 
under the guns of St. Augustine. The 
savages from the north were driven 
back to the forests and the Cherokees 
and their neighbors retired to their 
hunting grounds. The war with the 
Indians was settled in May. 171 5. 

The colonists of South Carolina were 
now tired and disgusted with proprie- 



tary rule, their popular Assembly de- 
clared they would have nothing to do 
with the proprietors. Governor John- 
ton refused to rule in the name of the 
King. On the first of December, a con- 
vention of the people chose James 
IMoore as governor. Soon after pro- 
prietary rule was dismissed from the 
soil of South Carolina. The charter of 
the proprietors was abrogated by the 
crown, and in 1720, South Carolina be- 
came a royal province, with Francis 
Nicholson as royal governor. 

The proprietors of North Carolina, 
seeing the inevitable drift of public 
sentiment, made a virtue of necessity, 
and sold the domain to the King for 
eighty thousand dollars. It then be- 
came a royal province. The two Care- 
linas were then separated. George 
Eurrington was appointed governor of 
North Carolina and Robert Johnson 
was made chief magistrate of South 
Carolina. 

From that time up until the French 
and Indian war, the history of the two 
colonies is largely made up of records 
of disputes between the people and 
royal governors. 

GEORGIA. 

Georgia was the latest colony planted 
by the English in America. When 
(iglethorpe returned from England, 
early in 1736, he brought with him a 
company of Scotch Highlanders, who 
were skilled in military art, and many 
Germans who were to join their Mo- 
ravian brethren, who had settled in 
Georgia two or three years before. He 
was also accompanied by John and 
Charles Wesley. John was then thirty- 
three years of age, and came as a mis- 
sionary of the Gospel among the set- 
tlers and the surrounding pagans. 
Charles came as an assistant to his 
brother and as secretary to Oglethorpe. 
John W'esley had led to the founding 
of the Methodist denomination, and 
was fervent and eloquent in speech. 
He obtained a large congregation at 
first, but his austerity of maxims, and 
his rigid exercise of ecclesiastical 
authority, soon involved him in serious 



Tl^riRI) ]'KKl()n~COLOXI 



disputes with tlie settlers, who were a 
peculiarly mixed people. At the end 
of two years he returned to England. 
His mission in Georgia was a failure. 

George W'hitefield, a sturdy young 
preacher, who had been swaying large 
multitudes in England, and a friend of 
the W'esleys, obtained permission to 
join them in Georgia. He was not 
quite twent)'-four years of age when he 
arrived in Savannah. The Wesleys had 
departed when he arrived, but he en- 
tered upon his duties with fervor. 
More practical than \Vesley, he became 
not only a blessing to Georgia, but to 
other American colonies, where he 
labored as an itinerant preacher. He 
founded an asylum for orphans in 
Savannah, and worked lovingly with 
tlie Moravians in Georgia, who made a 
most salutary impression on society 
there. 

Tlie Spaniards at St. Augustine were 
\ery jealous of the rapid growth of 
Georgia. Oglethorpe saw, on his re- 
turn to the colony, that he was not 
prcijared to resist an invasion by arms. 
He sent a messenger to St. Augustine 
to invite the commander to a friendly 
conference. In the meantime, he and a 
number of his Highlanders, went on 
an exploring expedition among the is- 
lands and along the coast of Georgia. 
On St. Simon's Island he founded 
I-'rederica and built a fort there. Sail- 
ing up Alatamaha Sound, he visited 
New Inverness (now Darien). where 
a few Scotch people had planted a 
settlement. He was warmly received 
by the settlers and marked out a small 
fortification there. 

Oglethorpe, on his return to Savan- 
nah, which was in the warm spring 
weather, found that his messenger had 
not returned from St. Augustine. He 
now proceeded to sustain the claims of 
Great Britain to the country as far 
south as the St. John's River. He had 
marked out a fort called St. Andrew's 
on Cumberland Island, which would 
command the mouth of the St. Mary's 
River, the stream wliich finally became 
the southern boundary of Georgia. He 
planned a small military work on an 
island at the mouth of the St. John's 



Ri\cr called Fort St. George. He also 
founded Augusta, far up the Savan- 
nah River, as a defense against In- 
dians from the west, who might be 
under the influence of French or S])an- 
ish traders. 

The news of Oglethorpe's hostile 
]3reparations irrated the Spaniards at 
St. Augustine. They detained Ogle- 
thorpe's messengers as prisoners, and 
tlireatened war. The Indians, friendly 
to the English, now made assurances of 
alliance, and sent warriors to Ogle- 
thorpe's aid. The governor at St. 
Augustine, hearing of these alliances, 
released the messengers, and at a meet- 
ing of the parties concerned, an honor- 
able treaty was made. The Home gov- 
ernment in Spain did not approve of 
this, and notified (3glethorpe that a 
commission from Cuba would meet him 
at Frederica. The commissioner ap- 
peared with his secretary, after leav- 
ing three regiments of Spanish in- 
fantry at St. Augustine, and peremp- 
toril)' ordered the evacuation of all 
Georgia by the British and of all of 
South Carolina below the parallel of 
Port Royal, claiming all that region as 
a part of the dominion of Spain. The 
conference ended without an agree- 
ment. 

Oglethorpe now returned to Eng- 
land to confer with the trustees and 
seek military strength for his colony. 
He informed them of the increase in 
the number of soldiers thrown into 
Florida, and the peril of the colony. 
He was commissioned a brigadier-gen- 
eral, with control over the military in 
Georgia and South Carolina. He ar- 
rived in the province with troops from 
England in the autumn of 1738, where 
he found general discontent. 

The unwise regulations of the trus- 
tees, and the class of emigrants who 
had settled in the province, many of 
them unaccustomed to manual labor 
and habits of industry, did not promote 
prosperity. The use of slave labor was 
pi-ohibited, and tillage neglected. 

The greed of English merchants, 
who were growing rich by illicit trade 
on the coasts of South .\merica at the 
expense of Spanish commerce, was fos- 



Till': lIOMi: AUXILIARY AND RICI']' RI' XCl', 



lered by the British ministry, who were 
bent on destroying the Spanish colonial 
system in the so-called New World. 
Spain resented this interference witli 
her rights, and for this — the real cause 
— England declared war against that 
Kingdom late in 1739. 

Oglethorpe had just put an end to a 
conspiracy in Georgia to assassinate 
liim, and a negro insurrection in South 
Carolina — both incited by Spanish 
emissaries. lie heard of the declara- 
tion of war, and he decided to strike a 
blow before his enemy should be well 
prepared. 

lie penetrated Florida with a small 
force and captured some outposts early 
in 1740. In May he marched into 
Florida with six hundred regular 
troops, four hundred Carolina militia, 
and a large body of friendly Indians. 
He was before St. Augustine in June, 
after capturing two little forts, one 
within twenty miles of the city, and the 
other only two miles distant. An in- 
stant demand of the surrender of the 
fort and garrison was made, which was 
refused. He surrounded the town and 
blockaded the harbor. The blockade 
was weak, and the Spanish garrison 
soon obtained supplies. Oglethorpe 
resolved to abandon the siege, malaria 
had invaded his camp, and warned by 
the approach of the sickly season he 
returned to Savannah. 

Hostilities were now suspended for 
almost two years, when the Spaniards 
determined to invade Georgia. With a 
fleet of thirty-six vessels from Cuba 
and a land force of about three thous- 
and, they entered the harbor of St. 
Simons in July, 1742. The vigilant 
Oglethorpe was there before them, but 
with less than a thousand men, includ- 
ing Indians. The Governor of South 
Carolina had failed to furnish men or 
supplies and upon the Georgians de- 
volved the task of defending both pro- 
vinces from invasion. The intrepid 
general, when he saw the white sails of 
the Spanish vessels in the distance, went 
on board one of his own little vcs.sels. 
and addressing the seamen, said : ''We 
must protect Carolina and the rest of 
the colonies from destruction, or die in 



the attempt. I rely on your valor, and 
Ijelieve we will be \'ictorious. 

The Spanish fleet passed the English 
batteries, and Oglethorpe fell back to 
Frederica. The reinforcements frona 
South Carolina did not come, and he 
\vas annoyed by frecjuent attacks from 
the Spaniards, but he always repulsed 
them. 

Oglethorpe at length resolved to act 
on the oiifensive, and make a stealthy 
night attack upon the Spanish encamp- 
ment near St. Simons. Fie moved 
cautiously along a road he had con- 
structed, v\-ith a dense forest on one 
side and a deep morass on the other. 
\\'hen he was near the camp, a French- 
man in his little army ran ahead, fired 
his musket, and deserted to the enemy. 
The Spaniards were aroused, and Ogle- 
thorpe fell back to Frederica. 

The general punished the deserter in 
a novel way. He employed a Spanish 
]3risoner to carry a letter to him, 
secretly, in wdiich Oglethorpe addressed 
him as a spy in the enemy's camp. He 
told him to represent the Georgians as 
\ ery weak in men and arms, and advise 
the Spaniards to attack them at once; 
and if they would not do so, to try and 
l)ersuade them to remain at St. Simons 
three days longer, for within that time 
a British fleet, with two thousand land 
troops would arrive to attack St. 
.\ugustine. The bearer of the letter, as 
Oglethorpe expected and hoped he 
would, carried it to the Spanish com- 
mander. It produced a great commo- 
tion in camp. The Frenchman was ar- 
rested and put in irons, and afterward 
hanged as a spy. A council of war was 
held, and while it was in session some 
vessels from Carolina were seen at sea. 
They were mistaken for the British 
fleet alluded to, and the Spaniards de- 
termined to attack Oglethorpe im- 
mediately, and then hasten to the de- 
fense of St. Augustine. 

.\n advanced division moved im- 
mediately on Frederica. On the nar- 
row road flanked by the forest and the 
morass, within a mile of the fort, they 
were assailed by Oglethorpe and his 
Highlanders, who lay in ambush. Al- 
most the whole party of the invaders 



THIRD PKRIOO— COLONIES 



were killed or captured. A second 
part}' pressing" furward to their relief, 
met the fate of the first. Tlie Span- 
iards retreated in confusion, leaving 
about two hundred of their companions 
dead on the field. They fled to their 
ships and hastened to St. Augustine, 
I mly to find they had been outgeneraled 
by the governor of Georgia. The 
stratagem of Oglethorpe had worked 
such disaster to the Spanish expedition 
tliat its commander, Don Manuel de 
.Monteano, was dismissed from the ser- 
\ice. That stratagem probably saved 
( k'orgia and South Carolina from utter 
ruin. 

I laving firmly established the colony, 
( )gletliorpe returned to England in 
1743. In 1775, he was offered the com- 
mand of the I3ritish army in this coun- 
try, on the return of General Gage to 
Rngland. His benevolent ideas did not 
suit the temper of the British ministry 
then, and General William Howe re- 
ceived the appointment. When, at the 
close of the revolution, John Adams 
went to England as American minister 
at the British Court, Oglethorpe was 
among the first to congratulate him be- 
cause of the independence of this coun- 
try. Oglethorpe died at the age of 
ninety years. 

.After the departure of Oglethorpe, 
(ieorgia enjoyed repose from conflicts 
with hostile neighbors. He left the 



country in a state <if tranquility. The 
same year it passed from the control 
of a mild military government to that 
of a civil organization, managed by a 
president and five councillors or assi.s- 
tants, under the supreme authority of 
the trustees in England. Yet the 
colon)- languished for reasons already 
mentioned, and general discontent pre- 
vailed. The laws relating to slave labor 
were evaded. Slaves were brought 
across from South Carolina, and hired 
to the Georgia planters for a hundred 
years, the sum paid for such service 
being the market value of the slave. 
The transaction was practically the in- 
troduction of the slave labor system 
into Georgia. It was not interfered 
w ith : and very soon ships leaden with 
slaves from Africa came to Savannah, 
and men, women and children were 
oftered for sale, in a way somewhat 
evasive of law, in the open market, by 
the auctioneer. In the year 1750, 
Georgia was really a slave labor pro- 
\ince. Then agriculture flourished, and 
the colony took its place as a planting 
State in an ecjual position by the side of 
its sister across the Savannah. 

In 1752, when the twenty-one years 
named in the charter had expired, the 
trustees gladly gave that instrument to 
the King, and Georgia became a royal 
I)rovince. So it remained until the old 
war for independence. 



THE HO-ME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



FOURTH PERIOD 



FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR 



The French in America, through the 
influence of tlie Jesuits, made a power- 
ful impression upon the minds of the 
savages of this country, and easily per- 
suaded them to become the friends of 
Frenchmen in peace and their allies in 
war. The seeds of the French dominion 
in America were planted by Champlain 
at Quebec. He selected for his com- 
panions and spiritual co-workers some 
of the mild and benevolent priests of 
the Franciscan Order, who, he said, 
were "free from ambition," except to be 
instrumental in the salvation of souls. 
But these priests were not sufficiently 
aggressive to suit the ambitious French 
Church, nor worldly-wise enough to 
serve the state in carrying out its pol- 
itical designs for enlarging its domin- 
ions in America. They were with- 
drawn, and to the Jesuits, was given 
the Franciscan Order, who, he said, 
converting the heathen of Canada. 
(Champlain, with their help, established 
an alliance with the Hurons on the St. 
Lawrence and in the country westward ; 
and so began the widespread affiliations 
between the French and Indians that 
became so disquieting to the luiglish 
colonists. 

As early as 1636 there were fifteen 
Jesuit priests in Canada — a band of 
men ready to endure any privation and 
sufifer any danger in the service of their 
church. Champlain introduced three of 
tlie.se black robed missionaries — Bre- 
beuf, Daniel and Davost — to an assem- 
blage of Huron chiefs and sachems at 
Ouebec. These priests followed the 
Hurons to their dominions, as far as 
the shores of Lake Huron, near which 
they planted their first mission house. 
They shared in all the toil and priva- 
tions of their Indian allies in the long 
journey. The barbarians regarded them 
with awe and reverence, as the greatest 
■■medicine men" they had ever known. 



The extreme devotion to their religion 
was ma'"velous in the eyes of the won- 
dering savages, and it was not long be- 
fore whole tribes bowed in rude Jesuit 
chapels in the forest, and became nom- 
inal Christians. So the Jesuits took a 
firm grasp of the savage minds, and 
held a controlling influence over these 
children of the forest far and near, 
from the St. Lawrence to the Gulf of 
Mexico. A college was founded in 
Canada for the education of Indian 
boys, a year before Massachusetts took 
up that work. And very soon after- 
ward a young and rich widow of France 
established the LTrsuline Convent at 
Ouebec for Indian girls. In 1640 they 
took possession of Montreal. Mission- 
ary after missionary followed, and in a 
space of thirteen years they had carried 
the Gospel and French power from Nia- 
gara to the shores of Lake Superior. In 
1656, two young traders returned to 
Ouebec, after being away two years, 
with tales of the magnificent country to 
the west. Father Allouez, a daring 
Jesuit went boldly into that region. To 
the Chippewas he proclaimed the King 
of France as their sovereign, and built 
mission houses there. From the Sioux 
he heard of the magnificent IMississippi 
River, which they called the Father of 
Waters. This intelligence reaching 
Ouebec, Fathers Marquette and Dablon, 
set out to explore the mysterious land 
and plant the banner of the cross in the 
very heart of the heathen world. They 
labored in the cause of religion among 
the Chippewas, and gave efficient aid to 
loliet, a French agent, in his political de- 
signs, when he arrived there. At the 
Falls of St. Mary, after summoning a 
convention of all the Indian tribes be- 
tween Lakes Huron and Sujierior he 
built a chapel, raised the cross, and took 
possession of the country in the name of 
France. 



FOURTH PERIOD— FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR 



Marquette resolved to reach the 
Mississippi River. With Joliet he went 
up the Fox River to the water shed 
between the Mississippi and the Lakes, 
and crossing the portage went down the 
Wisconsin River to its mouth. Late in 
June, 1673, they were upon the bosom 
of that mighty river which De Soto had 
discovered a century and a quarter be- 
fore. The Indians called it Mississipf'i, 
which, in their language, signified The 
( Ireat Water. 
( They now sailed down the river with 
winds and currents, past the inflowing 
waters of the Missouri and Ohio, and 
other less tributaries, holding friendly 
intercourse with the natives. Below 
the mouth of the ,'\rkansas River they 
met a hostile tribe of sun-worshippers, 
who had a.xes of steel, which implied 
intercourse with Europeans. 

Marquette being now satisfied that 
the Mississippi did not flow into the 
.Atlantic or Pacific Ocean, but at some 
intermediate receptacle he sailed north- 
ward with Joliet and his companions, 
and reached Green Bay before the 
frosts of October were seen there. Mar- 
(|uette labored among the Indians in 
tlie neighborhood of Chicago for two 
Aears. He crossed over to the eastern 
shore of Lake Michigan, where he was 
taken mortally sick, and died on the 
banks of the Mackinack. 

At this time Robert Cavalier dc la 
.'^alle, a young Frenchman who had been 
educated for the priesthood in a Jesuit 
seminary but who preferred a secular 
life, was settled at the foot of Lake 
Ontario, and had a monopoly of the fur 
trade with the Five Nations south of 
the lake. He built a fort on the site of 
modern Kingston and named it Fronte- 
nac, in honor of his patron. The mild 
Franciscans were now tolerated in Can- 
ada, and were carrying on their relig- 
ious work among the Indians under 
favor of La Salle. 

La Salle stirred by the adventures of 
De Soto, and his ambition influenced 
bv the story of Marquette's voyages on 
the Mississippi, and of the beauty and 
wealth ot the country through which 
the Ohio River flowed, determined to 
attempt the establishment of a widely 



extended commerce with the natives 
there, and, if possible, plant colonies 
in the vast wilderness. He went to 
France, and obtained the support of 
Colbert, the famous minister of Louis 
the Fourteenth. 

The King ga\'e him a monopoly of 
the fur trade among the Indians, and 
a commission to perfect the explora- 
tions of the Mississippi River. La Salle 
returned to Fort Frontenac in 1678, 
with some mechanics and others, and 
Tonti, an Italian as his lieutenant. W"ith 
these, and some Franciscan priests, they 
crossed Lake Ontario and went up the 
Niagara River to the site of Lewiston. 
They established a trading post, built a 
sailing vessel in which they crossed the 
lakes to Mackinack, and pushing for- 
ward anchored in Green Bay, west of 
Lake Michigan. La Salle now sent his 
vessel back with a cargo of furs, and 
awaited her return. He tarried among 
the Miamies at Chicago for some time, 
when with Tonti, Father Hennepin, 
two other Franciscans and about thirty 
followers, boldly penetrated the wilder- 
ness westward on foot and in canoes, 
until he reached Lake Peoria, in Illin- 
ois. There he built a fort, and sent 
Father Hennepin forward to explore 
the L'pper Mississippi, while he re- 
turned to Frontenac to look after his 
property. 

Hennepin went up the Mississippi 
River as far as St. Anthony's F"alls, 
which he discovered, and named after 
his patron saint. In the fall of 1680, 
he returned to Green Bay by the way 
of the Wisconsin and Fox Rivers. In 
the meantime Tonti had been driven 
out of Illinois by the savages, and had 
taken refuge among the Indians on the 
west shore of Lake Michigan. 

La Salle returned to the Illinois 
country, and early in 1682 he started on 
an exploration of the Mississippi River, 
with twenty-three Frenchmen and 
eighteen New England Indians with 
ten women and three children. They 
reached the Mississippi in February, 
and descended the mighty river to the 
Gulf of Mexico, everywhere observing 
evidences of unbounded wealth in the 
bosom of the soil along its course. They 



124 



THK flOMI': AUXILIARY AND RI'FKREX'CF. 



lield intcrcoursL' witli the Indians at 
many places along its sin ires. At one 
place below the Arkansas River they 
found a powerful King over many 
tribes, to whom La Salle sent presents. 
Mutual assurances of friendship passed 
lietween them. The people over whom 
this King ruled were a part of those 
barbarians of the Gulf region who wor- 
shipped the sun. They were called 
Taenses. 

La Salle proceeded southward to the 
Gulf of Mexico and proclaimed the 
whole Mississi]jpi \'alley as part of the 
dominion of France. He named the 
magnificent domain Louisiana in honor 
of the King of France. 

La Salle now went back to Quebec, 
and then hastened to France and laid a 
re])ort of his discovery before the 
cc4irt. La Salle procured from the 
King a commission to colonize Louis- 
iana. With four ships and almost 
three hundred emigrants, La Salle 
sailed from Rochelle late in July, 1684, 
for the Mississippi River by way of St. 
Domingo. His company consisted of 
one hundred soldiers, and the remainder 
were chiefly artisans and farmers, with 
a few yoimg women. La Salle had difli- 
culties with the commanders of the 
ships, and it caused him to miss the 
mouths of the Mississippi while sailing 
westward over the Gulf of Mexico. 
They found themselves in Matagordo 
Bay, on the coast of Texas, and there 
La Salle determined to disembark. Li 
a gale the store ship was lost, and the 
timid ones among the emigrants re- 
turned with tlie vessels to France. Two 
hundred and thirty emigrants remained 
with La Salle. He constructed a fort 
named St. Louis, and claimed the 
country in the name of France. 

In December, 1685, he and some of 
his men departed in search of the Miss- 
issippi. After penetrating to almost the 
Red River, he was com]ielled to re- 
turn to the fort, as desertions, deaths. 
and loss of supplies, would allow him 
to go no further. ,\fter another fruit- 
less search for rich mines In New 
Mexico, of which he had heard, he re- 
turned to the fort disap])ointed in the 
spring of 1086. 

La Salle now determined to go to 



Canada for reinforcements and supplies 
for his colony in Louisiana. Leaving a 
garrison at P^ort St. Louis he departed 
with sixteen men and five wild horses 
which he had procured in New Mexico. 
They crossed Texas to the uplands of 
Trinity River, when some of the men 
Ijccame mutinous. Two of them who 
had embarked all their fortunes in the 
enterprise, and who blamed La Salle 
for their losses, conspired against his 
life. One of these, named Duhaut, 
killed him while he was searching for 
his nephew (one of the party), who 
had been already murdered. His body 
was plundered and left to be devoured 
by eagles and wolves. Some of the 
party managed to make their way to 
Canada with the sad tidings of the ex- 
plorer's death. 

The French now claimed all the 
country from Newfoundland to the 
Gulf of Mexico, excepting the narrow 
border of territory on the sea coasts oc- 
cupied by the English. They coveted 
the whole country and resolved to 
possess it. Trading posts, mission 
stations and colonies had followed in the 
])ath of their explorers, and New Or- 
leans had been founded ear.'y in the 
eighteenth century. Their alliance 
with the Indians, through the Jesuits, 
liad that object in view, and for forty- 
five years after the death of Louis the 
Fourteenth, the struggle for the mas- 
tery between the French and English 
settlements continued. It was ended 
only when the English, by force of 
arms, and by conquest stripped France 
of a great portion of its claimed terri- 
tory in our country. 

Several of the European nations con- 
tributed materials for the English- 
American colonies. Although these 
people were of opposite tastes, habits and 
religious views, as a rule, they mingled 
with each other without asperity ; aufl 
when the time came for a political 
union no serious antagonism was ap- 
parent. The different Protestant sects 
and the Roman Catholics, though often 
narrow in their views, manifested a 
common lo\e of liberty, and acted upon 
the common rule that the majority 
should govern. 

A great majority of the emigrants 



FOURTH PKRinD— FRENCH AM) IXDI.W WAI 



were English, Scotch, Dutch and 
Swedes. The Irish and French were 
few at first. Denmark and the regions 
of the Baltic contributed a consider- 
able number, and natives from Africa 
were soon scattered among the white 
population of all the colonies. The 
colonies had been founded without the 
aid of the British government, with the 
exception of Georgia, and often in defi- 
ance of the expressed wishes and abso- 
lute decrees. Subjects of the same 
perils and hardships, there grew up 
among them, insensibly, a brotherhood 
(if feeling that prepared the people of 
thirteen of the colonies, after uniting in 
resistance to the aggressiveness of the 
IVench during a war of more than 
sc\ en years duration, to resist, almost 
as one man, every form of oppression, 
when the government to which they 
acknowledged their allegiance became 
an op]iressor. 

Owing to their origin, early habits 
;ind the climate a great diversity of 
character was seen among the inhabi- 
tants. Virginia was settled from classes 
ni English society, where a lack of rigid 
moral discipline allowed freeliving, and 
its attendant vices. The mild climate 
tended to produce voluptuousness and 
ease among them, and their southern 
neighbors. The settlers of Xew Eng- 
land were from the middling classes of 
society. Very rigid in their manners. 
shy and jealous of strangers. They 
included a great many religious enthu- 
siasts, who were very strict in their 
faith. Their legislation tended to con- 
trol the most minute regulations of 
social life. 

The ideas, manners, customs and pur- 
sm'ts of the Dutch made a deep impres- 
sion upon the colonists of New York, 
and portions of New Jersey and Penn- 
sylvania. They were industrious, frugal 
and j)lod(ling money-getters, loving 
personal ease and freedom from dis- 
turbance. They were averse to change, 
and followed the customs of their 
fathers. But they had many of the 
substantial virtues that are necessary in 
giving health and stability to a state. 
The Swedes and Finns on the Delaware 
did not fliffer nnich from the Dutch. 



The Friends, whose inllucncc prednm- 
inated in West Jersey and I'enn.syl- 
vania, were Cjuite difi^erent. They won 
the esteem and respect of every class 
by their refined simplicity. They gov- 
erned their daily life by a religious sen- 
timent, without fanticism, which was a 
powerful safeguard against \ice and 
immorality. 

The Maryland settlers were less re- 
strained but greater formalists in their 
religion than either New Englanders or 
tilt Dutch. At the middle of the eigh- 
teenth century inter-migration had 
greatly modified the peculiarities of the 
inhabitants. They were industrious and 
generally more refined than the colon- 
ists of the East. Religious intolerance 
had been published ; and when common 
<langer called for common defenders of 
the soil and of the chartered rights of 
the colonists, they stood shoulder to 
shoulder in battle array and in legis- 
lative halls. 

The principal jdu-suit of the i'".nglish- 
.American colonists was agriculture in 
t!ie middle of the eighteenth century. 
Commerce and manufacturers were 
struggling against unwise and unjust 
laws for existence. Manual labor was 
regarded as honorable and dignified, 
es])ecially in Xew England and the ad- 
joining proxinces. The evil example of 
an idle privileged class was never before 
the settlers in the forests of America. 
There was no trade that may be digni- 
fied by the name of commerce before 
the revolution. Early in 1636, a Massa- 
chusetts vessel made a voyage to the 
West Indies : and two years later an- 
other vessel went from Salem to New 
Providence, and returned with a cargo 
of cotton, salt, tobacco and negroes. 
This was the beginning of negro slavery 
in New England. It was recognized by 
law in Massachusetts in 1641 : in Conn- 
ecticut and Rhode Island, about 1650; 
in New York, in 1656; in Maryland, in 
1663; and in New Jersey, in 1(1(15. 
There were but a few slaves in Penn- 
sylvania as early as 1600, chiefly in 
I'hiladelphia. 

These successful voyages, and the 
extensive fishing industry, were har- 
bingers of an -American commerce to 



126 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFEREX'CE 



tlie Xew England people, but the jeal- 
ousy of the English caused navigation 
laws to be passed by Parliament in 1651, 
and more stringent ones in 1660. New 
England now saw that its commerce 
was doomed. The attention of Parlia- 
ment had been called from time to time 
to the industries of the American colo- 
nies. Laws were passed by the House 
of Commons, in 1719, to discourage 
these industries, and in 1750 an act was 
passed forbidding the erection of any 
iron works. Hats were forbidden to be 
exported from one colony to another. 
Sugar, molasses and rum were bur- 
dened with exorbitant duties. In the 
Carolinas it was actually forbidden to 
cut down a tree in their vast pine for- 
ests for the purpose of making staves or 
turpentine. And so for about a hun- 
dred years the British government had 
attempted by restrictive laws to confine 
the commerce of the colonies to the 
interchange of their agricultural prod- 
ucts for English manufacture only. 
These acts of oppression constituted the 
chief item in the "bill of particulars" 
presented by the Americans in the ac- 
count with Great Britain when, on the 
Fourth of July, 1776. they gave to the 
world their reasons for declaring them- 
sehes "free and independent" of the 
British crown. 

Education received special attention 
in most of the colonies. Early in 1621 
schools were established in Virginia for 
white and Indian children. These 
schools did not flourish, and the funds 
were finally given to the support of 
William and Mary College, which was 
founded at Williamsburg, in Virginia, 
in 1692, fifty-four years before the 
Rev. John Harvard had given half of 
his estate and three hundred of his 
books for the founding of a college at 
Cambridge, Massachusetts, which bears 
his name. Yale College was founded at 
.Saybrook, at the mouth of the Connec- 
ticut River, in 1701. It was removed 
to New Haven, Connecticut in 1717, 
the birthplace of Elihu Yale, then presi- 
dent of the English East India Com- 
pany, from whom ft derives its name. 
King's (now Columbia) College was es- 
tablished in New York City in 1750, and 



these four colleges composed the chief 
seats of learning when the French and 
Indian war broke out. 

The common schools — the glory and 
pride of New England especially — were 
flourishing. In the early existence of 
Connecticut laws were provided that 
every town and organized religious 
community containing one hundred 
householders should maintain a gram- 
mar school. Similar provisions were 
made throughout New England. 

The first newspaper published in the 
colonies appeared in September, i6()0, 
entitled "Public Occurances Both For- 
eign and Domestic." Only one number 
of this newspaper was issued. The 
first permanent newspaper was "The 
Boston News-Letter," first issued in the 
spring of 1704. The first in T^ennsyl- 
vania was "The American," published 
in Philadelphia in 1719. The first in 
New York was "The New York 
Gazette," in 1725; the first in Mary- 
land was "The Maryland Gazette," 
issued at Annapolis in the summer of 
1728. "The South Carolina Gazette," 
issued at Charleston at the beginning of 
1732; "The Rhode Island Gazette," 
printed at Newport in 1732; "The Vir- 
ginia Gazette," printed at Williamsburg 
in 1736: "The Connecticut Gazette." 
printed at New Haven in 1755; "The 
North Carolina Gazette," printed at 
New Berne the same year, and the 
"New Hampshire Gazette," printed at 
Portsmouth in the summer of 1756, 
were the first newspapers published in 
these colonies. At the period of the 
French and Indian war newspapers 
were printed in all the colonies except- 
ing in New Jersey, Delaware and 
Georgia. The printing machines on 
which all the colonial newspapers and 
books were printed were simple in form 
and rude in construction. 

Of the number of inhabitants at tliat 
time of the colonies Mr. Bancroft, after 
a careful examination of many official 
returns, makes the following statement: 
Massachusetts, 207,000 whites : New 
Hampshire, 50,000 whites, and in these 
two colonies about 3,000 blacks : Conn- 
ecticut, 133,000 whites, 3,500 blacks: 
Rhode Island, 35.000 whites, 4,500 



FOURTH PERIOD— FRENCH AND INDIAN \VAR 



blacks; New York, 85,ocx) whites, ii,- 
ooo blacks ; New Jersey, 73,000 whites. 
5,000 blacks ; Pennsylvania and Dela- 
ware, 195,000 whites, 11,000 blacks; 
-Maryland, 104,000 whites, 44,000 
blacks: Virginia, 168.000 whites. 
116,000 blacks; North Carolina, 70.000 
whites, 20,000 blacks ; South Carolina, 
40,000 whites. 40,000 blacks ; Georgia, 
5,000 whites, 2.000 blacks. 

Making the number of white inhabi- 
tants in all the colonies about 1,165,000. 
and the blacks ( who were mostly 
slaves ) to be 260,000. 

The colonists were tillers of the earth, 
scattered over an immense territory 
from Nova Scotia to Florida, united by 
mild government. The Hritish ministry 
treated the colonists as minor children, 
or as absolute subjects to be governed 
without question, but the lofty idea of 
republicanism was working out in the 
])rovinces through local self-gov- 
ernment. 

The common danger from the Indians 
caused a confederation of the New 
England colonies in 1643. A half a 
century later William Penn put forth a 
plan for a union of all the colonies. In 
1684 a congress had been held at Al- 
bany, composed of the officers of the 
governments of Massachusetts, New 
York, Maryland and \'irginia, and 
sachems of the Five Nations. When it 
was resolved to invade Canada, in 1711. 
a convention was held at New London, 
Connecticut, to consult upon the matter. 
In 1722, a congress of colonial officials 
and Indian sachems was held at .Albany 
for the promotion of a friendly feeling 
and the strengthening of the alliance 
then existing with the Iroquois Confed- 
eracy. In 1744, a similar congress for 
the same purpose, met at Lancaster, in 
Pennsylvania, where over two hundred 
and fifty representatives of the Six 
( late Five) Nations were in attendance. 

The last of these colonial congresses. 
;ill exhibiting tendencies toward a na- 
tional union, was held at Albany in the 
summer of 1748. The congress was 
called for a two- fold purpose. One 
was to strengthen the bonds of friend- 
ship with the Six Nations and their 
savage neighbors on the west. This was 



successful. The other, advanced by 
Governor Clinton, of New York, and 
Governor Shirley, of Massachusetts, 
was to al)ri<lge the rights of the people. 
The royal governors gained nothing by 
the congress. Clinton, after violent 
quarrels with all political factions in the 
province, abandoned the government in 
disgust and returned home. Sir Dan- 
\ers Osborne, who succeeded him, fore- 
seeing much trouble ahead, he became 
despondent. This state of mind was 
aggravated by grief because of the re- 
cent death of his wife, and he hanged 
himself. 

But more urgent consideration occu- 
pied the attention of the British gov- 
ernment and the American colonies at 
that time. The French, from the time 
of the capture of Louisburg in 1745, 
had put forth the most vigorous efforts 
for the extension and strengthening of 
their dominion in America. They were 
resolved on a persistent strife for 
power ; and their aggressive movements 
about the year 1753 aroused the British 
government and the American colonial 
assemblies and people to the necessity of 
employing ec|ually vigorous measures 
for opposing their common enemy. 
Then the colonists united among them- 
selves and with the Home Government 
in defense of British dominion in .Amer- 
ica. Then began the conflict known in 
America as the French and Indian War, 
and in Europe as the Scirn ]'cars' IJ'ar. 

Virginians and Alarylanders had pro- 
posed the planting of an English colony 
beyond the Allegheny Mountains. The 
governor of \'irginia was instructed bv 
the King to grant to a company of 
speculators five hundred thousand acres 
of land en the north side of the Ohio 
between the present site of Pittsburgh 
and the mouth of the Kanawha River. 
This company was known as Tlic Oliio 
Land Company. They were to settle 
one hundred families on the tract, with- 
in seven years, and at their own ex- 
pense to build a fort there. Robert 
Dinwiddie, of Scotland, then surveyor 
general for the southern colonies, and 
soon after made lieutenant governor of 
Mrginia, was one of the proprietors. 

The ( )hin Land Company took meas- 



THl 



IIO.MK AUXII.T.VRV AND RKFKRF.NXE 



ures for dehniiig aiiil nccupying their 
domain. Thomas I.ee, Augustine and 
Lawrence Wasliington. and other lead- 
ing \'irginia members of the Company, 
ordered goods to be sent from London 
for trading with the Indians. The 
Company knew of the richness and 
fertiHty of the country beyond the 
mountains from reports of Enghsh 
traders. As a prehminary movement 
the Company took measures to obtain 
information concerning the best lands 
within their grant. In the autumn of 
1750 Christopher Gist, a \'irginian, who 
was a bold and skilful woodsman, and 
acquainted with Indian life, was em- 
]jloyed to spy out the land and ascertain 
the strength of the Indian tribes. At 
the close of October, Gist made his 
way over the mountains, crossed the 
Ohio ri\er, and made his way to Logs- 
town, where it was proposed to hold an 
Indian council. He was received with 
coolness by the Indians, but undaunted 
he pressed forward to the Muskingum, 
stopping at a village of the Ottowas, 
who were friends of the French. The 
W'yandots at Muskingum received him 
cordially, and there he found George 
Croghan, an emissary of the Pennsyl- 
vanians, who were jealous of the Ohio 
Company, regarding them as rivals seek- 
ing a monoply of the trade with the 
Indians of the Northwest. He pushed 
on, with Grogan, and some other trad- 
ers, until they reached the Scioto River 
a few miles from its mouth. There 
dwelt the Delawares ; and a short dis- 
tance below the Scioto, on both sides of 
the Ohio, were the Shawnees. Both 
professed friendship for the English, 
and a willingness to attend a general 
council at Logstown. They went north- 
ward to the land of the Miamis, a con- 
federac)' more powerful than the Iro- 
(|Uois, with whom they were friendly. 
.A treaty of alliance was made, and 
arrangements were made for all the 
friendly tribes to meet at Logstown. 
Gist now returned to \'irginia, and re- 
ported his information to Lawrence 
Washington, at Mount Vernon, then 
chief director of the Ohio Company. 
The promised council was held with the 
western tribes in Tunc, 17^2, when 



friendly rc1ali(_>ns were established by a 
treaty. Hut the Indians steadily refused 
to grant titles to the land west of the 
Alleghenies to either the English or the 
French. 

The jealousy of the French was now 
aroused, for they considered the Eng- 
lish as intruders. They saw the ulti- 
mate destruction of their line of forti- 
fied communication between Canada 
and the Gulf of Mexico. In 1753, the}- 
imprisoned some English surveyors and 
traders, and erected forts at Presq-islc. 
now Erie, and another at Le Boeuf, now 
W'atcrford, and a third at the junction 
of French Creek and the Allegheny 
River, on the site of the village of 
Franklin. 

The Ohio Company complained of 
these hostile demonstrations. These 
lands were in the chartered limits of 
\'irginia, and the authorities felt it their 
duty to interfere in defense of the rights 
of the Company. The English govern- 
ment had instructed the governors of 
\'irginia and Pennsylvania to e.xpel the 
French by force of arms, if necessary. 
Robert Dinwiddle, governor of \'ir- 
ginia, and one of the Company, deter- 
mined to first send a letter of remon- 
strance to M. de St. Pierre, the French 
commander. Now, George Washington, 
who was destined to occupy a conspic- 
uous place in the history of our country 
and of the world, first appeared in 
public action, at the very opening of the 
drama whose closing scene was the 
founding of a mighty nation. 

Young Washington was then little 
more than twenty-one years of age, of 
an excellent and honorable family, 
whose roots lay far back in English his- 
tory. He was a foster-son of old Lord 
Fairfax; and as a public surveyor and 
skilful hunter, had traversed the forests 
of Virginia far and near, in the direc- 
tion of the Ohio. At the age of nine- 
teen he had been commissioned a major 
of militia, charged with defending the 
colony against the Indians. He had 
been called from that service to attend 
upon a dying brother, but he had 
evinced, during his short service, such 
an aptitude for military pursuits, and 
such faithfulness in ]ierformance, that 



FOURTH PERIOD— FREXCIT AND INDIAN WAR 



lie was marked for jirompt promotion. 

Dinwiddie sent for Major Wasliing- 
ton. lie appeared promptly at the 
room of the Heutenant governor in the 
old state house at Williamsburg, late in 
October, 1753. Young Washington was 
full six feet in height, strongly built, 
with a florid complexion and every indi- 
cation of high health and physical 
strength. The governor gave him a 
commission and instructions to proceed 
to the quarters of the French com- 
mander, and present to him in person a 
letter from Dinwiddie, in which the gov- 
ernor inquired by what authority 
French troops had presumed to intrude 
upon tlie territory of the British mon- 
arch, and what were his designs. It was 
a mission of great delicacy, and discre- 
tion, ability, courage, physical endur- 
ance, experience in woodcraft and a 
knowledge of Indian manners were re- 
quisite. Believing young Washington 
to be possessed of all of these in an 
eminent degree the governor chose him 
to be his ambassador, out of hundreds 
of more pretentious aristocracy of 
Virginia. 

Washington was directed to proceed 
to Logstown (on the right bank of the 
Ohio, about fourteen miles below the 
site of Pittsburgh) ; convene influential 
Indian chiefs there; tell them the object 
(if his visit, and request them to furnish 
him with a competent escort as a safe- 
guard to the headquarters of the French 
commander. There he was to demand 
an answer to Dinwiddle's letter in the 
name of his King ; to observe with 
caution the number of troops that 
crossed the lake ; perceive the number 
and strength of their forts, and their 
distance from each other, and gain all 
information possible concerning the 
French on the English frontier. With 
these instructions Washington left W^il- 
liamsburg, on the thirty-first of Octo- 
ber, and was joined by John Davidson, 
an Indian interpreter, and Jacob \'an 
Braam, a Hollander by birth, and ac- 
(|uainted with the French language. On 
his way he was joined by Gist, who 
acted as guide. With these and four 
other men (two of them Indian trad- 
ers), they left the borders of civiliza- 



tion at the mouth of Wills Orcek (now 
Cumberland, Maryland), and made 
their way over the Allegheny Moun- 
tains, then covered with snow. They 
endured every hardship incident to a 
dreary wilderness and the rigors of 
winter. Late in November they reached 
the forks of the Ohio, on the site of 
I'ittsburgh, and then proceeded to Logs- 
town, accompanied by an influential 
sachem of the Delawares. 

A bold and patriotic chief named 
Half-King, who had protested against 
the French building a fort in his coun- 
try, and supposed the English were 
only traders, acted as an escort to the 
eight members of W^ashington's com- 
pany to the headquarters of M. de St. 
Pierre, which was one hundred and 
twenty miles from Logstown. 

They arrived at Fort \'enango (now 
Franklin) in December. M. Joncaire, 
the commandant, received the English 
with civility, but tried to detach and 
detain the Indians, hoping to shake their 
confidence in the English, but he did 
not succeed. 

Washington found St. Pierre at Fort 
Le Boeuf. Here was the end of the 
X'irginia ambassador's journey of forty- 
one days. The French commandant re- 
ceived him and his companions with 
great politeness. He received the gov- 
ernor's letter with thanks ; entertained 
the bearer and his friends four days, 
and then delivered into the hands of 
Major Washington a sealed letter in re- 
ply to Dinwiddle's. With this letter and 
much useful information respecting 
the forts and forces of the French, 
Washington returned to Williamsburg 
at the end of January. 

The return journey was more perilous 
and fatiguing than the first. A greater 
jKjrtion of it was performed by Wash- 
ington and Gist alone and on foot. At 
one time they were fired on by Indians, 
supposed to have been incited to the 
deed by Joncaire. On another occasion, 
after working all day in constructing a 
raft, they attempted to cross the swift 
and swollen current of the .-Xllegheny 
River on it. The stream was filled with 
floating ice. They embarked at twilight 
and soon found themselves buft'eting 



THE HOME AUXHJARY AND REFERENCE 



great perils. Washington while hold- 
ing a setting pole was jerked off into 
the water ten feet deep. The raft was 
crushed, and the travelers thoroughly 
drenched were cast upon a desert island 
where they lay upon the snow all night, 
hungry and half frozen. The next 
morning the channel of the river was 
frozen o\er, and they crossed on the ice, 
and toward evening reached the cabin of 
a Scotch settler, near the spot where a 
year and a half afterward Braddock 
fought the French and Indians in the 
battle of the Monongahela. The island 
on which the travelers were wrecked is 
directly opposite the United States 
Arsenal, at Lawrenceville, Pennsylva- 
nia, and is known as Washington's 
Island. 

Major Washington and his compan- 
ion now rested two or three days for 
their own refreshment and to procure 
horses. During that time the major 
paid a complimentary visit to the Indian 
Queen, Aliquippi, who resided at the 
confluence of the Monongahela and 
Youghioghany Rivers, in the southeast- 
ern part of .Allegheny County. She had 
complained of his neglect in not calling 
on her when on his outward journey. 
Young W^ashington explained the cir- 
cumstances that prevented him, and 
with an apology he gave her a coat and 
a bottle of rum. The latter, Washing- 
ton wrote, "was thought the much 
better present of the two, and harmony 
of feeling was restored. Aliquippa, who 
was a woman of great energy, and had 
performed some brave deeds, was held 
in respect amounting almost to rever- 
ence by the Indians in Western Penn- 
sylvania. 

St. Pierre's reply to Governor Din- 
widdle caused immediate preparations 
for war. He said it did not become 
him as a soldier to discuss civil mat- 
ters ; that Dinwiddle's letter should have 
been sent to the Marquis Du Ouesne, 
the governor of Canada, by whose or- 
ders he acted and whose instructions he 
should carefully obey ; and that the sum- 
mons of the governor of Virginia to the 
French to retire from the country could 
not be complied with, lender general 
instructions from the King the governor 



authorized the enlistment of two hun- 
dred men to march to the Ohio River 
and build two forts there. Major 
Washington was commissioned a lieu- 
tenant colonel, and placed in command 
of the troops to be raised. Washing- 
ton authorized Captain Trent to enlist 
men among' the traders and frontier 
settlers. An appeal was now sent to 
all the colonies for help. All hesitated 
except North Carolina, whose Assembly 
immediately voted men and money for 
the purpose. After much debate the 
\'irginia House of Burgesses authorized 
the raising of a regiment of six com- 
panies, and appointed Joshua Fry, an 
English born gentleman, colonel, and 
young Washington as his lieutenant. 
On the recommendation of Washington 
the Forks of the Ohio — the site of 
Pittsburgh — was chosen the place on 
which to build the first fort ; and Cap- 
tain Trent was instructed to employ his 
recruits in- its construction. 

Early in April Washington left Alex- 
andria with a small force, and reached 
Will's Creek (now Cumberland) on the 
20th. He was met on the way by a 
swift Indian runner, sent by Half-King, 
with the message that the French were 
embarking on the Allegheny at Ven- 
ango. He was met by another runner, 
who said the French were at the Forks ; 
and the next day an ensign from 
Trent's company came with the start- 
ling news that the French, a thousand 
strong, with eighteen cannon, sixty ba- 
teaux and three hundred canoes, had 
come down the Allegheny under com- 
mand of Captain Contrecoeur, and 
taken possession of the unfinished fort. 
The French immediately finished the 
fort on a stronger plan, and called it 
Du Quesne in honor of the governor of 
Canada. 

Colonel Fry had not yet joined the 
advance, and Washington assumed the 
responsibility of pressing forward. With 
only a small number of men and few 
supplies he made his way through the 
wilderness, and early in May they stood 
on the banks of the Youghioghany, 
within forty miles of Fort Du Ouesne. 
Washington, hearing from Half-King, 
that the French were near, fell back to 



FOURTH rERlOD— I'KEXCH Ai\D INDIAN WAR 



131 



a [ilain which he had crossed, called the 
Great Meadows. There he built a 
stockade and named it Fort Necessity. 
It was near the modern national road 
between Cumberland and Wheeling, in 
the southeastern part of P'ayette Coun- 
ty, Pennsylvania. 

Washington, now understanding that 
a party of Frenchmen were lying in 
ambush not far away, decided to attack 
them. With forty men of his com- 
mand and some friendly Indians, he 
marched against the foe. They were 
discovered among some rocks. Wash- 
ington, who was at the head of the party 
and carried a musket, when he saw the 
Frenchmen, shouted Fire! and at the 
same moment discharged his own gun 
among them. After a fight of about 
fifteen minutes, Jumonville, the com- 
mander of the French party, and ten of 
his men were killed, and all of the re- 
mainder were captured but fifteen, who 
escaped. This skirmish occurred on the 
28th day of May, 1754, and was the 
first blood shed in the French and In- 
dian war. When the news of this en- 
gagement reached Europe, the French 
denounced Washington as a murderer, 
but the proof that Jumonville was the 
bearer of a hostile message, and his 
skulking in ambush is proof of his 
hostile intentions. The war had began 
by the capturing of the fort at the 
Forks, and every circumstance justified 
the conduct of Washington. 

Colonel Fry having died at Will's 
Creek, Washington was left in chief 
command. He was now joined at Fort 
Necessity by more troops, and by In- 
dians under Half-King and Queen 
Aliquippa. On the 3rd of July, Wash- 
ington was here attacked by a large 
force of French and Indians, under M. 
de Villiers, a brother of Jumonville, and 
compelled to surrender the fort and 
troops. It was agreed, in the terms of 
the capitulation, that he and his troops 
were to return to the inhabited portion 
of the country, the French prisoners 
were to be released, and he was not to 
erect any establishment west of the 
mountains for a space of one year. 

Aleanwhile a civil movement of great 
importance had taken place in the col- 



onies. It was a movement in the direc- 
tion of a national union. The Indians, 
especially the Six Nations (the Five 
Nations having been joined by the Tus- 
caroras when they were driven from 
North Carolina), were becoming un- 
easy, through the influence of the 
French missionaries. Measures were 
now taken to get the good will of the 
Indians. The British Secretary of State 
proposed a convention of the colonies, 
and on the 19th of June, 1754, twenty- 
five delegates from Alassachusetts, New 
Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island, 
New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland 
met in the old City Hall in Albany. The 
most remarkable man of all was Dr. 
Franklin, of Philadelphia, then almost 
fifty years of age. "King Hendrick," 
the eminent Mohawk sachem who was 
killed near Lake George the following 
year, while battling for the English, and 
the chiefs of the Six Nations were 
there in great force. .\ treaty was 
made, on the whole, satisfactory to both 
])arties. Through the suggestion of the 
Massachusetts delegates, a Plan of 
Union, conceived by Dr. Franklin, was 
adopted by the convention. It was re- 
jected by both the crown and the differ- 
ent assemblies. 

The British ministry now resolved to 
recover what had been lost, and create 
a new colony west of the Allegheny 
Mountains. Dinwiddie was instructed to 
grant to any settler in the Ohio region 
not more than a thousand acres of land, 
and he was also ordered to prepare for 
a winter campaign against the French. 
It was late in the year, and the moun- 
tains were co\-ered with snow drifts, 
making them impassable for an army in- 
adequately supplied. Washington knew 
this ; and he so advised the governor's 
council. His words were heeded, and 
the mad scheme abandoned. 

French emissaries were now busy 
among the savage tribes west of the 
mountains, inciting them to a war of 
extermination against the English. A 
murderous raid had already been made 
against the New England frontier. 
Massachusetts, New York, Maryland 
and \"irginia made appropriations to 
raise troops to defend the colonies, and 



13-2 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REEEREXCE 



the British gmcnimcnt sent over fifty 
thousand dollars for the same pur- 
pose. Governor Sharpe, of Alarylaii'l, 
was made temporary commander-in- 
chief of the colonial forces. This led to 
injurious disputes among the Virginia 
officers, when Dinwiddle, entirely igno- 
rant of military affairs, assumed the re- 
sponsibility of arranging these affairs 
in his colony as he pleased. He en- 
larged the provincial army to ten com- 
paines of one hundred men each, so that 
the highest rank was captain, inferior to 
the same rank of those commissioned 
by the crown. Washington would not 
submit to the degradation, but resigned 
his commission and retired from the 
military service. It was urged by the 
governor for him to remain in the 
army, and intimated that he might hold 
his former commission. He declined 
the empty appointment, and added : "I 
shall have the consolation of knowing 
that I have opened the way when the 
smallness of our numbers exposed us to 
the attacks of a superior enemy : and I 
have had the thanks of my country for 
the services I have rendered." 

That winter Franklin had a confer- 
ence at Boston with Governor Shirley, 
in relation to a union of the colonies 
for mutual defense. Their views dif- 
fered, and the governor said that he 
would recommend a union planned by 
Parliament and also a tax. 

The British government now resolved 
to send military aid to the colonists. 
Edward Braddock, an Irish officer of 
distinction, was appointed commander- 
in-chief of all the British forces in 
America, and ordered to proceed to 
A'irginia with two regiments of regular 
troops. He was ordered to call a coun- 
cil of the royal governors, and exact a 
revenue from the colonies for military 
service. "To establish a fund for the 
benefit of all the colonies collectively in 
North America" — a financial union — 
and that the general and field officers of 
the provincial forces should have no 
rank when serving with the general and 
field officer conimissioned by the King. 

Braddock arrived with two regiments, 
carried by the fleet under Admiral 
"Keppel," in the s])ring of 1755. In 



.\pril, at a meeting of the governors, 
he was advised that the Assemblies 
would not grant his demands, and that 
the colonies must be forced to pay the 
expenses of the royal troops. 

The warm weather was coming, and 
so were the French and Indians. So the 
council of governors planned the cam- 
paign of 1755. General Braddock was 
to proceed against Fort Du Quesne, 
General Shirley was to lead an expedi- 
tion against Fort Niagara and Fort 
Frontenac, and William Johnson (a 
nephew of Admiral Warren) was to at- 
tempt the seizure of Crown Point on 
Lake Champlaine. A fourth expedition 
had already been planned on the east, 
for the expulsion of the French from 
Nova Scotia, and possibly the recapture 
of Louisburg. 

All the colonial legislatures voted men 
and supplies, except Pennsylvania and 
Georgia. The Quaker Assembly of 
Pennsylvania were conscientiously op- 
posed to military movements, and Geor- 
gia was too poor in men and money to 
do anything. 

About the time the Ohio Land Com- 
pany was granted its charter, the Eng- 
lish government was trying to secure 
dominion over Nova Scotia or Acadie. 
These people were simple minded 
French farmers, and were Roman Cath- 
olics in religion. The French priests 
were trying to have them settle on the 
frontier, so as to be a barrier against 
the English. At about the same time 
Governor Shirley, of Massachusetts, 
proposed to remove them, and distribute 
them among the English colonies. He 
finally induced the British government 
to settle disbanded soldiers and marines 
amongst them. During the year 1740, 
about fourteen hundred of these, led by 
Colonel Cornwallis, went among the 
Acadians, and planted the first English 
town east of the Penobscot, and named 
it Halifax. The Acadians about 
twenty years before had submitted to 
English rule, and had been promised 
freedom in religious matters, and ex- 
emption from bearing arms against the 
French and Indians. They were now 
commanded to take the oath of allegi- 
ance to the Itritish crown in religious 



FOURTH I'liRlUU— FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR 



133 



matters, and to be suhjected to all the 
duties of English subjects. About a 
thousand of them asked permission to 
sell their lands, and remove to some 
French settlement, but were refused. 

The Indians, who had been incited to 
furious raids on the New England 
frontier, by the Jesuits, were com- 
manded to give instant submission to 
the English. They refused, and orders 
were given by Colonel Cornwallis that 
ten guineas would be paid for every In- 
dian taken or killed. 

After the French lost Louisburg, in 
1745, they built strong vessels at the 
foot of Lake Ontario ; made stronger 
their little trading fort at Niagara ; built 
a cordon of fortifications, more than 
sixty in number, between Montreal and 
New Orleans ; claimed dominion over 
all the territory drained by the tribu- 
taries of the Aiississippi, with the plea 
that they were the discoverers of a 
greater portion of that stream, and were 
negotiating treaties with the jxiwerful 
Delawares and Shawnees, on the fron- 
tiers of Pennsylvania and Virginia. The 
English perceived the real and impend- 
ing danger. Hence the desire to plant 
English settlements in Canada, and to 
the west of the .Alleghenies. 

When the French heard that Keppel 
had sailed with Braddock's troops they 
sent a fleet with soldiers, under Baron 
Dieskau, who was accompanied by 
\'audreuil, the successor of Du Quesne 
as governor of Canada. Admiral Ros- 
ea wen, with some English ships pursued 
the French fleet. South of Newfound- 
land they came together, and two of 
the French ships were captured, and 
the remander escaped and landed the 
governor, with Dieskau and his troops 
at Quebec, late in June. Meanwhile the 
eastern expedition of three thousand 
men, under John Winslow sailed from 
Boston, in May, 1755. The French at 
Beau-Sejour and other military posts 
on the peninsula were taken. The 
Acadians who had been forced into the 
French service were granted an am- 
nesty. They readily took an oath of 
allegiance, but could not pledge them- 
selves to bear arms against their kin- 
dred in nation and religion. The chief 



justice of N'ova Scotia decided that 
any one not taking all the required 
oaths could not hold lands in the Brit- 
ish dominion. So it was determined to 
drive them out of the province and 
force them to settle in the English colo- 
nies. The French government asked 
for them the privilege of their lands, 
taking with them their effects, and 
choosing for themselves their future 
home. The oflFer was refused. A gen- 
eral proclamation was issued ordering 
all the .Acadians, "old men and young 
men, and lads ten years of age, to as- 
semble at designated places, on the 5th 
of September, 1755. They obeyed. The 
proceedings at one place afford a fair 
picture of those at all others. At Grand 
Pre, four hundred and eighteen un- 
armed men were assembled. They 
were told that everything had been for- 
feited to the crown with the exception 
of their money and household goods. 
Nineteen hundred and twenty-three 
men, women and children were driven 
aboard British vessels at the point of 
the bayonet, from Grand Pre alone, and 
distributed among the colonies, from 
the Penobscot to the Savannah, without 
resources. Some wandered through the 
forests to Louisiana and Canada. Some 
sought refuge among the Indians. The 
fate of the people of Grand Pre was the 
fate of all. The wrath of the English 
excited against the French for their 
long and cruel warfare upon the fron- 
tier settlements of New England, with 
their savage allies was poured out in 
full measure upon the heads of this 
innocent pastoral people, who had never 
voluntarily lifted sword nor spear nor 
firebrand to harm the English. 

^Vhile these movements in the East 
were going on it was decided to make 
an expedition for the recovery of Fort 
Du Quesne. In an interview with Dr. 
Franklin, Braddock had boasted what 
he would do elsewhere, after he had 
captured the fort. The philosopher, 
seeing how shallow was the general's 
knowledge of the impediments before 
him, ventured to inform him. But it 
was impossible to make any imjiression 
on him. 

The army for the recovery of l'"ort 



134 



THE HOMK AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



DiiQuesiie assembled at Alexandria. 
Colonels Dunbar and Sir Peter Halket 
were Braddock's chief lieutenants. 
There Colonel Washington, who had 
been invited by Braddock to join his 
military family as aide and retain his 
title, and had agreed to accept the posi- 
tion, but as volunteer only, had his first 
interview with the general. The army 
had been detained at Will's Creek 
(Cumberland), Maryland, by lack of 
horses and wagons, which were si'n- 
plied by Dr. Franklin. Here Washing- 
ton joined them in May. The whole 
force, regulars and provincials, each in 
about equal numbers, was two thou- 
sand men. Braddock had supreme con- 
tempt for the provincials, and on ac- 
count of the delays of some of the army 
contractors, charged the whole Amer- 
ican people with a lack of ability, honor 
and honesty. He raved at times like a 
madman and Washington found him, 
as he wrote to William Fairfax, "in- 
capable of arguing without warmth, or 
giving up any point he asserts, be it 
ever so incompatible with reason or 
common sense. 

The distance from Cumberland to 
Fort DuQuesne was about one hundred 
and thirty miles. At the close of May 
five hundred pioneers were sent for- 
ward to clear a pathv\'ay and collect 
stores at Fort Necessity ; but the main 
army was not ready to move until the 
loth of June. This delay gave the 
French time, and they were well pre- 
pared to meet the English. On Wash- 
ington's advice, the general consented 
to move part of the army forward in 
light marching order, with the artillery, 
leaving the remainder to move more 
slowly. Washington was placed in com- 
mand of the provincials. They reached 
the forks of the Monongahela and 
Youghiogony rivers on the 8th of July. 
On the 9th they crossed the Monon- 
gahela. Washington knew the perils of 
the situation, for the troops were dis- 
posed in solid platoons. He ventured 
to remonstrate with Braddock, and ad- 
vised him to employ the Indian mode 
of fighting in the forests. The general 
angrily said: "What! a provincial 



colonel teach a British general how to 
fight !" 

De Beaujue, the commander of a 
party of less than three hundred French 
and Canadians, and a little more than 
six hundred Indians had been sent from 
Fort DuQuesne, by Contrecoeur, to 
meet the advancing English. They 
came upon the latter sooner than De 
r.eaujeu expected, but the ambush was 
ciuickly and skilfully formed. He 
fought bravely and fell in the first 
deadh' onslaught of the combatants. 

The sudden attack and the horrid 
war-whoop of the Indians, frightened 
and disconcerted the regulars, and they 
were thrown into confusion, and noth- 
ing saved the little army but Washing- 
ton and the provincials, who fought as 
the Indians did. The regulars soon be- 
came unmanageable, but the officers 
fought nobly. Braddock was in the 
front of the fight, rallying his recoiling' 
troops. The battle raged for more than 
two hours. Of eighty-six English offi- 
cers sixty-three were killed or wounded, 
among the former was Sir Peter Hal- 
ket. One-half of the private soldiers 
were also killed or wounded. So 
bravely did the provincials maintain 
their ground that they were nearly all 
killed. Of three \^irginia companies 
only about thirty men were left alive. 
Braddock had five horses shot and dis- 
abled under him, and at last received a 
bullet through the body and fell mor- 
tally wounded. Washington wrote to 
his mother from Cumberland, "The 
dastardly behavior of the regulars ex- 
loosed all others who were inclined to 
do their duty to almost certain death." 
AX'ashington rallied the provincial 
troops and gallantly covered the retreat, 
leaving their cannon and their dead on 
the battlefield. Braddock was buried 
in the forest about fifty miles from 
Cumberland. Colonel Dunbar, in the 
rear, received the broken army. They 
abandoned Fort Cumberland and 
marched to Philadelphia. Washington 
and the southern provincials went back 
to Virginia, and so ended the second 
expedition of the campaign of 1755. "I 
luckily escaped without a wound," 
wrote Washington to his mother, 



FOURTH PERIOD— FRENCH AND INDIAX WAR 



135 



"though I liad iuur bullets through luy 
coat, and two horses shot under me." 
Washington was never wounded in 
battle. 

Governor Shirley was appointed 
Braddock's successor in chief command 
of the British forces in America. 
The expedition led by him against 
Forts Niagara, and Frontenac, though 
not exposed to great perils nor dis- 
asters, did not accomplish much. They 
arrived at the southern shores of Lake 
Ontario, at Oswego, in August. 
Strengthened both forts on each side of 
the river and built vessels. The storms 
in September, and the approaching win- 
ter compelled him to abandon the ex- 
pedition for a season. Leaving seven 
hundred men to garrison the fort, the 
general marched back to Albany, 
where he arrived in October. 

The expedition against Crown Point, 
on Lake Champlain, under William 
Johnson, consisted chiefly of New Eng- 
land militia and Indians from the Mo- 
hawk Valley. They were in immediate 
command of General Phineas Lyman. 
Among the troops were Putnam and 
Stark, who afterward became famous 
leaders in the war for independence. 
They built a fort on the banks of the 
upper Hudson, where Johnson arrived 
in August, and took command and 
named Fort Edward. With the main 
body of the troops Johnson marched to 
a beautiful body of water, about a 
dozen miles distant, which he named 
Lake George, in honor of his King. 
The French had now raised about six- 
teen hundred troops, French and In- 
dians and were well prepared to defend 
Crown Point. A greater portion of 
these troops were placed under com- 
mand of Baron Dieskau, who intended 
to make a swift march on Fort Edward 
and capture it by surprise. 

The French, in ambush, surprised 
and defeated a detachment of troops 
and Indians, under Colonel Ephraim 
Williams, of Massachusetts, and Hen- 
drick, the Indian chief, who had been 
sent to the relief of Fort Edward. 
Williams and Ilendrick were killed, and 
the detachment driven back to the camp. 
Captain ^^'illiams, in his will, be- 



c|ueathed a modest estate which 
founded Williams' College, at Williams- 
town, Massachusetts. Baron Dieskau 
now attacked the camp on Lake George, 
but was defeated, wounded and taken 
prisoner. Johnson now fortified the 
camp and named it William Henry. 
On the approach of winter he garri- 
soned both Forts William Henry and 
Edward, dismissed the New England 
militia and retired to his home near 
Amsterdam, New York. This ended 
military operations in America in the 
year 1755. 

The overwhelming defeat of Brad- 
dock and retreat of Dunbar was fol- 
lowed up in Virginia and Pennsylvania 
with all the horrors of Indian warfare, 
and the frontiers were ravaged with 
the most savage ferocit_v. 

At Kittanning, thirty miles from 
Fort DuQuesne, was a village of In- 
dians, whose chief was known as Cap- 
tain Jacobs. The depredations of this 
tribe induced Governor Armstrong, of 
Pennsylvania to send a force of Penn- 
sylvania volunteers, who suddenly sur- 
rounded the village at night, and, set- 
ting fire to the wigwams, almost en- 
tirely destroyed the tribe, and for a 
season restored peace to the frontier. 

In 1756 Montcalm was sent to 
Canada to begin a vigorous warfare 
against the English, and on his first ex- 
pedition he captured Fort Oswego, with 
1,600 men, one hundred and twenty 
cannon, and all the stores. Lord Lou- 
don, who had been appointed Governor- 
General of the English colonies, had 
previously arrived with instructions to 
begin immediate operations against the 
French, but he wasted time in supersed- 
ing the ofticers of the colonial troops 
with English officers, and finally went 
into winter quarters without striking a 
blow. 

In the meantime Montcalm busily 
prepared to capture Fort William 
Flenry which was garrisoned by hardy 
American troops, among whom was the 
brave John Stark, husband of Molly 
Stark, and on the 2d of August. 1757, 
with 6,000 French and 2,000 Indians, 
Montcalm surrounded the fort and de- 
manded its surrender. The fort, with 



T36 



THE HOAFE AUXILIARY AND REEERENXE 



J, 200 men, was in CDiiimaiul uf Colonel 
.Monroe, who refused to capitulate, and 
at once sent to General Webb, at Fort 
Edward, for assistance. Webb had 
four thousand troops, but with cow- 
ardly caution he refused to send any of 
liis force, and advised Monroe to sur- 
render. Still IMonroe held out bravely 
until his ammunition was exhausted 
and then accepted the honorable terms 
of capitulation offered by Montcalm, 
an important condition of which was a 
safe escort to Fort Edward. This 
Montcalm faithfully intended to fur- 
nish, but the savages in their ferocity 
and hope of plunder, fell upon the 
Americans and slaughtered a large 
number of them before they could 
reach Fort Edward. In the meantime 
Loudon did nothing beyond seeking a 
safe headquarters. This imbecility re- 
sulted by the close of 1757 in the 
French possessions extending over the 
valleys of the St. Lawrence and Missis- 
sippi until they exceeded in dimensions 
twenty times those of the English. 

England with deep anxiety viewed 
the victorious growth of French power 
in America, and decided to take more 
vigorous steps to crush it out. W^illiam 
Pitt was made Prime Minister, and 
America at once became his first care. 
He granted many concessions to the 
colonial troops, and urged upon them 
to raise volunteers, making colonial of- 
ficers of the same rank as their grade 
in the British army. This gave new 
life to the cause, and when Pitt ordered 
that the colonial expenses of the war 
should be borne by the mother country, 
fifty thousand soldiers were soon raised 
for expeditions against the French. 
Amherst and Wolfe were to march 
against Louisburg, Lord Howe and 
.Abercrombie were to advance upon 
Crown Point and Ticonderoga, and 
Forbes was to command the expedition 
against Fort DuOuesne. 

The expedition against Louisburg 
was undertaken on the 8th of June, 
1758. Amherst formed his troops in 
line under cover of the fire of his ships, 
and Wolfe led the advance. After a 
fierce bomlwrdment of fifty days, the 
fort surrendered with about 6,000 pris- 



oners, and the Englisli took possession 
of the whole of Cape Lireton and Prince 
ICdward's Island. They then disman- 
tled Louisburg, and made Halifax their 
fortress of the northeast. 

The expedition against Ticonderoga 
was then undertaken with an army of 
7.000 English and 9,000 Americans. 
They embarked on Lake George in one 
thousand boats, but through a mistake 
of the guide fell into an ambuscade, in 
which Lord Howe was killed just as 
the English reached the scene of action. 
Abercrombie unwisely ordered an at- 
tack upon the French 'before his artil- 
lery arrived, and ]\Iontcalm taking ad- 
vantage of this, repulsed the English, 
with a loss to them of nearly 2.000 
killed and wounded. This ended the at- 
tack upon Ticonderoga, and nothing 
further was done in the campaign but 
the capture of Fort Frontenac and 
some armed French vessels on Lake 
Ontario. 

The third expedition was undertaken 
against Fort DuOuesne. This would 
have proved a failure but for the intre- 
pid and able Washington. He advised 
the advance by Braddock's old route, 
but Forbes tmdertook to make a new 
road, during the slow progress of which 
three hundred of his men were am- 
bushed and slain. The news of this 
disaster decided Forbes to return and 
abandon the expedition, but Washing- 
ton, having learned from scouts of the 
weak condition of Fort DuOuesne was 
granted his urgent request to proceed 
alone with his \ irginia troops. Arriv- 
ing at the fort. Washington was grati- 
fied to find that the French, hearing of 
his approach, had hastily abandoned the 
fort and fled down the Ohio in boats, 
and on the 25th day of November, 1758, 
Washington raised the English flag 
over the deserted fort, and in honor of 
the noble Pitt, he changed the name of 
the settlement to Pittsburgh. 

Leaving the important position in 
charge of a force of his brave soldiers, 
Washington returned to Virginia, 
where with great honor he was received 
by the people, and although but twenty- 
six years of age, he was elected to the 
House of Burgesses. 



FOURTH TERIOD— FRENXII AND IXDIAxN' WAR 



Pitt, with his statesmanHke sagacity, 
planned to crush out the French. His 
diplomacy in bearing the expenses of 
the colonies in the war had not only 
secured their earnest co-operation, but 
the reverses it brought the French be- 
gan to incline the Indians to the win- 
ning side. Pitt recalled Abercrombie, 
and appointed Amherst general-in-chief 
of the army and governor of Virginia. 
New expeditions were now planned. 
Wolfe was assigned to the campaign in 
Canada, where he was to ascend the 
St. Lawrence to Quebec. Amherst was 
to capture Ticonderoga and after ad- 
A ;'.ncing upon Montreal by way of Lake 
Champlain, and capturing that city, was 
to join Wolfe at Quebec. Prideaux 
was to march upon Niagara, and after 
its capture proceed to Montreal, while 
the country between Pittsburgh and 
Lake Erie was to be taken possession of 
by General Stanwix. 

Part of these expeditions were suc- 
cessful. The French abandoned Ticon- 
deroga on the approach of Amherst, 
but the latter general instead of march- 
ing to co-operate with Wolfe, wasted 
his time in fortifying the abandoned 
positions and left Wolfe unsupported 
in the work of reducing Canada. Pri- 
dcau.x's army captured Niagara, but he 
was unfortunately killed by the burst- 
ing of a gun. 

The greatest undertaking of the war, 
however, was that of the capture of 
Quebec. It w-as a position of great 
strength, w-ith the fortress of St. Louis, 
upon a solid rock, looming up almost 
perpendicular over three hundred feet 
above the river. Llchind this stretched 
the lofty Plains of .Abraham for miles. 

The force for the attack upon Quebec 
was concentrated at Louisburg. It con- 
sisted of twenty-two ships of the line 
and as many more transports contain- 
ing 8,000 men and large quantities of 
stores. This force arrived at the Isle 
of Orleans, opposite Quebec, on the 
26th of June 1759, upon which the 
troops landed and prejiared for action. 
To oppose this force Montcalm had a 
feeble army and a fortress that was 
deemed impregnable. The camp of the 
French commander was situated be- 



tween the St. Charles and the Mont- 
morenci rivers, where it was guarded 
by a fleet of war vessels, but the Eng- 
lish naval supremacy was soon asserted, 
and after the detachment of French 
troops were driven from Point Levi, 
Wolfe erected batteries at that point 
and soon destroyed the lower town, but 
the height of the citadel and upper 
town prevented their bombardment. 
\\olfe"s next movement was to cross 
the river for the purpose of forcing 
IMontcalm to an engagement, but a divi- 
sion of the English army rashly at- 
tempted to carry the French lines by 
storm without waiting for their sup- 
port to come up. This unfortunate at- 
tack cost the English a repulse with a 
loss of over four hundred men. 

Wolfe was discouraged by this fatal 
move, as well as by the failure of Am- 
herst to form a junction with him. At 
last he resolved to. scale the Heights of 
Abraham. Deceiving the French as to 
his intentions by ordering soundings to 
be made opposite Montcalm's camp to 
indicate that tiie fleet were preparing 
for an attack upon his position, the 
troops were suddenly sent on board the 
ships, which sailed above the French 
lines as if to land. .At night the army 
dropped down in boats to Wolfe's Cove, 
from whence the ascent of the heights 
was to be begun. So successful was 
this daring undertaking that the French 
troops on the summit were driven back, 
and by daylight Wolfe's army held pos- 
session of the Plains of Abraham. 

Montcalm was astounded when the 
news was carried to him, but hastily or- 
dering all the detachments to the front, 
he hastened to give battle to the Eng- 
lish. Wolfe met the advance with great 
coolness, and when the French regu- 
lars were within forty yards he or- 
dered such a deadly discharge of mus- 
ketry, with grape and cannister from a 
few guns, that the French were driven 
back with great slaughter. Wolfe then 
decided the day by a fierce charge with 
bayonets. At that moment Wolfe fell 
mortally wounded, and in his sinking 
condition he exclaimed, "Support me ; 
let not my brave fellows see me fall." 
While being carried to the rear he heard 



i3« 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REK EKMNXE 



the sliout ; "The)- run I they run!" 
"Who runs?" he asked. "The French,'' 
was the reply. Giving his last com- 
mand the brave Wolfe then fell back 
and said, feebly, "Now, God be praised. 
I die happy," and with these last words 
he perished on the field of his triumph. 

Montcalm was also mortally wounded 
in the fiercest of the battle, and when 
informed by the surgeon that he had 
but a few hours to live, he replied : "1 
am glad to hear that I shall not live to 
see the surrender of Uuebec." 

In his last hours Montcalm urged his 
officers to concentrate their forces and 
attack the English before they could 
intrench, but the strength of the French 
was broken, and on September 17 Que- 
bec was surrendered to the English. 
Upon this historic spot a white monu- 
mental shaft stands with the name of 
Montcalm generously inscribed upon it 
by the English, side by side with that 
of their hero, Wolfe. 

The French concentrated all their 
forces at Montreal, where on Septem- 
ber 7 of the following year Amherst 
marched upon them, and the French 
surrendered not only the city, but their 
entire claim upon Canada, likewise De- 
troit and Mackinaw. 

The Cherokees and other Indians in 
the south now went on the warpath. 
After desolating the frontier for over a 
year, they were finally subdued, and a 
treaty of peace was made in June, 1761. 
At the treaty of peace, between France 
and England in February, 1763, France 



ceded to England all her claimed terri- 
tory east of the Mississippi River. New 
Orleans and the whole of Louisiana was 
ceded to Spain. And Spain ceded to the 
English East and West Florida at the 
same time. Now the English held pos- 
session, undisputed (excepting by the 
Indians) of the whole continent from 
the shores of the Gulf of Mexico to the 
Frozen Sea, and, by claimed prescriptive 
right, from ocean to ocean. 

When, after the treaty of Paris in 
1763, the tribes w'ere informed that 
France had ceded the country to Great 
Britain, without asking their leave, 
there was widespread indignation 
amongst them. A vast confederacy was 
formed for the purpose of attacking all 
of the English forts on the same day, 
west of the Alleghanies. 

At the head of this conspiracy was 
a great Ottowa chief, Pontiac, then 
about fifty years of age. Every post 
west of Oswego, excepting Niagara, 
Fort Pitt and Detroit, fell into the hands 
of the Indians. It was over a year be- 
fore the power of the Indian Confed- 
eracy was broken and chiefs of the hos- 
tile tribes sued for pardon and peace. 
The haughty Pontiac would not yield. 
At last, in 1769, this powerful Indian 
prince, who had aluKist unbounded sway 
over thousands of square miles of ter- 
ritory, was slain near Cahokia. A stroll- 
ing Indian was bribed by an English 
trader to murder him. That savage, for 
the gift of a barrel of rum, stole softly 
behind Pontiac, in the forest, and buried 
his hatchet in his brain. 



FIFTH PERIOD— THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE 



FIFTH PERIOD 



THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE 



George the Third ascended the throne 
of England in (October, 1760. He was 
born in London, in 1738. In his reign 
of fifty years was the period in English 
history most interesting to Americans. 
In 1761 he discarded the wise and sa- 
gacious William Pitt as his Prime Min- 
ister and chose for his counsellor and 
guide the Earl of Bute, with George 
Grenville as his chancellor of the ex- 
chequer. This was a mistake that led 
tu lasting disasters to the realm. The 
unwise policy advised by Bute, concern- 
ing the English-American colonies, en- 
gendered much of the ill-feeling toward 
the mother country that led to a revo- 
lutionary war and the dismemberment 
of the British Empire. 

Bute's idea concerning the .American 
colonies was that they should be brought 
into absolute subjection to the British 
Parliament by force, if necessary, and 
to do this he advised the employment 
of measures for reforming the colonial 
charters. 

.•\cting upon the advice of Bute, the 
k'ing sent secret agents to travel in the 
colonies, to collect information about 
the character and temper of the people. 
They returned to England with reports 
that led to erroneous conclusions, which 
led to trouble. Writs or warrants were 
now granted to officers of the customs 
to empower them to call upon the people 
and all officers of the government in 
America to assist them in the collection 
of the revenue, and to enter stores and 
houses of the citizens at pleasure in pur- 
suit of their vocation. The writs of as- 
sistance were first issued in Massachu- 
setts. Their legality was questioned. 
and the matter was brought iDefore the 
court in Boston in February, 1761. 
Among the defenders of the colonists 
was James Otis. He said : "A man's 
house is his castle ; and whilst he is 
quiet, he is as well guarded as a prince 



in his castle." This writ if it should be 
declared legal would totally annihilate 
that privilege. "I am determined," he 
said, "to sacrifice estate, ease, health, 
applause and even life to the sacred calls 
of my country in opposition to a kind 
of power the exercise of which cost our 
king his head and another his throne." 
The speech and event constitute the 
opening scene of resistance to British 
oppression. It stirred the people 
through all the provinces, .\bsolute in- 
dependence was not then desired ; they 
asked only for justice and equality and 
the privilege of local self-government. 
Otis was elected to a seat in the Massa- 
chusetts Assembly in the spring of 1761. 

The subject of the right to ta.x the 
Americans, they not being represented 
in Parliament, had been debated in the 
House of Commons in March, 1763, 
for the first time, when it was deter- 
mined in the affirmative by a unani- 
mous vote. When the news of that de- 
bate and vote reached Massachusetts, 
the Assembly of that colony, then in 
session, immediately resolved : That the 
sole right of giving and granting monev 
of the people of this province is vested 
in them, as the legal representatives : 
and that the imposition of taxes and 
duties by the Parliament of Great Bri- 
tain upon a ])eople who are not repre- 
sented in the House of Commons is ab- 
solutely irreconcilable with their rights. 
Taxation without representation is tyr- 
rany : and upon that principle the .\mer- 
icans thereafter rested in opposing the 
taxation schemes of the mother country. 

Charles Townshend, the first Lord of 
Trade in England, advocated the sub- 
stitution of royal authority for the col- 
onial charters and a new territorial ar- 
rangement of the provinces. He also 
proposed a stamp tax. .\t about the 
same time a bill was introduced in Par- 
liament to enforce the navigation laws 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AXD REFERENCE 



which empowered every officer and sea- 
man of the British navy to act as cus- 
tom-house officers and informers, and 
so subjecting to seizure every American 
vessel on sea or in port. 

In the spring of 1764, Grenville read 
in the House of Commons a series of 
resokitions declaring the intentions of 
the government to raise a tax in Amer- 
ica on stamped paper. The subject ex- 
cited great feelings in the colonies. In 
Massachusetts .Samuel Adams wrote the 
address of the citizens of Boston to the 
Massachusetts legislature, in which they 
denied the right of Parliament to tax 
the colonies and looked upon the power 
of union for a redress of grievances. 
The sentiments of the colonists were: 
"If we are taxed without our consent, 
if we are not represented in the body 
that taxes us and we submit we are 
slaves." The Massachusetts Assembly 
had sent a circular letter to the other 
assemblies of the colonies on the sub- 
ject of resistance to taxation. It was 
proposed that the colonies unite in an 
expression of views and present them 
to Parliament through their agents, 
that the end sought for might be ob- 
tained. So it was that petitions and re- 
monstrances against the proposed stamp 
tax were soon on their way to Eng- 
land. That from Xew York was the 
boldest of all. 

Late in October, 1764, the Pennsyl- 
vania Assembly chose Dr. Franklin, 
agent of that province in England. 
Soon after, he became a sort of national 
representative of the British colonial 
empire in America. Franklin advised 
the ministry in England that the stamp 
act was an unwise measure, and the en- 
forcement of the act would endanger 
the unity of the empire. 

On the assembling of Parliament in 
January, 1765, the king recommended 
the carrying out of Grenville's scheme 
of the stamp tax and assured them that 
he should use every endeavor to enforce 
obedience in the colonies. This act pro- 
vided that every skin or piece of vellum, 
or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper 
used for kgal purposes, such as bills, 
bonds, notes, leases, policies of insur- 
ance, marriage licenses and a great 



many other documents, in order to be 
held valid in the courts of law was to 
be stamped and sold by public officers 
appointed for the purpose, at prices 
which levied a stated tax on every such 
document. To the odiousness of the tax 
itself was added the provisions of its 
collection by arbitrary power, under de- 
crees of the British judges, without any 
trial by jury. The act was passed and 
the bill made a law on the 22d of 
March, 1765. Colonel Barrie, who had 
been with Wolfe in the campaign 
against Quebec, and who had lived in 
America, was a member of Parliament. 
He was one of the champions of the 
American cause, and in a speech he 
made in their behalf, he spoke of the 
colonists as Sons of Liberty. This 
name was soon adopted and became 
familiar on the lips of Americans. 

Everywhere in America the act was 
denounced, and people in villages and 
cities gathered in excited groups and 
boldly expressed their indignation. 
Among the foremost of those who 
boldly denounced the act was Patrick 
Henry, then about twenty-nine years of 
age. He had lately been elected a mem- 
ber of the Virginia House of Burgesses, 
who were in session at that time. When 
the news was published to that body by 
the speaker, a scene of wild excitement 
ensued. Henry wrote five resolutions, 
and submitted them to the House. The 
first declared that the original settlers 
brought with them and transmitted to 
their posterity all the rights enjoyed by 
the people of Great Britain. The sec- 
ond affirmed that these rights had been 
secured by two royal charters granted 
by King James. The third asserted that 
taxation of the people by diemselves, 
or by persons chosen by themselves, 
was the distinguishing characteristics 
of British freedom, and without which 
the ancient constitution could not exist. 
The fourth maintained that the people 
of \'irginia had always enjoyed the 
right of being governed by their own 
assembly in the article of taxes, and 
that this right had been constantly rec- 
ognized by the king and people of Great 
I'.ritain. The fifth resolution, in which 
was summed up the essentials of the 



FIFTH PERIOD— THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE 



[)rcccc'(linL; lour, dfcl.ircil "That the 
( ieiicral Assembly of this colony have 
llie sole riglit and power to levy taxes 
and impositions upon the inhabitants 
of this colony, and that every attempt 
to vest such power in any other per- 
son or persons whatsoever, other than 
the General Assembly aforesaid, has a 
tendency to destroy British as well as 
American freedom. 

After an impassioned speech by Mr. 
Henry, these resolutions were carried. 
On the next day some of those who had 
voted for the fifth resolution under ex- 
citement became alarmed and the House 
reconsidered and rejected it. In the 
month of June the Mrginia resolves 
and the ^Massachusetts circular reached 
all the colonies, and everywhere they 
met a hearty response. 

The Stamp Act was to go into effect 
on the first of November, 1765 Inger- 
soll arrived at Boston at the beginning 
of August, bearing commissions for 
stamp distributors, and on the eighth 
of that month their names were pub- 
H'hed. They immediately became ob- 
jects of public resentment and scorn, 
and there was a general determination 
not to allow them to exercise the func- 
tions of their office. In Boston the peo- 
[)le tore down a building which Andrew 
( )liver was erecting for a stamp officer, 
and made a bonfire of it. Believing his 
life in danger, Oliver resigned his office 
and the town was quieted. Governor 
Bernard, after ordering a proclamation 
for the discovery and arrest of the riot- 
ers, fled to a castle on an island in Bos- 
ton harbor. In Providence, Rhode Isl- 
and, after destroying the house and 
furniture of an obnoxious citizen, a 
mob compelled the stamp officer to re- 
sign. At New Haven, in Connecticut, 
Ingersoll, who had been the agent for 
the colony in England, was denounced 
as a traitor ; and the fact that the initials 
of his name were the same as were 
those of Judas Iscariot was publicly 
pointed out, and he was compelled to 
promise that he would not sell stamps 
or stamped paper. In New York and 
New Jersev the stamp officers, fearing 
violence, resigned. At Annapolis, in 
Maryland, the excited populace pulled 



(iiiwn a house that the stamp officer was 
building, and the governor dared not 
interfere. General alarm prevailed 
among officers of the crown. They saw 
that the Americans were thoroughly 
aroused and very strong. In other 
colonies, not here named, there was 
eciual firmness, but less violence, in pre- 
\enting the sale of stamps, and when 
the first of November arrived, the law, 
S(i far as its enforcement was con- 
cerned, was a nullity. A convention, 
called the "Stamp Act Congress" as- 
sembled at New York on the seventh of 
( )ctober. All the colonies were repre- 
sented or gave their assent to its pro- 
ceedings, which embodied the principles 
that governed the men of the Revolu- 
tion that broke out ten years after. 

The .\mericans held in their hands 
a power which might compel the British 
F'arliament to repeal the obnoxious act. 
The merchants and people agreed to 
handle nothing of British manufacture. 
One source of British prosperity was 
thus dried up. When firm but respect- 
ful appeals went to the ears of the 
British ministry from .America, the 
merchants and manufacturers of Eng- 
land seconded them, and their potential 
voices were heeded. 

In the summer of 1765, Grenville 
was succeeded by the Marquis of Rock- 
ingham, a friend of the Americans, as 
Premier of Great Britain in the new 
cabinet. Meanwhile public sentiment 
had been deeply stirred in England by 
events in America. When Parliament 
assembled in January ,_^ 1766, the min- 
istry was fully alive "to the necessity 
of prompt and vigorous action. Pitt, 
who was in his place in the House, in 
a remarkable speech proposed an abso- 
lute, total and immediate repeal of the 
Stamp Act, at the same time declar- 
ing the absolute sovereignty of Great 
Britain over the colonies. It was 
warmly seconded by Edmund Burke, 
then thirty-six years of age, and who 
was sitting in Parliament for the first 
time, in two remarkable speeches in 
favor of repeal. The repeal became a 
law on March i8th, it receiving the re- 
luctantly given signature of the king. 
The repeal jiroduced great joy in both 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



England and America. In London the 
event was celebrated by bonfires and 
illuminations. Equal joy was mani- 
fested in America. In Boston, New 
York, Philadelphia, Charleston and 
other places Pitt and the king and Par- 
liament were praised and honored. 
In New York the Sons of Liberty, 
under sanction of the governor, erected 
a tall mast in the fields in front of 
Warren street, which they called a Lib- 
erty Pole. Statues were erected to the 
king and William Pitt in New York 
and other places in the provinces. If 
the British ministry had been wise, 
they might have easily conciliated the 
Americans and ushered in an era of 
peace and prosperity on both sides of 
the Atlantic. But they were not wise. 
Christopher Gadsden, of South Caro- 
lina, and other sagacious observers, per- 
ceived that the repeal bill was only a 
truce in the war upon the liberty of the 
Americans. The liberal press of Eng- 
land denounced the act, and Pitt's plea 
of expediency could not save him from 
severe censure by the Americans when 
they gravely considered the matter. 

In the summer of 1766, the popular 
Rockingham ministry was dissolved, 
and Pitt was made Premier. He ac- 
cepted a peerage from the king. After 
this, and during this administration of 
two years and four months, some of the 
most obnoxious acts of Parliament con- 
cerning Americans became laws. 

Troops were sent to New York with 
power, under the law, to break into 
houses in search of deserters. The 
royal governors demanded of the As- 
semblies appropriations for the support 
of the troops. The troops were ob- 
jects of intense dislike to the people, 
and when they cut down the Liberty 
Pole in New York, fearful retaliation 
would have followed this act had not 
the governor ordered the troops to re- 
frain from further aggressive acts. 
This was in the spring of 1767. 

In June, 1767, a bill proposed by 
Townshend, for levying duties on tea, 
glass, paper, painters' colors and other 
articles imported by the colonists, was 
adopted by Parliament. Also bills were 
passed for creating resider^t custom 



officers to enforce the revenue laws 
and forljidding the Assembly of New 
York to perform any legislative act 
whatever, until they should support the 
troops. The y\ssembly of New York 
disregarded the disabling act, and the 
colonial assemblies of the other colonies 
protested against the revenue laws. 
They were regarded as direct blows 
against the liberties of the Americans, 
and excited almost as violent opposition 
as did the Stamp Act. 

The pro-spect of disruption delighted 
the French m.inistry. The French had 
been shorn of a vast domain in Amer- 
ica, the pride of that nation had been 
humbled by England, and there was 
a determination to strike a deadly re- 
taliatory blow when opportunity should 
offer. Baron De Kalb, a colonel in the 
French Army, and afterward a general 
in the American Army of the Revolu- 
tion, was sent as an emissary to as- 
certain the strength of their purpose to 
withdraw from Great Britain by the 
Americans. To find out the character 
of their leaders, civil and military, and 
their resources. The Baron's report to 
Choiseul, the French minister, did not 
warrant the hope for an immediate rup- 
ture. From that time it was the cher- 
ished policy of the French government 
to foster the quarrel and to give aid to 
the Americans whenever they should 
strike a blow for freedom. 

The colonists were preparing to re- 
sist the taxation schemes, and the com- 
mon danger had thoroughly united 
them. The colonial newspapers were 
champions of the people, and in them 
the principles of liberty and the rights 
of the colonists were ably discussed. 
The "Letters of a Farmer of Pennsyl- 
vania to the Inhabitants of the Brit- 
ish Colonies," written by John Dick- 
inson, in the fall of 1767, and published 
in a Philadelphia newspaper, portray- 
ing the fatal consequences to liberty in 
America of a supine acquiescence to 
ministerial measures, had an immediate 
and subsequent effect that was wonder- 
ful. Non-importation associations were 
reorganized, and that powerful machin- 
ery almost destroyed the commerce 
with England. Dr. Franklin caused 



FIFTH PERIOD— THIC WAR I'OR IXDEPEXDENCE 



tlie letters to be republished in Eng- 
land, with a preface written by him- 
self, in 1768. They were also trans- 
lated into French and published in 
Paris. 

Early in 1768, Massachusetts was 
looked upon by the British ministry 
as the focus of sedition, and conse- 
(|uently became the object of their sus- 
jMcion and wrath. At the opening of 
the Assembly of that province, resolu- 
tions were passed opposing a standing 
army in America, objecting to the es- 
tablishing of commissioners of cus- 
toms, e.xpressing alarm because of the 
attempt to annihilate the legislative au- 
thority of New York, and declared the 
intention of Massachusetts to defend 
its rights. From the pen of Samuel 
Adams letters were sent to distin- 
guished men in England, and a petition 
to the King, in which the principles of 
the sacred right of being taxed by only 
representatives of their own free elec- 
tion was laid down. A letter, also 
written by Samuel Adams, was sent 
to the other colonial assemblies, invit- 
ing them to join Massachusetts in 
"maintaining the liberties of America." 
Responses now came to Boston from 
the other assemblies, expressing cor- 
dial approbation of its sentiments. The 
British ministry instructed the royal 
governors to dissolve any assembly that 
gave "any countenance to the seditious 
papers," but this only increased the 
zeal in the assemblies in the cause in 
which Massachusetts was leading. Ord- 
ers were issued to General Gage at 
New York to hold a regiment in readi- 
ness to go to Boston. The admiralty 
was also directed to send a frigate and 
four smaller vessels of war to Boston 
harbor, and directions were given to re- 
pair Castle William. This measure 
was regarded by Americans as a vir- 
tual declaration of war. 

New England men were impressed 
into the British naval service, and in 
Tune the sloop Liberty, belonging to 
John Hancock, was seized for evad- 
ing the obnoxious revenue laws. 
These acts created the wildest excite- 
ment in Boston and vicinity. .\ great 
meeting of the people was held in Fan- 



euil Hall on the thirteenth of June, 
1768, at which the people plainly told 
the crown that its oppressions must 
cease. So was consecrated Faneuil 
Hall as The Cradle of Liberty. 

A royal order was sent by Lord 
Hillsborough, Secretary of State for 
the colonies, late in April, 1768, requir- 
ing the American Assemblies to treat 
the Circular Letter of the Massachu- 
setts Legislature with contempt. It 
threatened them with dissolution in case 
they refused compliance That order 
was properly regarded as a direct at- 
tempt to abridge or control free dis- 
cussion in the colonies, and was more 
potential in creating a permanent union 
in the colonies than anv event in their 
past history. Franklin, in England, 
writing to his son concerning a prof- 
fered colonial office, said : 'T apprehend 
a breach between the two countries." 
The Colonial Assemblies everywhere 
took decided action and exhibited re- 
markable unanimity of sentiment. In 
the face of the warnings of the royal 
governor, that their action tended to in- 
dependence and would bring ruin to 
America, they approved the Massachu- 
setts Circular and rejected the royal 
order. Their dissolution followed. At 
the beginning of 1769 there was a per- 
fect union of the thirteen colonies. 

When the news of these events in 
Massachusetts reached England, in the 
summer of 1768, Parliament denounced 
the proceedings and proposed to trans- 
I)ort Otis, Hancock, the Adamses and 
other leaders to England for trial and 
punishment. During this time Gov- 
ernor Bernard, of Massachusetts, was 
the chief source of information to the 
English ministry. While he pretended 
to be a friend of the colonists, he, at 
the same time was greatly exaggerating 
exery movement there to the ministry 
in England. By this means he hoped 
to keep the people quiet until he could 
induce the ministry to send troops and 
warships to Boston to overav^-e the peo- 
ple and make his own seat more se- 
cure. This duplicity was known to the 
citizens of Boston. Satisfied that the 
troops would come sooner or later, 
nearlv all the merchants of Boston, in 



THE HO.ME AUXILIARY AND REFEREX'CE 



August, 1768, .subscribed to a uon-im- 
portation league, to go into operation 
on the January following. By this 
powerful influence on the British mer- 
chants, they hoped to restrain the hand 
of the government 

The people were now thoroughly 
alive to a sense of their dangers and 
duties. The other colonies were watch- 
ing Massachusetts. When the Mrginia 
Assembly was dissolved, it reorganized 
in a private house and then adopted a 
non-importation agreement presented 
by George Washington. 

While the people of ^lassachusetts 
were preparing to fight for their lib- 
erties, if necessary, those in North Car- 
olina, far away from the seaboard, 
vvere in open insurrection because of 
the cruelty of oppressors. Governor 
Tryon, who was sent to rule North 
Carolina in 1765, attempted to suppress 
free speech on the great question of the 
stamp tax. He found he had an ob- 
stinate people to deal with. He tried 
to compel the people to take the stamps, 
but they compelled the stamp officer to 
publicly resign his commission. The 
governor, now alarmed, tried to con- 
ciliate the militia, but was not success- 
ful. The rapacity of the public offi- 
cers in the province, from the governor 
down, drove the people to the \'erge of 
rebellion. They resolved to form a 
league for mutual protection and to 
take all the power in certain inland 
counties into their own hands. At an 
assembly held on the banks of the Eno, 
not far from Hillsborough, it was re- 
solved that the people in the more in- 
land counties should regulate public 
affairs there, and they almost declared 
themselves independent of all external 
authority. From that time they were 
called Regulators, and were a promi- 
nent and powerful body. ' For several 
years the Regulators resisted oppres- 
sion with all their might. Anarchy pre- 
vailed in the discontented regions, and 
sheriffs dared not e.xercise their official 
functions. Judges were driven from the 
bench and general lawlessness was 
observed. Governor Tryon, with some 
militia in April, 1771, in a conflict with 
these regulators, defeated them, and 



compelled the people in all that region 
— conscientious people — to take an oath 
of allegiance, which restrained their 
patriotic action when the war of the 
Revolution was earnestly begun. This 
was the first battle in the ivar for inde- 
pendence. It was a sort of civil war, 
for it was fought on the soil of North 
Carolina, between citizens of North 
Carolina. The movement of the Regu- 
lators was a powerful beginning of that 
system of resistance which marked the 
])eople of North Carolina in the im- 
pending struggle. 

Governor Bernard had assured the 
Massachusetts Convention of his dis- 
pleasure and his intention to enforce 
the laws. On the first of October, 1768, 
eight vessels of war, bearing two regi- 
ments of British soldiers, commanded 
by Colonels Dalrymple and Carr, ap- 
peared off Boston harbor. They were 
landed in the built-up portion of the 
city. Natural hatred of the troops by 
the people, deep and abiding, was soon 
engendered, and the terms rebel and 
tvrant were frequently bandied between 
them. Lord North now commenced 
the leadership of the ministry in Eng- 
land, which continued until nearly the 
close of our struggle for independ- 
ence About this time Bernard was re- 
called, and the province was left in the 
care of Lieutenant-Governor Thomas 
Hutchinson. 

The merchants of New York, Phila- 
delphia, Annapolis and other places 
had now renewed their non-importation 
leagues with vigor. The distress 
created by these leagues to British 
commerce and manufactures caused the 
English merchants to urge on Parlia- 
ment the repeal of the taxes on the 
.American colonies. Lord North, who 
was the echo of the monarch, insisted 
that one tax must always be laid to 
keep up that right. A circular letter 
was then sent to all the colonies, in 
which a promise was given that no 
more taxes should be laid upon them 
and all duties repealed except that upon 
tea. It was believed that this conces- 
sion would satisfy the .Americans, for- 
getting that a principle broader and 
deeper and more vital than any statute 



FIFTH PFRIOD— THE WAR FOR INDEPFXDENCE 



law was at the bottom of the discon- 
tent in the colonies. This circular had 
not the least effect on the colonies, ex- 
cept to stimulate them to more deter- 
mined resistance. For so long as the 
(lut)- on tea was retained, the principle 
involved remained the same. 

The troops in Boston were a constant 
source of irritation to the citizens, who 
wanted them removed outside the city. 
Early in January, 1770, there had been 
serious trouble between the citizens and 
soldiers in New York, and intense ex- 
citement prevailed there. On the sec- 
iind of March, in Boston, a soldier and 
a workman in a rope vi'alk had an al- 
tercation, in which the soldier was se- 
\erely beaten. I'^ull of wrath, he 
hastened to the barracks and soon re- 
turned with several companions, when 
they beat the rope makers and chased 
them through the streets. The citizens 
naturally espoused the cause of the 
rope makers, and many of them as- 
sembled in the afternoon with a deter- 
mination to avenge the wrongs of the 
workman. The disturbance was settled 
for a time by the authorities, but ven- 
geance only slumbered. On the evening 
of the fifth of March, a large lumiber 
of citizens and soldiers, armed with 
clubs, etc., became involved in an alter- 
cation, which culminated in the soldiers 
obtaining their arms and firing on the 
citizens. Three of the populace were 
killed, five were severely wounded, and 
three were slightly hurt. Colonel Dal- 
rymple, with the lieutenant-governor, 
were soon on the spot and promised the 
orderly citizens who had taken the place 
of the dispersed mob that justice should 
be vindicated in the morning. Such is 
the sad story of the famous "Boston 
Massacre," gleaned from conflicting 
evidence of witnesses at the time. 

The event produced a profound im- 
pression everywhere. The cause of 
Boston became the cause of the con- 
tinent. The story, embellished in its 
course from lip to lip. became a tale of 
horrors, that stirred the blood of patri- 
ots everywhere. Tt was a crisis in the 
history of the colonies. Some were 
disposed to consider the events on that 
night as forming the principal cause 



of the Revolution, which soon after- 
ward broke out. Soon after the mas- 
sacre it was deemed expedient to re- 
move the troops to quiet the e.xcited 
feelings of the people. 

On the twelfth of April, Lord North 
succeeded in obtaining from Parlia- 
ment a repeal of all duties, except a 
three per cent, tax on tea. Had the 
news of the troubles in Boston reached 
J'arliament at this time, there is no 
doubt that duty would not ha\c been 
retained 

During the next two }'ears after the 
Boston Massacre, the colonists were not 
disturbed by any obno.xious legislation 
by Parliament. At that period a spirit 
of adventure caused many persons to 
climb o\-er the mountains west of the 
British-American colonies to explore 
the valleys of the Ohio, Cumberland 
and Tennessee Rivers, and to penetrate 
the dark forests in the more southern 
portions of the ]\Iississippi X'alley. 
Washington then made himself thor- 
oughly acquainted with the region of 
West Virginia, on the borders of the 
Ohio River. Daniel Boone and com- 
panions from the Clinch and Holston 
Rivers were traversing the wilds of 
Kentucky and preparing the way for 
settlements there ; and James Robert- 
son and others were exploring the bord- 
ers of the sinuous Cumberland and 
planting a permanent settlement on the 
blufTs of Nashville. So these pioneers 
v.ere revolutionizing that vast and rich 
country into which an industrious popu- 
lation soon flowed and made perma- 
nent habitations. 

In 1772, Parliament, by a special act 
for strengthening the powers of the 
royal governors in .\merica, excited the 
indignation of the colonists. It pro- 
vided for the payment of the salaries 
of the governors and judges indepen- 
dent of the colonial assemblies. They 
knew the significance of the act and 
denounced it as a violation of their 
charters. At a town-meeting in Bos- 
ton, a large committee was appointed, 
which drew up and published a state- 
ment of all the rights and grievances 
of the colonies. It was the boldest and 
most complete the colonies had yet put 



146 



THE HOME AUXILLARY AND REFERENCE 



forth. Dr. Franklin, who had been 
appointed agent for Massachusetts in 
England, published it there, with a 
preface written by himself. It pro- 
duced a deep impression on both sides 
of the Atlantic. 

In the summer of 1772 an occur- 
rence in Xarraganset Bay made a great 
stir in the colonies and Great Britain. 
The commissioners of customs, at Bos- 
ton, sent the Gasper, a British armed 
schooner, into the bay to enforce the 
revenue laws and prevent illicit traffic. 
Lieut. Duddingston, the commander, 
played the petty tyrant and obstructed 
legitimate commerce. A message was 
sent by Governor Wanton to him. ask- 
ing him to produce his commission 
without delay. He refused to comply. 
This demand was repeated in a second 
letter without result. Admiral ]\Ion- 
tagu, at Boston, to whom these letters 
had been sent by the lieutenant, wrote 
a letter to the governor, saying: "The 
lieutenant. Sir, has done his duty. I 
shall give the King's officers directions 
that they send every man molesting 
them to me. As sure as the people of 
Newport attempt to rescue any vessel, 
and any of them are taken, I will hang 
them as pirates." 

Duddingston now became more in- 
solent and annoying. (Jn the ninth of 
June, 1772, the Gasper, in pursuit of a 
vessel that had refused to salute her, 
was misled and hopelessly stranded. 
That night armed men in boats attacked 
the schooner, wounded the lieutenant, 
carried off the crew, and the vessel was 
set on fire, and at early dawn she was 
blown up by her ignited magazine. This 
high-handed outrage was condemned 
by the local authorities in public. The 
perpetrators of this outrage were not 
known until after the war with Great 
Britain had actually begun, although 
the governor and the British govern- 
ment offered large rewards to discover 
their names. 

At the beginning of 1773, the East 
India Company found itself greatly em- 
barrassed b)' the American non-impor- 
tation agreements concerning tea. On 
appealing to the ministry, leave was 
granted to the company to send tea to 



America on their own account, without 
paying an export duty, and so enable 
the colonists to buy it cheaper from 
England than from any other market. 
The company received the proper li- 
cense in August, and although warned 
by Franklin and others that the Amer- 
icans would not accept the new ar- 
rangement, ships were filled with car- 
goes of tea for American ports. Agents 
were appointed at all the seaports to 
receive it. and relief for the embar- 
rassed company seemed to be nigh. 

The colonists accepted the issue. 
They met the commercial question with 
one of deeper significance than that of 
the dearness or cheapness of a com- 
modity. Is there a duty for revenue 
imposed on tea ? was the true question. 
It was answered in the affirmative, and 
it was resolved that tea, whatever its 
price, should not be landed in America 
until that duty was taken off. 

Meetings of the colonists were held 
in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, 
Charleston and other places, in which 
it was resolved not to receive any of the 
cargoes. The captain of a ship which 
had arrived at New York, perceiving 
how strong were the sentiments of the 
people, returned to England with his 
\essel. The same occurrence happened 
at Philadelphia. At Boston, yet the 
focus of resistence to British oppres- 
sion, the greatest demonstrations con- 
cerning tea ships occurred. It was re- 
solved to resist the landing of any car- 
goes of tea at all hazards. A commit- 
tee called upon the consigners with a 
request that they should resign. Their 
answer was : "It is out of our power to 
comply with the request of the town.'' 

On Monday morning, the twenty- 
ninth of November, 1773, a great meet- 
ing was held at Faneuil Hall, at which 
it was resolved, by unanimous vote, to 
prevent the landing of a cargo of tea 
that had arrived the day before in a ves- 
sel anchored off the fort in the har- 
bor. It was also resolved that no duty 
be paid, and that the captain be in- 
structed to return with his ship and 
cargo to London. 

The governor would not allow this, 
and ordered two armed ships to be 



FIFTH PERIOD— THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE 



1-17 



lilaced at the entrance of lioston har- 
bor, to [irevent the egress of vessels, 
and he directed the commander of the 
fort not to allow any vessel to pass out 
from the range of his great guns with- 
out a permit signed by himself. 

In the meantime the vessel had been 
brought into the harbor and anchored 
at Griffin's wharf. At a great meet- 
ing, held on the sixteenth of Decem- 
ber, 1773, of over seven thousand peo- 
ple, Mr. Rotch, the captain of the ves- 
sel, was sent to the governor to ask 
him for a permit to depart. On his 
return, several hours afterward, he re- 
ported that the governor peremptorily 
refused him permission to send his ves- 
sel to sea before the tea should be 
landed. A murmur ran through the 
\ast assemblage, but the rising excite- 
ment was hushed into silence when 
Samuel Adams arose, and in a clear 
voice said : "This meeting can do no 
more to save the country." At that 
moment a person with painted face and 
dressed like an Indian gave a war- 
whoop, another voice shouted: "Boston 
harbor a teapot to-night ! Hurrah for 
Griffin's wharf !" The meeting in- 
stantly adjourned, and the people 
rushed for the street, and pushed 
toward Griffin's wharf, followed by a 
number of men disguised as Indians. 
The jioinilace cheered. Guards were 
[)Osted to keep order. Among them was 
John Hancock. The disguised men and 
others went on board the teaships 
moored at Griffin's wharf, and in the 
course of three hours they emptied three 
hundred and forty-two chests of tea 
into the water of the harbor. The op- 
eration was performed in the presence 
of a multitude, who were silent spec- 
tators of the scene. It was done at an 
early hour in the evening — a bright, 
cold', moon-lit evening — and of sixty 
men who went on board the teaships, 
only a part of them were disguised as 
"Mohawks." It was not a mob that de- 
stroyed the tea, but sober citizens. It 
was the work of patriotic men, encour- 
aged by patriotic citizens, who were de- 
termined not to be trifled with any 
longer. Of the immediate actors on 
board the teaships on that eventful 



night, the names of fifty-nine are 
known. The last survivor of the band 
was David Kinnison. who died in Chi- 
cago in 1 85 1, at the age of one hun- 
dred and fifteen years. The audacity 
and firmness of the Bostonians was ap- 
plauded throughout the colonies. Even 
in Canada and the West Indies then- 
were but feeble voices of censure. 

When the news of the "Boston Tea 
Party" reached England in January, 
1774, the Parliament assured the King 
that he should be sustained in efiforts to 
maintain order in America. Lord 
North succeeded, in March, in having 
the famous "Boston Port Bill" passetl 
by an almost unanimous vote. It pro- 
\ided for the removal of the custom- 
house, courts of justice and government 
offices of all kinds from Boston to 
Salem, and forbade every kind of shi])- 
ping business in the harbor of Boston. 
This was followed by another bill, in 
which the crown appointed the go\- 
ernor's council and the judges of the 
supreme court ; for the selection of 
jurors by the sheriff, the nomination of 
all other executive, military and judicial 
officers by the governor without con- 
sulting his council, and for prohibiting 
town-meetings, except for elections. A 
third bill provided for trial in England 
of all persons charged in the colonies 
with murders committed in support of 
the government. A fourth bill provided 
for the quartering of troops in America. 

In order to secure the loyalty of the 
French in Canada, who were nearly all 
Roman Catholics, a bill was passed 
granting to them the "free exercise of 
the religion of the Church of Rome, and 
confirmed to the clergy of that church 
their accustomed dues and rights.'' 
This act was inconsistent, as the Ro- 
man Catholic religion had no legal exist- 
ence in Ireland. The Quebec Act, so 
called, was passed, so that the English 
government could more easily send in- 
struments to enslave the English-Amer- 
ican colonies from the River St. I-aw- 
rence. 

Dr. Franklin, who was agent for the 
colonies in England, about this time in- 
curred the displeasure of the ministry. 
The government in England was deter- 



148 



THE HOME AUXTLTARY AND REEERENCE 



mined tu fill tlie postofficcs in America 
with friends of the crown, so as to 
watch and obslrnct the communications 
between the political leaders in the sev- 
eral colonies. They seized on this ex- 
cuse and dismissed him from the office 
of deputy postmaster-general. Dr. 
Franklin wrote of this to his friends in 
the colonies, in which he states: "It may 
be worth your consideration, especially 
as the postoffice act of Parliament al- 
lows the postmaster to open letters, if 
warranted to do so by the order of a 
secretary of state, and every provincial 
secretary may be deemed a secretary of 
state in his own province." How safe 
the correspondence of your Assembly 
committees along the continent will be 
through the hands of crown officers ? 

Governor Hutchinson, of Massa- 
chusetts, was recalled in May, 1774. 
He had many political, as well as per- 
sonal friends in Massachusetts, for it 
must be remembered that the patriotic 
zeal which animated the Sons of Lib- 
erty was not universally felt, even in 
Boston. When he was about to depart 
for England, more than a hundred mer- 
chants in Boston, and a number of law- 
yers, magistrates and men of property 
there and in the neighborhood signed an 
address to him, in which they expressed 
an entire approbation of his public 
acts and affectionate wishes for his 
personal happiness. These people be- 
came objects of intense dislike. Many 
of them were compelled to leave the col- 
ony, and became the first of the host 
of "Loyal Refugees" who peopled 
British provinces after the war that en- 
sued. 

It was the tenth of May when the 
"Port Bill''' reached Boston. It was al- 
ready in the hands of the Sons of Lib- 
erty in Xew York. They held a meet- 
ing and resolved that the only safeguard 
for the freedom of the colonies was in 
a General Congress of deputies. They 
also resolved to stand by Boston in its 
hour of distress. The suggestion was 
echoed back with approval from every 
colony. So originated the famous First 
Continental Congress in 1774. 

General Gage arrived in Boston on 
the seventeenth of Mav. On the first 



of June the ])nrt was closed and the law- 
was vigt)ronsly enforced. Xot a vessel 
of any kind was allowed to be used in 
the harbor. Business of every kind was 
immediately paralyzed. A cordon of 
\essels-of-war enclosed the town, and 
several regiments, that soon arrived, 
made Boston an immense garrison. 
Tliere was soon produced widespread 
suffering, and the sympathy of the 
people everywhere was warmly excited. 
\ ery soon money, grain, flour and live 
stock were on their way toward Boston, 
accompanied by letters of condolence. 

The Carolinas and Georgia sent rice, 
and the more northerly colonies sent 
grain, sheep and beeves, with money. 
The City of London, in its corporate ca- 
pacity, sent three-quarters of a million 
dollars for the relief of the poor of 
Boston. The people of Marblehead and 
Salem offered the free use of their 
wharves and stores to the Boston mer- 
chants, for they scorned to profit by the 
misfortunes of their neighbors. 

W^hen the Massachusetts Assembly 
met on the seventh of June, there was 
a very full attendance. A large ma- 
jority of the members were republicans. 
Governor Gage commanded the Assem- 
bly to dissolve, but before doing so, 
they adopted a "Solemn League and 
Covenant" concerning non-importa- 
tions, and agreeing with Xew York in 
the proposition for a General Congress, 
they appointed James Bowdoin, Samuel 
Adams, John Adams, Thomas Gushing 
and Robert Treat Paine to represent 
Massachusetts in the proposed (ieneral 
Congress. They named Philadelphia as 
the place, and the beginning of Septem- 
ber next ensuing as the time ; and in a 
circular which they sent to the other 
colonies, the time and place were 
mentioned. So ended the last Assembly 
of Massachusetts under a royal gov- 
ernor. 

On the same day an immense town- 
meeting, presided over by John Adams, 
was held in Faneuil Hall. The inhabi- 
tants, by vote, refused to make any pro- 
\isions for paying the East India Com- 
pany for its tea destroyed. They rati- 
fied the acts of the Assembly and as- 
sumed an absolutely defiant attitude. 



FIFTH PERIOD— THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE 



The iiriipdsiliiin fur a ( ieniTal t'un- 
yress, to be held in Sepleniber, in Phila- 
delphia, received universal assent, and 
before the close of the summer of 1774, 
twelve of the thirteen British-American 
colonies had chosen delegates to attend 
it. Only Georgia remained silent. 

During the summer and autumn of 
1774 the people, everywhere, were pre- 
paring for impending war. They armed 
themselves and practiced military tactics 
every day. Men of all stations in life 
might be found in the ranks for disci- 
pline. At the close of the Congress at 
Philadelphia, late in the autumn, the 
l^rovincial Congress of Massachusetts 
voted to enroll twelve thousand of these 
patriots under the general title of Min- 
ute Men — volunteers who would be 
ready at a minute's warning to take the 
field with arms in their hands. .All 
.\ew England did likewise, and the ex- 
ample was contagious. Other colonies 
followed, and in \'irginia the Minute 
Men were of special service to the 
patriot cause at a critical juncture. 

Gage, in August, proceeded to form a 
council, under the act of Parliament. 
The popular indignation was so great 
that twenty of them resigned and the 
remainder sought protection under the 
troops in Boston. Gage now moved his 
seat of government to Boston and pre- 
pared to cast up fortifications across 
the "Neck." At about the same time, 
he sent out troops to seize gunpowder 
belonging to the province at Charles- 
town and Cambridge. This was fol- 
lowed, a few days afterward, by a 
rumor that went over the land, even to 
the Connecticut River and beyond, that 
war had begun in Boston ; that the Brit- 
ish ships were bombarding the town, 
and that the British troops were mur- 
dering the patriotic inhabitants. The 
3\linute Men everywhere seized their 
arms and marched in squads to Boston. 
' This host of fully thirty thousand men, 
intent upon the salvation of their breth- 
ern, and the destruction of the enemy, 
were not halted until they were satis- 
fied that the story was untrue. 

On the sixth of September, 1774, a 
convention of delegates representing the 
towns in the countv to which Boston 



belonged, in a rcsi>lnli(in I'ranklv told 
Gage that they would not submit to any 
oi the late acts of Parliament concern- 
ing the Americans. They resolved that 
they would not commence war, but act 
on the defensive only, so long as just 
reason required. Gage denounced the 
convention as treasonable, and he de- 
clared that he would adopt such meas- 
ures as he pleased to protect his troops. 
On the fifth of September, 1774, 
delegates from twelve British- American 
]jiovinces met in Carpenters' Hall, in 
Philadelphia, and were organized into 
what they called themselves, a Conti- 
nental Congress, having for their ob- 
ject the consideration of the political 
slate of the colonies, also the devising 
of measures for obtaining relief from 
oppression and to unite in etiforts to se- 
cure forever for themselves and their 
posterity the free enjoyment of natural 
and chartered rights and liberties, in a 
perfect union with Great Britain. \'ery 
few of them had aspirations yet for pol- 
itical independence. There were pres- 
ent forty-four delegates. These were 
John Sullivan and Kathaniel Folsom, 
from Nciv Hampshire; Thomas Gush- 
ing. Samuel Adams, John Adams and 
Robert Treat Paine, from Massachu- 
setts: Stephen Hopkins and Samuel 
Ward, from Rhode Island: Eliphalet 
Dyer, Roger Sherman and Silas Deane, 
from Connecticut; James Duane, John 
Jay, Philip Livingston, Isaac Low and 
William Floyd, from Nezv York ; James 
Kinsey, William Livingston, John Hart, 
Stephen Crane and Richard Smith, 
from New Jersey; Joseph Galloway, 
Samuel Rhodes, Thomas Mififlin, 
Charles Humphreys, John Morton and 
Edward Biddle, from Pennsylvania: 
Caesar Rodney, Thomas McKean and 
George Read, from Delazvare; Robert 
Goldsborough. William Paca and Sam- 
uel Chase, from Maryland; Peyton 
Randolph, George Washington, Patrick 
Henry, Richard Bland, Benjamin Har- 
rison and Edmund Pendleton, from 
Virginia, and Henry Middleton, John 
Rutledge, Christopher Gadsden, 
Thomas Lynch and Edward Rutledge, 
from South Carolina. Others came 
soon afterward: John .\lsop 



ISO 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



1111(1 Henry Wisner, from Xcn' York; 
George Ross and John Dickinson, 
from Pcnnsyh'ania; Thomas John- 
son and Matthew Tighhnan, from 
Maryland; Richard Henry Lee, from 
Virginia; WilHam Hooper, Joseph 
Hewes and Richard Caswell, from 
North Carolina — making the whole 
number fifty- four. Peyton Randolph, 
of \'irginia, was chosen president, and 
Charles Thomson, a native of Ireland, 
who, in early life, had emigrated to Del- 
aware, and then a citizen of Philadel- 
phia, was chosen secretary. 

Patrick Henry, of Virginia, opened 
the Congress in an eloquent speech, in 
which he said: "British oppression has 
effaced the boundaries of the several 
colonies. / am not a Virginian, but an 
American. This was the test of every 
l^atriotic discourse thereafter. On the 
eighth of October it was passed : 
"That this Congress approve the oppo- 
sition of the inhabitants of Massachu- 
setts Bay to the execution of the late 
acts of Parliament; and if the same 
shall be attempted to be carried into 
execution by force, in such case all 
America ought to support them in their 
opposition. From that hour the crys- 
tallization of the British-American col- 
onies into an independent nation went 
rapidly on. 

After addressing letters, written by 
John Jay, to the people of Great Bri- 
tain, and making a petition to the King, 
drawn by John Dickinson, in which the 
final decision of the colonies was given 
in conciliatory terms, and an elaborate 
Address to the Inhabitants of the Prov- 
ince of Quebec, also written by ]\Ir. 
Dickinson, were agreed to, the First 
Continental Congress ended. This was 
on the twenty-sixth of October, 1774. 
A few days before, the Congress had 
recommended the holding of another at 
Philadelphia on the tenth of May fol- 
lowing, if the grievances were not re- 
dressed in the meantime. In January, 
1775, the British King and his coun- 
sellors, instructed the royal governors 
to prevent the meeting of the delegates 
in the following May. 

At Annapolis, in Maryland, long 
after the excitement occasioned bv the 



destruction of tea in Boston harbor had 
subsided, a ship sailed into that port on 
the 15th of October from London, 
owned by Anthony Stewart of An- 
napolis. Among her cargo was seven- 
teen packages of tea. The people at a 
mass meeting resolved that the tea 
should not be landed, and that the ship 
and cargo should be burned. Charles 
Carroll, of Carrollton, advised Mr. 
Stewart for the security of his own per- 
sonal safety, and that of the town, to 
burn his vessel with his own hands be- 
fore the next gathering of the people. 
Stewart consented to do so. He 
caused the ship to be run aground and 
set on fire in the presence of a multi- 
tude of people. This was the last at- 
tempt to import tea during the colonial 
rule. 

Gage had summoned the Assembly of 
Massachusetts to meet on the 5th of 
October, but the aspect of the delegates 
was so seditious that he countermanded 
his order. The members denied his 
right to countermand and organized 
themselves into a Provincial Congress, 
with John Hancock as President and 
Benjamin Lincoln, Secretary. They 
called out the militia of the province 
and appropriated sixty thousand dol- 
lars to procure ammunition and mili- 
tary stores.. At the same time ex- 
pressed their loyalty to the King, and 
protested against the fortifications 
around Boston. Gage denounced the 
Convention as an illegal body, and 
warned them to desist from further 
action. That Provincial Congress as- 
sumed legislative and executive powers, 
and received the allegiance of the peo- 
ple generally, and authorized the enroll- 
ment of twelve thousand Minute-men. 
At the close of 1774, Gage found him- 
self unsupported excepting by his 
troops, a few government officials in 
Boston and passive loyalists who were 
under the protection of his regiments. 
-\11 outside of Boston wore the aspect 
of rebellion. 

During this time there was a speck of 
war with the Indians on the frontiers 
of Virginia. By the Quebec Act, all 
of the country north and west of the 
Ohio River was included in that prov- 



FIFTH PERIOD— THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE 



IS! 



ince. In this territory there was no 
government to restrain the actions of 
Cliristians or Pagans. Governor Dun- 
more, of Virginia, disregarded the Que- 
bec Act and continued to grant lands to 
settlers in the Scioto \^alley. He as- 
serted jurisdiction over Pittsburgh and 
the surrounding country to the west- 
ward, and this territory was rapidly 
filling up with settlers from Virginia 
and Maryland. Karly in 1774 the In- 
dians committed many murders and dc- 
jiredations along the Ohio borders, and 
the tribes seemed to be in preparation 
for war. They were led by Logan, a 
Mingo chief, who in revenge for the 
cold-blooded murder of his mother, 
brother and sister, who was the wife 
of one of the white traders, during that 
following summer exacted fearful retri- 
bution. Governor Dunmore, now re- 
newed a treaty of peace with the Six 
Nations and fitted out an expedition 
against the hostile Indians. In Oc- 
tober, at Point Pleasant, near the junc- 
tion of the Great Kanawha and Ohio 
Rivers, a battle was fought with the 
Indians with large losses on both sides. 
A few days afterward a satisfactory 
treaty of peace was concluded, and then 
the \*irginians returned to their homes, 
from which they had been absent about 
three months. The troops, when they 
received the news of public affairs, dur- 
ing their absence, resolved to exert 
every power in defence of .American 
liberty. 

The elections for members of Parlia- 
ment in the autumn of 1774 satisfied the 
ministry that they were strong in the 
atTectio'ns of the people. This pleased 
the King, and the government was not 
in a frame of mind to receive with com- 
placency the state papers put forth by 
the Coiitinental Congress, especially the 
petition to the King. The New Eng- 
land governments are now in a state of 
rebellion. PjIows must decide whether 
they are to be subject to this country, 
or to be independent. This was King 
George's ultimatum, to which he ob- 
stinately adhered. 

Dr. Franklin, at this time in England, 
intimated that peace could be estab- 



lished with the American Colonies by 
allowing them the right and privileges 
claimed as the birthright of English 
subjects in England. Dr. Franklin re- 
turned to America in the spring of 
1775. abandoning any hope of recon- 
ciliation, and entered vigorously upon 
the prosecution of the war, which soon 
after broke out. 

In the early part of 1775 the British 
government had proclaimed Massachu- 
setts to be in a state of rebellion, and 
provided means for suppressing that re- 
bellion by force of arms. For ten years 
the people of those provinces had 
pleaded, remonstrated and worked in 
vain endeavors to obtain justice for 
themselves and their posteritv. Thev 
had asserted the inalienable rights of 
every free-born Englishman, and had 
been haughtily spurned as slaves. They 
had bravely, meekly, patiently and per- 
sistently opposed the revolution which 
the king and Parliament seemed deter- 
mined to efTect (and did effect) by 
overturning the colonial charters and 
denying to British subjects in America 
the freedom and privileges of British 
subjects in England. 

The colonists now said : "We must 
fight." They repeated it from Maine 
to Georgia. They buckled on their 
armor and stood on the defensive de- 
termined not to give the first blow. We 
shall now see how their oppressors be- 
came the aggressors, and spilled the 
first blood that flowed in the war of that 
momentous revolution which King 
George the Third began. That revolu- 
tion, as we have observed, was not the 
work of the people here. They did not 
seek to overturn anything: they sought 
only to preserve the precious things that 
existed. They had never known hered- 
itary titles, nor prerogatives, nor any 
of the forms of feudalism, in .America, 
other than as temporary e.xotics. Thev 
had grown to greatness in plain, unos- 
tentatious ways, chiefly as tillers of the 
soil and moving on a social plane of 
almost absolute equality. They had all 
been born free. They were not called 
upon to fight for freedom, for they al- 
ready possessed it : they were compelled 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AXI) REFERENCE 



to tigiit for its maintenance. Tlicrc- 
fore, the American people in 1775 were 
not revolutionists. 

In February, 1775, Great Britain, as 
we have seen, had virtually declared 
\var against the colonies. "The time 
for reconciliation, moderation, and 
reasoning is over," General Gage wrote 
to Lord Dartmouth. 

In reply to a letter from Dartmouth, 
ordering him to assert, by force, the 
absolute authority of the king, Gage 
wrote that the civil government was 
nearly at an end in Massachusetts. He 
advised the sending of twenty thou- 
sand troops, with whom he would un- 
dertake to enforce the new form of 
government, to disarm the colonists, 
and to arrest and send to England for 
trial the chief traitors in IMassachu- 
setts. Meanwhile the British govern- 
ment were prejiaring to reinforce the 
troops in Boston. It was determined 
to make the number there ten thou- 
sand. They also resolved to send an- 
other general to take the place of Gage, 
whom ministers considered too ineffi- 
cient for the exigency. General Wil- 
liam Howe was chosen to succeed him. 
His major-generals were Sir Henry 
Clinton and John Burgoyne. General 
Howe took the appointment with reluc- 
tance. "Is it a proposition or an or- 
der from the king?" Howe asked. "It 
i.s an order." "Then it is my duty to 
obey,'' he said, with real reluctance, 
for he remembered with gratitude the 
vote of Massachusetts to erect a monu- 
ment in memory of his brother, Lord 
Howe, who was killed near Ticonder- 
cga. His reluctance was somewhat di- 
minished when he was told that he and 
his brother Richard Earl Howe (who 
had been appointed naval commander 
in America), would go as peace com- 
missioners also, bearing the sword in 
one hand and the olive branch in the 
other. 

Franklin, not long before his depart- 
ure from England, had written to 
friends in Massachusetts, saying, in 
substance, "Do not begin war without 
the advice of the Continental Congress, 
unless on a sudden emergency." He 
said : "New England alone can hold out 



for ages against this country, and, if 
they are firm and united, in seven _\ears 
will win the day." The prophecy was 
fulfilled in time and facts. The French 
minister in London wrote to his gov- 
ernment: "Every negotiation which 
shall proceed from the present admin- 
istration will be without success in the 
colonies." The conduct of the .\mer- 
icans gratified the wishes of Franklin 
and the hopes of the French ambas- 
sador. 

When news of the contemptuous re- 
ception of the petition of Congress to 
the king, and copies of the Address of 
Parliament to his majesty, reached the 
Americans, there was an outburst of 
patriotism from the hearts of all the 
colonies. The spirit of the times gave 
fire to the tongue of Joseph Warren, 
when, on the anniversary of the Boston 
Massacre, he thrilled the souls of a vast 
concourse of citizens in the Old South 
Meeting-house. 

.All through March and far into .April 
Boston was like a seething cauldron of 
intense feeling. Gage was irresolute 
and timid. He had about four thou- 
sand well-drilled soldiers, eager to fall 
upon the "rebels," yet he hesitated. .At 
length he resolved to nip rebellion in 
the bud. He prepared to seize John 
Hancock and Samuel .Adams as arch- 
traitors, and send them to England for 
trial on a charge of treason. 

In the meantime Hancock and 
.\dams, who were in attendance at the 
Provincial Congress held at Concord, 
had received warning of their personal 
danger, for an intercepted letter from 
London had revealed it ; and when that 
Congress adjourned on the 15th of 
.April, they tarried at Lexington, where 
they lodged at the house of Rev. Jonas 
Clarke. At the same time the Minute- 
men were on the alert everywhere, and 
the fifteen thousand troops which the 
Provincial Congress had called for were 
in readiness to confront the oppressors 
of the people. 

The capital part of the scheme was to 
arrest Hancock and Adams at Lexing- 
ton, ten miles from Boston. For this 
purpose the soldiers who were to do 
the work, were to lea\e lioston secretlv 



FIFTH PERIOD— THE WAR FOR [XDEPENDENCI 



153 



in the evening, at an lionr that woulil 
enahle them to reach I.cxington at past 
iiiiehiight, when the doomed patriots 
would be sleeping soundly. Their ar- 
lest accomplished, the troops were to 
move rapidly forward to Concord, six 
miles further, and seize or destroy the 
cannon and military stores which the 
patriots had gathered. Preparations 
for the expedition were made as early 
as the fifteenth. On that day about 
eight hundred grenadiers and infantry 
were detached from the main body and 
marched to a dilTerent part of the town, 
under the pretense of teaching them 
some new military movements. At 
night boats from the transports, which 
had been hauled up for repairs, were 
launclied and moored under the sterns 
of the men-of-war. Dr. Warren, one 
of the most watchful of the patriots, 
sent notice to Hancock of these suspi- 
cious movements, and enabled the Com- 
mittee of Safety, of which the latter 
was chairman, to cause some of the 
stores at Concord to be removed to 
jjlaces of safety, in time to save them 
from the invaders. 

In the afternoon of the i8th (April, 
1775), Gage's secret leaked out, and 
the patriots in Boston watched every 
movement of the troops with keen 
\ision. Dr. Warren, Paul Revere and 
others made arrangements for a sud- 
den emergency, to warn Hancock and 
Adams of danger, and to arouse the 
country. Their precautions were 
timely, for at ten o'clock that evening, 
eight hundred British troops marched 
silently to the foot of the Common, 
where they embarked in boats and 
passed over to Cambridge. They were 
commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel 
.Smith, assisted by Major Pitcairn. 
Revere had engaged his friend New- 
man, sexton of the North Church, to 
give him a timely signal. 

The moon was just rising when the 
British landed on the Cambridge side of 
the water. Newman had hung out two 
lanterns, and the watching Revere, 
springing into a saddle on the back of 
a fleet horse, hurried across Charles- 
town Neck. At the end of the isthmus 
he was confronted Iiv two British 



soldiers, who atlemiited to arrest him. 
Turning back toward Charlestown, he 
soon reached the Aledford road and 
escaped ; and at a little past midnight 
he rode up to Clarke's house in Lex- 
ington. 

The story of impending peril was 
soon told, and the whole household 
was astir. William Dawes, who went 
by Roxbury, soon afterward arrived. 
After refreshing themselves, he and 
Revere rode swiftly toward Concord, 
arousing the inhabitants by the way, as 
the latter had done between Medford 
and Lexington. They were overtaken 
by Dr. Samuel Prescott, who had been 
wooing a young woman in Lexington, 
and he joined them in their patriotic 
errand, when Revere, who was rid- 
ing ahead, was suddenly surrounded by 
some British officers, and with Dawes 
was made a prisoner. Prescott dashed 
over a stone wall with his active horse 
and escaped. He rode over to Concord, 
and at about two o'clock in the morn- 
ing of the 19th gave the alarm. Revere 
and his fellow-prisoner were closely 
questioned concerning Hancock and 
Adams, but gave evasive answers. 
They were threatened with pistol-balls, 
when Revere told his captors that men 
were out arousing the country in all 
directions. Just then a church bell was 
heard : then another, when one of the 
Lexington prisoners said: "The bells 
are ringing — the town is alarmed — you 
are dead men. The frightened officers 
left their prisoners and fled toward 
Boston. 

The alarm rapidly spread, and the 
J\!inute-men seized their arms. At two 
o'clock in the morning. Captain John 
Parker called the roll of his company 
on Lexington Green in front of the 
meeting-house, and ordered them to 
charge their guns with powder and ball. 
Colonel Smith was convinced that their 
secret was known and there was a 
general ujjrising of the people, for 
church bells were heard in various di- 
rections. He sent back to Boston for 
reinforcements, and ordered ^lajor Pit- 
cairn to push rapidly on through Lex- 
ington and seize the bridges at Concord. 
.As the latter advanced, he secured 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AXD REFEREXCE 



every man seen on the way. ( )ne of 
these escaped, and mounting a fleet- 
footed horse, hurried to Lexington and 
gave the alarm, but not until the in- 
vaders were within less than two miles 
of the village green. The bells rang 
out an alarm. The Minute-men came ; 
and just at the earliest dawn of day 
Captain I^arker found himself at the 
head of almost se\enty men. 

In the gray of the early morning, 
Major Pitcairn and his scarlet-clad 
.soldiers appeared, and halting not far 
from the line of Alinute-men on Lex- 
ington Common, loaded their muskets. 
The patriots stood firm. They had 
been ordered not to fire a shot until 
they were assailed by the invaders. A 
pause ensued, when Pitcairn and other 
officers galloped forward, waving their 
swords over their heads, and followed 
by the shouting troops in double-quick 
time. "Disperse, you villains ! Lay 
down your arms ! Why don't you dis- 
perse, you rebels? Disperse!" cried the 
major. In rushing forward the troops 
had become confused. As the Minute- 
men did not immediately obey the com- 
mand to lay down their arms, Pitcairn 
wheeled his horse, and waving his 
sword, shouted : "Press forward, men ! 
siyround the rascals!" At the same 
moment some random shots were fired 
over the heads of the Americans by the 
British soldiers, but without eflfect. 
The Minute-men had scruples about fir- 
ing, until their own blood had been 
spilled. Pitcairn was irritated by their 
obstinacy, and drawing his pistol, dis- 
charged it, at the same moment shout- 
ing fire! A volley from the front rank 
followed the order, with fatal etifect. 
Some Americans fell dead or mortally 
wounded, and others were badly hurt. 
There was no longer hesitation on the 
part of the Minute-men. The condi- 
tions of their restraint were fulfilled. 
The blood of their comrades had been 
shed; and as the shrill fife of young 
Jonathan Harrington set the drum a- 
beating, the patriots returned the fire 
with spirit, but not with fatal efifect. 
The blood of American citizens stained 
the green grass on Lexington Common, 
but no British soldier lost his life in 



that memorable conflict. Captain 
Parker, perceiving his little band in 
danger of being surrounded by over- 
whelming numbers and massacred, or- 
dered his men to disperse. They did 
so ; but as the British continued to fire, 
the American returned the shots with 
spirit, and then sought safety behind 
stone walls and buildings. Four of the 
]\Iinute-nien were slain by the fir.st fire, 
and four afterwards, and ten were 
wounded. Only three of the British 
were wounded, with Pitcairn's horse. 

So ended the opening act in the great 
drama of the Old War for Indepen- 
dence. 

Meanwhile the news of the skirmish 
was spreading with great rapidity over 
the province. Before noon that day 
the tidings reached Worcester, thirty 
miles from Lexington. As the news 
spread, the implements of husbandry 
were thrown by in the fields, and the 
citizens left their homes with no longer 
delay than to seize their arms. In a 
short time the Minute-men were par- 
aded on the Green, under Captain Tim- 
othy Bigelow ; after fervent prayer by 
Rev. Mr. McCarty, they took up their 
line of march. They were soon fol- 
lowed by as many of the train-bands 
as could be gathered under Captain 
Benjamin Flagg. 

The scene at Worcester on that oc- 
casion was a type of a hundred others 
enacted within twenty-four hours after 
the skirmish at Lexington. It afl^ords 
a vivid picture of the spirit of the 
people. 

The serious question arose. Who 
fired first at Lexington, the British or 
the Provincials? LIpon the true solu- 
tion of that question depended, in a 
degree, the justification or condemna- 
tion of the belligerent parties, for the 
Americans had resolved not to be the 
aggressors. So late as ]May the next 
year, a London journal said: "It is 
whispered that the ministry are en- 
deavoring to fix a certainty which party 
fired first at Lexington, before hostili- 
ties commenced, as the Congress de- 
clare, if it can be proved that American 
blood was first shed, it will go a great 
way toward efl^ecting a reconciliation on 



FIFTH PERIOD— THE WAR FOR IXDEPENDENCE 



ISS 



tlie most honorable terms." The testi- 
mony of contemporaries seems to prove, 
l)eyond a doubt, that the British fired 
first. 

The precedence as to the time and 
place where blood was first shed in the 
Revolution is claimed for Westminster, 
X'ermont, where, more than a month be- 
fore the affair at Lexington, officers of 
the crown in endeavoring to subdue a 
mob, caused the death of one of the 
rioters. The event is recorded in an 
epitaph inscribed upon a slab of slate 
in the old burial grounds at Westmin- 
ster. 

Concord had been aroused. Dr. 
Prescott had reached the town twenty 
minutes after he left Revere and Dawes 
in the hands of their captors. 

Men from Lincoln, Acton and other 
places hurried toward Concord, and in 
the gray of early morning these, with 
the local Minute-men, were drawn up 
in battlearray on the Common, under 
the general command of Ci^lonel James 
Uarrett, a soldier of the French and 
Indian war. Guards were placed at the 
bridges which spanned Concord River, 
a sinuous, sluggish stream, and at the 
centre of the village ; and some militia 
were sent toward Lexington to gain in- 
formation about the invading regulars, 
of whom they had uncertain stories. 
.'Kt about seven o'clock the militia men 
came hurrying back with the startling 
news that the regulars were near, and 
in number three times that of the Am- 
ericans then assembled. The whole 
force of defenders now fell back to a 
hill about eighty rods from the centre 
of the village. 

Rumors of the events at Lexington, 
vague and uncertain, had reached the 
Minute-men at Concord. .All Middle- 
sex was awakened. The militia were 
flocking in from Carlisle, Chelmsford, 
AX'eston, Littleton, and Acton ; and be- 
fore ten o'clock the force amounted to 
1 full four hundred men — about one-half 
that of the regulars. They were drawn 
up in line by Joseph Hosmer, of Con- 
cord, acting adjutant, and Alajor But- 
trick, of the same village, took the im- 
mediate command. When they saw the 
smoke ascend from the town, the ques- 



tion pressed itself upon the heart and 
judgment of every man: "What shall 
we do?" There was no Continental 
Congress ; they had no orders from the 
Provincial Congress ; they were a little 
army of Middlesex farmers gathered 
for the defence of their homes and 
their rights : by what authority might 
they attack British troops acting under 
lawful orders? Would it not be trea- 
son? But the troops were trampling 
upon their rights, and the smoke of 
their burning property was rising be- 
fore their eyes. They took counsel of 
duty, and acted promptly. Isaac Davis, 
of Acton drew his sword, and, turning 
to the company of which he was cap- 
tain, said : "I haven't a man that's 
afraid to go." Then Colonel Barrett 
gave the word march, and the Acton 
company, followed by others, all under 
the command of Major Buttrick, pres- 
sed forward, in double file with trailed 
arms, to drive the British from the 
North Bridge. The latter began to 
destroy it, when Buttrick urged his men 
forward to save it. As they ap- 
proached the river, they were fired upon 
by the regulars. Captain Davis and one 
of his company were killed, when But- 
trick shouted : "Fire, fellow-soldiers ; 
for God's sake, fire !" Immediately a 
full volley was given by the Minute- 
men, which killed three of the British 
and wounded several. Some other 
shots were fired, when the invaders re- 
treated and the ]\Iinute-men took pos- 
session of the bridge. 

The war begun at Lexington that 
morning was seconded at Concord at 
the middle of the forenoon, and ar 
meridian the same day, British power 
in America became wane, when British 
regulars made a hasty retreat before 
an inferior number of provincial militia. 
Colonel Smith, hearing the firing at the 
bridge, sent out reinforcements. These 
met the retreating detachment. See- 
ing the increasing strength of the 
IMinute-men, they turned about, and at 
noon the whole invading force re- 
treated toward Lexington, the main 
column covered by strong flanking 
parties. It was soon perceived that the 
whole countrv was in arms. .Minute- 



156 



THE IKIMI': AUXILIARY AND KEFERILNXI-: 



men appeared with muskets every- 
where. Ji'ar had begun. In open high- 
ways the exasperated yeomanry at- 
tacked the retreating invaders : beliind 
stone-walls, fences, buildings and in 
wooded ravines they ambushed, and 
assailed their foes with single shots or 
deadly volleys ; and man after man fell 
dead in the British ranks or was badly 
wounded, until great wagons were 
filled with the slain and maimed. The 
heat was intense, and the dust in the 
roads was intolerable. Exhausted by 
want of sleep, fatigue of marching, 
famine and thirst, tlie eight hundred 
men — the flower of the British army 
in Boston — must have surrendered to 
the armed yeomanry of ^Middlesex, 
soon after reaching Lexington, had not 
relief arrived. It came in the form of 
reinforcements under Lord Percy, and 
met the fugitives within half a mile of 
Lexington Common. 

The request sent to Gage early in 
the morning for reinforcements had 
been promptly answered by ordering 
Lord Percy to lead about a thousand 
men to support Smith and Pitcairn. 

Rumors of the skirmish at Lexing- 
ton had reached the people along the 
line of Percy's march, and the gather- 
ing militia hung like an angry, threat- 
ening cloud upon his flanks and rear. 
Between two and three o'clock he met 
the retreating army, when he opened 
fire from his cannon upon the pursu- 
ing Americans, formed a hollow 
square, and received in it the e.xhaustefl 
fugitives. Many of the soldiers fell 
upon the ground completely overcome 
with fatigue, some of them "with their 
tongues hanging out of their mouths, 
like those of dogs after a chase." 
Percy dared not tarry long, for the 
woods were swarming with ]\Iinute- 
men. After brief rest and partaking 
of some refreshments, the united force 
resumed their march toward Boston, 
satisfied that if they did not get back 
before sunset, they would not get there 
at all, for the militia were gathering 
from the neighboring counties. It was 
a fearful march for the troops, and for 
the people of the country through 



which they passed. The .Vmcricans re- 
lentlessly pursued, while flanking par- 
ties of the British committed many hid- 
eous excesses, plundering houses, burn- 
ing buildings, and ill-treating the de- 
fenceless inhabitants All the way to 
West Cambridge the retreating army 
was dreadfully harassed by their con- 
cealed foes. There General William 
Heath, whom the Provincial Congress 
had appointed to the command of the 
militia, accompanied by Dr. Warren, 
concentrated a considerable body of 
Minute-men, and skirmished sharply 
with the British. The British kept the 
militia at bay, and pressed on toward 
Boston, narrowly escaping seven hun- 
dred Essex militia under Colonel 
Timothy Pickering, who attempted to 
bar the way to Charlestown, whither 
the fugities were compelled to go. The 
regulars finally reached that village and 
the shelter of the guns of their frigates, 
when Heath ordered the pursuit to be 
stayed. 

Charlestown had been in a state of 
panic all day. Dr. W'arren rode 
through the streets early in the fore- 
noon, and told the people of the blood- 
shed at Lexington. Then came the 
news from Concord, at which many of 
tlie men had seized their muskets and 
h.nstened to the country. The schools 
were dismissed ; places of business 
were closed ; and when it was known 
that the retreating British would pass 
through the town, many of the inhabi- 
tants gathered up their valuable effects 
and prepared to leave. The firing at 
Cambridge caused most of them to rush 
toward the Neck to seek safety in the 
country, when they were driven back 
in despair by the approaching fugi- 
tives. Rumors reached them that the 
British were slaughtering women and 
children in their streets, and many of 
the terror-stricken people passed the 
night in the clay-pits back of Breed's 
Plill. Not a single person was harmed 
in Charlestown. Percy ordered the 
women and children to stay in their 
houses. Reinforcements were sent 
over from Boston ; guards were sta- 
tioned ; the wounded were taken to the 



FIFTH PERIOD— Till'. \\.\K FOR IXDEPEXDFNCE 



hospital, and quiet was restored, (gen- 
eral Pigot assumed command at 
Cliarlestown the next morning, and be- 
fore noon the shattered army were in 
tlicir quarters in Boston. During the 
niciuorable day, the British lost in 
killed, wounded and missing, two hun- 
dred and seventy-three men; the Pro- 
vincials lost one hundred and three. 

Three days after the fight at Lexing- 
ton and Concord, the Provincial Con- 
gress of Massachusetts assembled at 
Watertown, seven miles west of Bos- 
ton, and chose Dr. Joseph Warren to 
be their President. A committee was 
appointed to draw up a "narrative of 
the massacre." They took many de- 
positions, by which it was proven con- 
clusively that the British fired the first 
shots. 

The news of the events on the i<)th 
of April spread rapidly over the land, 
and stirred society in the colonics as 
it had never been stirred before. There 
was a spontaneous resolution to envi- 
ron Boston with an army of provin- 
cials that should confine the British to 
die peninsula. For this purpose. New 
Hampshire voted two thousand men, 
with Folsom and Stark as chief com- 
manders. Connecticut voted six thou- 
sand, with Spencer as chief and Put- 
nam as second. Rhode Island voted 
fifteen hundred, with Greene as their 
leader^ — Nathaniel Greene, who became 
one of the most efficient of the mili- 
tary officers in the war for indepcn- 
<lence. He was a Friend, or Quaker, 
in religious sentiment. 

Meanwhile ;nost important events 
had occurred in \'irginia. On the 20th 
of ]\larch a convention of representa- 
tives of that province met in St. John's 
Church in Richmond. They approved 
the acts of the Continental Congress, 
and thanked their representatives who 
sat in that body. They resolved to be 
firm in defence of their liberties, but 
ex])ressed a hope of speedy reconcilia- 
tion. Patrick Henry promptly rebuked 
their expression of that hope. He, like 
Samuel Adams, Hawley, and Greene, 
saw clearly that the colonies must fight. 
He knew the danger that threatened 
the liberties of his people. The House 
of Burgesses could no longer be relied 



upon as an au.xiliary of the people in 
their struggle, because of the contiiuial 
interference of the royal governor. 
The colony was unprepared for the im- 
pending conflict. Only a little pow- 
der and a few muskets in the old mag- 
azine at Williamsburg comprised their 
luunitions of war. In view of this 
weakness in the presence of danger 
which he foresaw, Henry proposed the 
appointment of a committee to prej^arc 
a plan for the embodying, arming, and 
disciplining a sufficient number of men 
to place the colony in a posture of de- 
fence. True patriots in the conven- 
tion opposed the measure as mischie- 
vous at that time. They would not be- 
lieve that armed resistance would be 
necessary. "It will be time enough to 
resort to measures of despair," they 
said, "when every well-founded hope 
has vanished." They suggested that 
the colonies were too weak to think 
of resisting the arms of Britain, and 
deprecated any action that should pro- 
voke war. They relied upon the in- 
nate justice of Englishmen for redress 
and reconciliation. 

Henry's resolution was adopted by 
an almost unanimous vote, and himself, 
Richard Henry Lee, George Washing- 
ton, Thomas Jefiferson and others were 
appointed a committee to execute their 
designs. In a few days they submitted 
a plan for the defence of the colony, 
which was accepted, when the conven- 
tion reappointed the delegates to the 
first Congress to seats in the second, 
to convene in May, adding Thomas 
Jefiferson "in case of the non-attend- 
ance of Peyton Randolph." Henry's 
prophecy was speedily fulfilled. .Al- 
most "the next gale" that swept from 
the North brought to their "ears the 
clash of resounding arms" at Lexing- 
ton and Concord. 

There bold proceedings caused the 
Jiame of Henry to be presented to the 
British government in a bill of attain- 
der, with those of Randolph, Jefiferson, 
the two Adams's and Hancock. They 
excited the official wrath of Governor 
Dnnmore. wlio stormed in proclama- 
tions; and to frighten the \'irginians he 
caused a rumor to be circulated that he 
intended to excite an insurrection 



iS8 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



of the slaves. He extinguished the last 
spark of respect for himself, when, late 
in April he caused marines to come 
secretly at night from a vessel-of-war 
in the York River and carry to her the 
powder in the magazine at Williams- 
burg. The movement was discovered. 
Patrick Henry was at his house in 
Hanover when he heard of the act. He 
assembled a corps of volunteers and 
marched toward the capital, when the 
frightened governor sent a deputation 
with the receiver-general to meet him. 
Sixteen miles from Williamsburg, they 
had a conference with the patriot. The 
matter was compromised by the pay- 
ment by the receiver-general of the full 
value of the powder. Henry sent the 
money to the public treasury, and re- 
turned home. 

In the midst of this excitement, the 
governor called the House of Burges- 
ses together, to consider a conciliatory 
proposition from Lord North. They 
rejected it ; and the governor now ful- 
minated proclamations against Henry 
and the committees of X'igilance, which 
were formed in every county in \'ir- 
ginia. He declared that if one of his 
officers should be molested, he would 
raise the royal standard, proclaim free- 
dom to the slaves, and arm them 
against their masters. He surrounded 
his house — his "palace" as he called it 
— with cannon, and secretly placed 
powder under the floor of the maga- 
zine, with the evident intention of 
blowing it up, should occasion seem to 
call for the deed. The discovery of 
this "gunpowder plot" greatly excited 
the people. Then came a rumor, on 
the 7th of June (1775), that armed 
marines were on their way from the 
York River to assist Dunmore to en- 
force the laws. The people flew to 
arms. The governor, alarmed for his 
personal safety, withdrew, with his 
family that night to Yorktown and the 
next morning took refuge on board the 
British man-of-war Foivey. He was 
the first royal governor who abdicated 
government at the beginning of the 
Revolution. 

Other royal governors were also 
compelled to abdicate; and, before the 



close of the summer of 1775, British 
dominion in the English-American 
provinces had ceased forever, and the 
people were preparing for war. 

News of the events of the 19th of 
A.pril reached the city of New York 
on Sunday the 23d. Regarding pa- 
triotism as a holy thing, the Sons of 
Liberty there did not refrain from do- 
ing its work on the Sabbath. They im- 
mediately proceeded to lay an embargo 
on vessels bound to Boston with sup- 
plies for the British troops there. In 
defiance of the King's collector at that 
port, they landed the cargo of a vessel 
which he had refused to admit, de- 
manded and received the keys of the 
Custom-house, dismissed those em- 
ployed in it, and closed it. 

In May, a convention of the repre- 
sentatives of the towns in Mecklen- 
burg county. North Carolina, met at 
Charlotte, and by their proceedings, 
virtually declared the inhabitants of 
that county independent of the British 
crown. Taking into consideration the 
fact that the crown had proclaimed the 
people of the colonies to be rebels, the 
Convention declared that all govern- 
ment in their country had ceased, and 
proceeded by a series of resolutions, 
passed on the 31st of May, to organize 
independent local government for 
themselves. This famous "Mecklen- 
burg Declaration of Independence" 
has been the subject of much discus- 
sion, disputations, and acute historical 
inquiry. 

In the meantime, an army of patriots 
were gathering around Boston with a 
determination to confine the British 
troops to the peninsula, or drive them 
to their ships and out to sea. 

\'eterans of wars with the Indians 
and the French appeared as leaders : 
and before the close of April a fluctu- 
ating armv of several thousand men 
were forming camps and piling forti- 
fications around Boston, from Rox- 
bury to the Mystic River, along a line 
of about twenty miles. So early as 
the afternoon of the 20th, General Ar- 
temas Ward, the senior military officer 
appointed by the Provincial Congress 



FIFTH PERIOD— THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE 



of Massachusetts, was on the groun<.l, 
and assumed the chief command. That 
Congress, like the Committee of 
Safety, worked day and night in pa- 
triotic duty. 

They took legislative and executive 
power into their own hands, and so 
abolished royal government in Massa- 
chusetts ; and they forwarded deputa- 
tions to the Second Continental Con- 
gress that assembled early in Alay, sug- 
gesting the necessity for making pro- 
vision for organizing an army compe- 
tent to oppose the troops expected 
from Great Britain. Ticonderoga and 
Crown Point, on Lake Champlam, 
were captured May loth, by Ethan Al- 
len and Seth Warner, almost without 
striking a blow. The Continental Con- 
gress met in Philadelphia in May. 
John Hancock was elected President. 
Without discussing independence or 
any other issue, Congress made the 
cause of Massachusetts its own, elected 
George Washington of Virginia, Com- 
mander-in-chief, who set out for 
Boston. 

At the beginning of June (1775) 
the army at Cambridge numbered 
about sixteen thousand men, all New 
Englanders. General Ward was the 
chief, and John Thomas was his lieu- 
tenant. Richard Gridley, who was the 
engineer-in-chief at the reduction of 
Louisburg, thirty years before, was 
commissioned to command an artillery 
corps and to be chief engineer, and was 
assisted by Henry Knox, a Boston 
bookseller, who had commanded an ar- 
tillery company in that town. The 
British force in Boston was increasing 
by fresh arrivals. It numbered then 
about ten thousand men. Generals 
Howe, Clinton and Burgoyne had ar- 
rived late in May, and heartily joined 
Gage in forming and executing plans 
for dispersing the "rebels." Feeling 
strong with these veteran officers and 
soldiers around him, and the presence 
of several ships-of-war under Admiral 
Graves, the governor issued a most in- 
sulting proclamation, declaring martial 
law, branding those citizens in arms, 
and their ahbettors, as "rebels" and 
"parricides of the Constitution," and 



otTering pardon to all who should forth- 
with return to their allegiance, except- 
ing Samuel Adams and John Hancock, 
who were reserved for condign punish- 
ment as traitors. This proclamation 
produced intense indignation through- 
cut the province. "All the records of 
time," wrote Mrs. John Adams to her 
husband, "cannot produce a blacker 
page. Satan, when driven from the 
regions of bliss, exhibited not more 
malice. Surely the father of lies is 
superseded. Yet we think it the best 
proclamation he could have issued." 

At about the middle of June, the 
British officers in Boston waked to the 
consciousness that "rebel" batteries at 
Dorchester Heights on the south, or on 
Charlestown Heights — Bunker's or 
Breed's Hills — on the north, might 
make the situation of the troops in the 
town not only disagreeable but perilous. 
They resolved to sally out and fortify 
these heights themselves, Dorchester 
on the i8th of June and Bunker's Hill 
a few days later. Rumors of this in- 
tention reached the Committee of 
Safety, to whom the Provincial Con- 
gress had delegated all discretionary 
powers to regidate the movements of 
troops, and they proposed the im- 
mediate fortification of Bunker's Hill 
before their enemy should come out. 

On the iTith of June, an order was 
issued for the regiments of Colonels 
Frye, Bridges and Prescott, Samuel 
Gridley's company of artillery, and a 
fatigue party of Connecticut troops, 
under Captain Thomas Knowlton, of 
Putnam's regiment, to parade in the 
camp at Cambridge at six o'clock in the 
evening, with intrenching tools. The 
whole were placed under the command 
of Colonel William Prescott of Pep- 
perell, who received written orders from 
General Ward to proceed to and fortif>- 
Bunker's Hill on the Charlestown pen- 
insula. At nine o'clock in the evening, 
after a prayer by Dr. Langdon, Presi- 
dent of Harvard College, a larger por- 
tion of these regiments, accompanied 
by General Putnam, marched over 
Charlestown Neck and along the road 
to Bunker's Hill. The whole force 
numbered about thirteen hundred men. 



r6o 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



They proceeded silently in the darkness. 
A conncil was held in the glonni, when 
it was decided that Breed's Hill, nearer 
Boston, would be the most etTective 
point for a fortification. They accord- 
ingly proceeded to that eminence over- 
looking Charlestown on the edge of the 
water, and there, in the starlight, a 
thousand men began the work with pick 
and spade. The waning moon rose at 
midnight, and in its pale light they 
worked in such silence until dawn, that 
they were not discovered by the senti- 
nels on the ships-of-war that lay in 
sight below them, and whose voices, 
crying out hourly "All's well !" they 
could distinctly hear. There lay the 
Lively, Glasgozv, Somerset and Ccrebus, 
with floating batteries, in fancied se- 
curity, while the toilers piled the earth 
so vigorously that a redoubt rose six 
feet above the earth at daybreak on Sat- 
urday, the i-th of June. Then they 
were discovered by the sentinel on the 
Lively. The captain beheld the 
strange apparition with wonder and 
alarm, and without waiting for orders 
from the admiral, he put springs on his 
cable and opened a sharp fire on the 
unfinished work. Other vessels opened 
broadsides upon that seeming creation 
of magic, while the Americans within 
the redoubt, unhurt by the shots, 
worked steadily on. 

That cannonade at dawn on a beau- 
tiful summer morning, broke the slum- 
ber of the troops and citizens in Boston, 
and filled both with astonishment. Very 
soon roofs, balconies and steeples were 
alive with gazers upon the strange 
scene. Gage summoned his principal 
officers to a council, when it was de- 
cided that the .\mericans must be dis- 
lodged, at all hazards. The newly-ar- 
rived generals proposed to land troops 
on Charlestown Neck, and taking the 
"rebels" in reverse, cut off their retreat 
and prevent their reinforcement. Gage 
decided to attack them in front ; and 
about twenty-five hundred troops, com- 
posed of infantry, grenadiers and artil- 
lery, with twelve pieces of cannon, 
crossed the Charles River in boats, at a 
little past noon, under cover of a tre- 
mendous cannonade from the shipping 



and Copp's flill, antl landed toward the 
eastern extremity of the Charlestown 
l)cniasula, at the head of the present 
Chelsea Bridge. There Howe recon- 
noitred the American position, ordered 
his men to dine, and sent back to Bos- 
ton for reinforcements. The men at the 
redoubt had toiled all the forenoon, 
completed their work, and at meridian 
exchanged the pick and spade for the 
accoutrements of war. Almost twelve 
hours had they labored, with little rest 
and food. They had cast up a re- 
doubt about eight rods square, and an 
embankment on its left extending about 
a hundred yards toward the Mystic 
River ; also a similar line on the right. 
The troops, wearied with work and 
want of food and sleep, asked for re- 
lief, but their leader said "No; you 
have cast up the redoubt, and you 
shall have the honor of defending it." 
They asked for reinforcements, which 
he at first declined calling for, sup- 
posing the British would not attack 
him. At length there were indica- 
tions in the city that they were com- 
ing out, and Prescott sent to General 
Ward for reinforcements. That officer 
tardily complied with the request, and 
sent the New Hampshire regiments of 
Stark and Reed; also some small field 
pieces. Some other detachments joined 
Prescott, and Dr. Joseph Warren, who 
had just received a commission as 
major-general, arrived with the cheer- 
ing news that other reinforcements 
were coming. Putnam was there, fly- 
ing from point to point to make dis- 
positions for securing a victory, and 
urging Ward, who was afraid of an 
attack upon Cambridge, to send on re- 
inforcements. 

When Howe was about to move at 
three o'clock in the afternoon, the 
Americans were prepared for the con- 
test. Prescott, with Warren, and the 
constructors of the redoubt, were with- 
in that V. ork, excepting the Connecti- 
cut troops, who, with the New Hamp- 
shire forces, were at a rail fence and 
breastworks on the west of the re- 
doubt. The artillery companies were 
between the breastwork and a rail 
fence on the eastern side, and three 



FIFTH PERIOD— THK WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE 



i6i 



companies were stationed in Charles- 
town at the foot of Breed's Hill. 

Just as the fight was about to be- 
gin, reinforcements came for Howe and 
landed at the present entrance to the 
Xavy Yard. They consisted of a regi- 
ment, some companies of light infan- 
try and grenadiers, and a marine bat- 
talion led by Major I'itcairn, of Lex- 
ington fame. The entire British force 
now confronting the Americans on the 
peninsula numbered more than three 
thousand. 

At half-past three o'clock. Howe's 
great guns moved toward the redoubt, 
and opened fire upon the works. They 
were followed by the troops in two col- 
umns, commanded respectively by Gen- 
erals Howe and Pigot, the infantry and 
grenadiers assailing the outworks. At 
tlie same time the guns on the ships and 
the battery on Copp's Hill hurled ran- 
dom shot in abundance upon the little 
earthwork. In the midst of the roar- 
ing thunder, the .Americans were silent 
in the redoubt, and mostly so along the 
lines of intrenchments and fences, for 
their leader had ordered them not to 
fire until they could see the whites of 
the eyes of the approaching foe. The 
silence was a riddle to the English. 
It was soon solved. When they were 
within the prescribed distance, up rose 
the concealed host, fifteen hundred 
strong, at the word Fire! and poured 
such a tremendous and destructive 
storm of bullets upon the climbers of 
the green slope, that whole platoons 
and even companies were prostrated as 
a scythe would have mown down the 
long grass through which they were 
wading. Flags fell to the ground like 
the tall lilies in a mown meadow, and 
the shattered army was horror-struck 
for a moment. The bugles sounded, 
and they fell back to the shore, when 
a shout of triumph went up from the 
crest of Breed's Hill. Howe soon ral- 
lied his men, and repeated the attack 
with a similar result. 

The British were greatly annoyed by 
shots from houses in Charlestown, and, 
at the rec|uest of Howe, shells were 
thrown into it from Copp s ?Iill, and 
set the village cjn fire. \'ery soon al- 



most two hundred wooden buildings — 
dwellings and churches — were in 
ilames, and Breed's Hill was shrouded 
in black smoke for awhile, until a gen- 
tle breeze that suddenly sprang up blew 
it away. At the same time General 
Clinton, who, from Copp's Hill, had 
seen the second recoil of the British 
troops, hastened across the river, and 
at the head of some broken battalions 
shared in the perils and success of a 
third attack, for Howe had again ral- 
lied his troops, and was pressing toward 
the Americans. The British had been 
ordered to march at quick step and 
use only their bayonets. These and the 
artillery soon drove the defenders of the 
breastworks into the redoubt. Again 
from that flaming centre went out 
dreadful volleys that shattered the 
head of the British column. The pow- 
der of the Americans was now almost 
exhausted. Their fire became more 
feeble. The British pushed up to and 
over the ramparts; and after a hand- 
to-hand struggle in the redoubt with 
bayonets and clubbed muskets, the 
Americans were driven out. They fled 
toward Charlestown Xeck, where rein- 
forcements had been arrested by a se- 
vere enfilading fire from the British 
vessels. The retreat of the main body 
was covered by the prolonged fighting 
of Stark, Reed and Knowlton at the 
outworks, with some reinforcements. 
Warren was the last to leave the re- 
doubt, and was hurrying toward Bun- 
ker's Hill, where Putnam was trying 
to rally the fugitives, and was shot 
dead by a bullet that pierced his brain. 
The British loss in this battle — killed, 
wounded and prisoners — was ten hun- 
dred and fifty-four. Among the offi- 
cers slain was Major Pitcairn. His 
pistols are now in the possession of 
descendants of General Putnam. The 
Americans lost in killed, wounded and 
missing, four hundred and fifty. 

This conflict, known as the Battle of 
Bunker's Hill, though fought on 
Breed's Hill, lasted almost two hours. 
It was gazed upon by anxious thou- 
sands, who were on the neighboring 
hills and roofs and steeples in Boston, 
deeply interested s])ectators of a terri- 



l62 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



ble scene in wliich dear kindred were 
engaged. \\'Iicn the redoubt was car- 
ried, and tlie Americans retreated, the 
whole body of troops on the peninsula 
were compelled to run the gauntlet of 
cannon-balls from the British vessels, 
as they fled across Charlestown Xeck. 
Many were slain there. The survivors 
encamped that night on I'rospect Hill, 
and the British reposed on their arms 
on the field of battle until the next 
morning, when they passed over the 
water to Boston, never again to appear 
on the main land of Massachusetts. 

On the twenty-first of the month, 
Washington left Philadelphia to take 
command of the army that was watch- 
ing Gage. He was escorted as far as 
New York by Lee, Schuyler and others, 
all on horseback. They had scarcely 
gone twenty miles when they met a 
courier on his way to Congress with 
the news of the battle fought four days 
before. The courier's hurried account 
made Washington sad, but, upon being 
told that the patriots fought bravely, a 
weight of anxiety was lifted from his 
heart, and he exclaimed : "The liber- 
ties of the country are safe!" 

The army now reached some 20,000 
men, but was a disorganized mass of 
volunteers, who came and went at will. 
Washington undertook the difficult 
task of putting them into shape, and 
there was no more fighting for some 
time. Congress was still disposed to 
think the King would see the error of 
his ways and relent. Accordingly, a 
petition to him was drawn u]) and 
adopted, against the advice of John 
Adams and many of the New England 
delegates, who declared that the King 
would never yield. .At the same time 
Congress adopted a declaration of the 
reasons for taking up arms, which was 
the forerunner of the Declaration of In- 
dependence. Both these documents 
were from the pen of John Dickinson, 
the most influential man in Congress, 
who at the same time was drilling a 
regiment for war. The petition to the 
King was useless, as .\dams had fore- 
seen, but before declaring irrevocably 
for Independence, an attack was 
ordered on Canada. Benedict Arnold 



was sent, with the greatest difficulty, 
through the .Maine wilderness to at- 
tack Quebec, while Richard Mont- 
gomery marched on Montreal by way 
of Lake Champlain, captured it and 
joined Arnold in December. The com- 
bined army was small and poorly 
equipped, and Quebec was the strong- 
est fortress in America. .Vn assault 
was made on the last day of the year 
1775. Montgomery was killed, Arnold 
wounded, and the expedition failed 
completely, only a remnant reaching 
home. 

Washington began his campaign in 
the spring. He seized Dorchester 
Heights, and fortified them so that 
Boston lay at his mercy. By agree- 
ment, Howe evacuated Boston, March 
17th, 1776, and sailed away for Hali- 
fax. Except for a few raids, this 
was all of the fighting that took place 
in New England. Washington then 
marched his army to Brooklyn, Long 
Island, as he expected an attack would 
be made in that section. 

The King's answer to the colonists 
was war. He tried to raise an army 
in England, but found it easier to hire 
some German troops. Strange as it 
m.ay seem, this was no uncommon oc- 
currence. The mercenaries were 
treated as so many cattle. The petty 
Princes of Germany did a fine busi- 
ness in hiring out troops, but they were 
not very bloodthirsty and usually had 
a pleasant time of it. It was a novel 
idea, however, to send them over for 
such a purpose, and the Hessians — so- 
called because most of them came from 
Hesse-Cassel — did not enjoy the plan at 
all. The King declared the colonists 
rebels, raised all the troops convenient, 
in addition to the 17.000 hired Hessians, 
and expected to put down the rebellion 
easily. When the colonists learned this 
their last hope of compromise was 
gone. About this time Thomas Paine 
published a tract called "Common 
.Sense," which had great effect in mold- 
ing public opinion in the direction of 
independence. 

The Provincial Congress of New Jer- 
sey, disregarding the authority of the 
roval governor fa son of Dr. Franklin), 



FIFTH PERIOD— THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE 



163 



assumed all the functions of regular 
government with the sanction of the 
people. They proceeded to regulate the 
militia. They authorized the raising of 
two battalions for the Continental ser- 
vice, to be commanded respectively by 
William Maxwell and William Alex- 
ander {Lord Stirling), and the issuing 
of bills of credit to defray the public 
expenses. In Pennsylvania, through the 
influence of timid or wavering leaders, 
there was much hesitation during 1775, 
while Delaware, under the same execu- 
tive head, took a decided stand in favor 
of the republican cause. Maryland, lay- 
ing aside local disputes, did likewise. 
A Provincial Council for Safety super- 
seded the royal government and took 
vigorous measures for sustaining the 
war that was begun. Comparative 
tranquillity prevailed during 1775 in 
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware 
and Maryland, while in New York, \'ir- 
ginia and all New England, the people 
were excited by political discord or act- 
ual hostilities within their borders. 

After Governor Dunmore, of Vir- 
ginia, fled to the Fozccy, the people of 
that colony assembled at Richmond in 
a representative convention, and exer- 
cised the functions of government by 
providing for the common defence and 
for the security of the province from 
invasion from without, and a servile 
insurrection within, which the fugitive 
governor threatened to excite. They 
regulated the militia, provided for the 
raising of troops, and for issuing treas- 
ury notes. They also authorized the 
raising of independent companies for 
the defence of the frontiers. 

Early in the autumn Dunmore pro- 
ceeded to execute his threat concern- 
ing the slaves. Me unfurled the royal 
standard over the Finucy at Norfolk, 
and proclaimed freedom to all slaves 
who should rally under it. He also pro- 
claimed martial-law over all Virginia. 
He sent a party ashore to destroy the 
printing office of John Holt, an ardent 
Whig journalist ; and at the head of a 
motley band of Tories and negroes, he 
committed depredations in southeastern 
Virginia. With the aid of some P>rit- 
ish vessels he attacked Hampton, near 



Old Point Comfort, late in October, 
when he was repulsed by the militia. 
Exasperated by his defeat, he openly 
declared war against the people. The 
militia of Lower Virginia flew to arms; 
and under Colonel Woodford, who had 
been sent there with a body of Minute- 
men, they prepared to drive 'the traitor 
governor from their soil. He became 
alarmed, and after fortifying Norfolk, 
he caused some works to be thrown 
up at the Great Bridge over the Eliza- 
beth River, near the Dismal Swamp, by 
which he expected the approach of 
Woodford. There a short but severe 
battle was fought on the morning of the 
ninth of December, 1775. between the 
Mrginia militia and a band of Tories 
and negroes under Captains Leslie and 
Fordyce. The latter were routed and 
fled back to Norfolk in confusion, where 
Dunmore, covered as he was, had re- 
mained in safety. In bis rage, he 
threatened to hang the boy who had 
brought him the first news of the dis- 
aster. 

Woodford pushed on toward Nor- 
folk, drove Dunmore to the small ves- 
pels-of-war. and entered the city in 
triumph, where he was joined by Col- 
onel (afterward General) Robert 
Howe, with a North Carolina regiment, 
who took chief command. That spirited 
officer annoyed Dunmore exceedingly 
by desultory cannon-shots, attacks upon 
British foraging parties, and the dis- 
cliarge of musketry from the houses in 
Norfolk. At length the British frigate 
Liverpool came up the river from 
Hampton Roads, when the governor 
sent a message to Howe demanding the 
instant cessation of the firing, and also 
a supply of food, and threatening to 
cannonade the town in case of a re- 
fusal. .\ prompt refusal was sent back, 
when the governor executed his threat, 
and more. On the morning of the first 
of January, 1776, his vessels-of-war 
opened a cannonade upon Norfolk, and 
he sent a party of marines and sailors 
to set the city on fire. The conflagra- 
tion raged for fifty hours, during which 
time the cannonade was ke])t up. The 
distress occasioned by this wicked act 
at that inclement season was terrible; 



164 



THE HOML-: ATXILIARY AXl) REFEREXXE 



anil the remembrance of il nerved the 
arms of the X'irginia soldiers and the 
hearts of the \irginia people all 
through the struggle for independence. 

In North Carolina resistance to op- 
pression began early, as we have seen. 
The Mecklenberg Declaration of Inde- 
pendence in May. 1775, was but a cul- 
mination in action of the patriotic sen- 
timents of the province. Governor 
Martin, who succeeded Tryon, alarmed 
by the threatening aspect of the popu- 
lar will, first fortified his "palace" at 
New Berne, and then took refuge in 
Fort Johnson, near the mouth of the 
Cape Fear River. From that strong- 
hold he was driven by the patriots in 
amis in July to the Pallas, sloop-of- 
war, in the Cape Fear. The fort was 
destroyed, and the governor culminated 
menacing proclamations from his float- 
ing quarters. His political frientls 
were numerous ; but under the wise 
leadership of Cornelius Harnett. John 
Ashe and a few others, the Whigs were 
so well organized that they silenced the 
Tories and kept the most obnoxious 
ones prisoners on their own plantations. 
The Continental Congress voted to fin-- 
nish supplies for a thousand men in that 
province to counteract the influence of 
Governor Martin and his friends; and 
a popular convention that assembled at 
Flillsborough in August, and assumed 
the control of the colony, authorized 
the raising of two regiments, with Rob- 
ert Howe and James Moore to com- 
mand them. The governor, from the 
Pallas, sent a proclamation in which he 
denounced the Convention as treason- 
able, and the Convention denounced his 
manifesto as "a scandalous, malicious 
and scurrilous libel, tending to disunite 
the good people of the province," and 
ordered it to be burned by the common 
hangman. 

Many Scotch Highlanders who were 
involved in the rebellion in 1745 in 
favor of the "Young Pretender" had 
settled in North Carolina, and were 
firm Loyalists. Among them was Flora 
MacDonald, who. in her beautiful 
young maidenhood, had saved the life 
of the "Pretender" after the battle of 
Colloden. She had settled at Cross 



Creek (now Fayettevillc). with her 
husband and children, and had great 
influence among her countrymen. 
They were all true to King George ; and 
when, late in 1775, Governor Martin 
was acting in concert with Dunmore in 
sotithwestern Mrginia. and was expect- 
ing a British force on the coast of 
North Carolina, he resolved to strike 
an eftecttial blow against the republi- 
cans of the province. He commis- 
sioned Donald MacDonald, an influ- 
ential Scotchman at Cross Creek, a 
brigadier-general, and Flora's husband 
took a captaincy under him. He was 
authorized to embody the Highlanders 
and other Loyalists into a military 
corps, and raise the royal standard at 
Cross Creek. It was formally un- 
furled, at a large gathering of the clan, 
by Flora herself, who was then a hand- 
some matron between forty and fifty 
years of age. \'ery soon fifteen hun- 
dred armed Tories g-athered around it, 
while Colonel Howe was absent with 
his regiment, assisting the Virginians 
against Dunmore. 

When Colonel IMoore heard of this 
gathering of the Tories he marched 
with his regulars and some Hanover 
militia — eleven hundred strong — to dis- 
perse them. At the same time the 
Minute-men were gathering in large 
numbers. MacDonald was alarmed and 
fled toward the Cape Fear, hotly pur- 
sued by Moore. At a bridge over 
Moore's Creek (an aflluent of the 
South River, a principal tributary of 
the Cape Fear), he was met by armed 
patriots of the Neuse region, vuider 
Colonels Caswell and Lillington on the 
evening of the 26th of February. 1776. 
The following morning a sharp fight 
occurred there, in which the Loyalists 
were defeated and dispersed : many of 
them were killed, and more were made 
prisoners. Among the latter were the 
general, and the husband of Flora Mac- 
Donald. This victory greatly inspired 
the Whigs and discouraged the Tories ; 
and soon afterward the ^MacDonalds 
returned to Scotland in a sloop-of-war, 
encountering a French cruiser on the 
way. During an engagement between 
the two vessels, the brave Mora re- 



I'TI' 



II iM':kioi)— •nil': war for indkpI':'ni)|';xci': 



I ''is 



inaincd nti deck, and was wounded in 
llic hand. 

In South Carolina armed resistance 
was active in 1775. The Provincial 
Congress, over whom Henry Laurens 
presided, issued $600,000 in paper 
money and voted to raise two regi- 
ments, of which Christopher Gadsden 
and William Moultrie were chosen cf)l- 
onels. Lieutenant-Governor Bull tried 
in vain to suppress the republican 
s]iirit: and when, in July, Lord Wil- 
liam Campbell arrived at Charleston 
with the commission of governor, and 
called an assembly, that body declined 
to do any business under him. Execu- 
ti\e powers were intrusted to a Coun- 
cil of Safety, who proceeded to organ- 
ize civil government on a republican 
basis, and to put the province in a state 
of defence. The Tories in the back 
country, who were ver)' numerous, 
were disarmed by a force under Wil- 
liam Henry Drayton, a nephew of the 
lieutenant-governor. An armed vessel 
was sent to seize an English powder- 
ship lying in the harbor of St. Augus- 
tine, and returned to Charleston with 
fifteen hundred pounds of that much- 
needed article. Early in September, 
Colonel Moultrie was ordered to take 
possession of the little fort on Sulli- 
van's Lsland near the entrance to 
Charleston harbor. In so doing he 
found no resistance ; for the garrison, 
e.xjjecting the hostile visit, had fled to 
the British sloops-of-war Tainar and 
Cherokee, lying near, where they were 
soon joined by Governor Campbell, who 
took refuge there from a storm of pop- 
ular indignation which had been created 
by a knowledge that he had tried to in- 
cite the Indians on the frontier to at- 
tack the Carolinians, and had tampered 
with the Tories in the interior. So 
ended royal rule in South Carolina, and 
republicanism reigned supreme. 

Early in 1776, Moultrie was ordered 
to build a fort on Sullivan's Island large 
enough to accommodate a garrison of 
a thousand men, because information 
had been received by the Council of 
Safety that a British land and naval 
force was preparing to attack Charles- 
ton. The fort was built of palmetto 



logs and earth, and was named I'ort 
Sullivan. Over it was unfurled the 
flag of South Carolina, which Moultrie 
had designed. As there was then no 
national flag, and the provincial troops 
who garrisoned the fort were dressed 
in blue, and wore a silver crescent on 
the front of their caps, he had a large 
blue silk flag prepared with a white 
crescent in the dexter corner. This 
was the first American flag displayed 
in South Carolina. 

Georgia, tardy in joining the Con- 
tinental mo\ement, felt the flame of pa- 
triotism warming the hearts and minds 
of her sons early in 1773. In I'ebru- 
ary, the inhabitants of the parish of 
St. Johns, in that province, chose Ly- 
man Hall to represent them in the sec- 
ond Congress, and he took his seat as 
such at the middle of May. In July 
the Provincial Convention that had 
been formed adopted the American As- 
sociation, and chose delegates to repre- 
sent the whole province in the Con- 
gress ; and then the bright galaxy of the 
"Old Thirteen" was perfected. The 
royal governor, Sir James Wright, had 
tried in vain to suppress the rising tide 
of republicanism in Georgia. So early 
as May, 1775, when it was suspected 
that he was about to imitate General 
Gage, by seizing the ammunition of the 
province, several members of the Coun- 
cil of Safety and others broke open the 
magazine, sent a greater portion of the 
powder to Beaufort, South Carolina, 
and hid the remainder in their own 
garrets. When the governor and the 
Tories were preparing to celebrate the 
king's birthday, on the 4th of June, by 
firing the cannon on the battery in Sa- 
vannah, some of the leading Whigs 
spiked the guns there and hurled them 
to the bottom of the blufif. Not long 
afterward a letter written by the gov- 
ernor to General Gage, asking him to 
send troops to Georgia to suppre/.s the 
rising rebellion there, was intercepted 
at Charleston. The republicans were 
greatly exasperated ; and a day or two 
afterward they seized a British shi]) at 
the mouth of the Savannah River, with 
thirteen thousand pounds of gunpowder 
on board. The spirit of resistance 



i66 



THK HOME AUXILIARY A\D REFERF.NXE 



waxed stronger and stronger, until, in 
Januar)'. 1776, the Whigs resolved to 
endure the adverse influence of the gov- 
ernor and the Tories no longer. Joseph 
Habersham, a member of the popular 
legislature, with some armed volun- 
teers, seized Governor Wright and 
made him a prisoner on parole at his 
own house. A sentinel was placed be- 
fore it, with orders not to allow any 
intercourse between the governor and 
the Loyalists. During a stormy night 
in February, Sir James escaped through 
a back window of his house, walked 
five miles down the borders of the 
river with a friend, and then entering 
an open boat, fled in the pelting rain, 
under the cover of darkness, for shelter 
to the British vessel-of-war Scarbor- 
ough, lying in Tybee Sound. 

So was ended royal rule in Georgia. 
At the same time royal authority had 
really ceased in all the colonies. Each 
had formed a provisional government 
for itself, and each looked to the Con- 
tinental Congress as the central director 
of the civil and military movements of 
the United Colonies in the great strug- 
gle before them. 

We left the little army of republicans 
in Canada, bereaved of their brave 
leader, shattered in strength and shiv- 
ering with cold outside the walls of 
Quebec. The time of the enlistment 
of many of the soldiers expired with 
the year, and they went home ; and 
the besieging army was reduced to 
about four hundred Americans, and 
as many uncertain Canadian volun- 
teers. Arnold, on whom the command 
devolved, though disabled by his 
wound, retired with them to Sillery, 
above Quebec, where he formed a camp 
and passed a rigorous winter. Schuy- 
ler sent urgent appeals to the Conti- 
nental Congress and that of New York 
for jnen, money and munitions, flow 
could they be furnished? With diffi- 
culty the army of Washington on the 
seacoast, in the midst of a populous 
region, could be supplied with these : 
how then could they be furnished for 
service on the St. Lawrence, more than 
three hundred miles from the .sea, with 
a desolate wilderness between, and the 



broad forests and few open fields and 
lakes covered with snow and ice? It 
was impossible. 

Washington, who was then at New, 
York with a little more than eight 
thousand troops, sent three thousand of 
his best men, under General Sullivan, 
for service in Canada. 

Meanwhile, Congress had appointed 
Dr. Franklin, Samuel Chase and 
Charles . Carroll a board of comiuis- 
sioners invested with full authority to 
proceed to Canada. They perceived 
that the main objects of their mission 
could not be obtained, and it was de- 
termined to withdraw the troops to St. 
Johns, and there to fortify and rein- 
force them, so that they might be an 
impassable barrier to an army that 
might attempt to penetrate the country 
below. 

The force was too v\'eak to make a 
successful stand at St. Johns against 
the great army of Burgoyne that were 
slowly pursuing, and they continued 
their flight to Crown Point, in open 
boats without awnings (for they could 
get none), exposing the sick to the fiery 
sun and the drenching rain. 

Terrible were the scenes at Crown 
Point after the fragments of the army 
were gathered there. More than thirty 
victims of disease were buried daily, 
for awhile. Every spot and every- 
thing seemed to be infected with pesti- 
lence. For a short time the troops were 
poorly housed, half-naked and inade- 
quately fed ; their daily rations being 
raw salt pork, hard bread and unbaked 
flour. Five thousand men were there. 
During two months the Northern Army 
had lost by desertion and sickness full 
five thousand soldiers. So ended in 
disaster the remarkable invasion — one 
of the boldest ever undertaken, all 
things considered. 

The army under Washington, which 
had driven the British out of Boston, 
soon afterward appeared in other fields 
of duty, a part of them, as we have 
seen, in Canada, but more at New 
York and in its vicinity. At the be- 
ginning of the year Washington ascer- 
tained that Sir Flenry Clinton was 
about to sail from Boston, with 



FIFTH PERIOD— TUF WAR J'OR INDEPENDENCE 



167 



troops, on a secret cxpeilition. It was 
suspected that New York was Iiis des- 
tination, where Governor Tryon was 
ready to head a formal demonstration 
in favor of the crown. The Tories 
tliere were active and numerous. Dis- 
aflection prevailed extensively ; and it 
was fostered by Tryon, whose "palace" 
was the armed-ship Duchess of Gordon, 
lying in the harbor. Fearing that prov- 
ince might be lost to the republicans, 
Washington ordered General Charles 
Lee, then recruiting in Connecticut, to 
embody the volunteers and march to 
New York. Governor Trumbull lent 
his official aid to Lee, and within a 
fortnight after the latter recei\e(l his 
orders, he was in full march for the 
Harlem River with twelve hundred 
men and the bold Son of Liberty, Isaac 
Sears, as his adjutant-general. 

Sir Henry Clinton's vessels appeared 
off Sandy Hook on the day when Lee 
arrived in New York. He was bound 
for the coast of North Carolina to ex- 
ecute a plan of the ministry for the 
subjugation of that province, suggested 
by Governor Martin the previous au- 
tumn. It was believed by the king and 
liis advisers that the people of the 
southern provinces would join the royal 
troops when they should appear ; but 
Dartmouth, evidently having some 
doubts, instructed Clinton, in case the 
people were not loyal, to distress them 
by burning any of their towns that 
might refuse to submit. 

A fleet commanded by Sir Peter 
Parker, and designed to act under Clin- 
ton's orders, did not leave Ireland 
until February. Then the vessels were 
delayed by storms. Clinton, mean- 
while, had been awaiting their arrival 
with impatience. It was May before 
he entered the Cape Fear River with 
.some of them. Satisfied that the North 
Carolians could not be coaxed nor 
frightened into submission, the Pirit- 
ish ft)rces proceeded to attempt the re- 
duction of Charleston, South Carolina, 
as a prelude to the fall of Savannah. 
General Lee, who had been ordered by 
Washington to watch the movements 
of Clinton, had made his way south- 



ward by land and arri\ed at Charles- 
ton on the 4th of June. 

The militia from the surrounding 
country now flocked into Charleston at 
the call of President Rutledge. These, 
with Carolina regulars and the troops 
from the North, brought by .\rm- 
strong and Lee, made an available 
force of almost si.x thousand men. 
Colonel Gadsden commanded the garri- 
son in Fort Johnson, on James Island, 
three miles from the city. Colonel 
Moultrie was at the head of the troops 
in Fort Sullivan, on Sullivan's Island, 
and Colonel Thompson commanded 
riflemen from Orangeburg, stationed 
on the eastern end of that island. 

.After long delay Clinton completed 
his arrangements for a combined attack 
of ships and troops upon Fort .Sulli- 
van, which was chosen to receive the 
first blow. It was garrisoned by about 
four hundred men, mostly South Caro- 
lina regulars, with a few volunteer mil- 
itia ; and its only aid was a sloop, with 
powder, anchored ofif Haddrell's Point. 
Lee had pronounced the fort absolutely 
untenable, and called it "a slaughter 
pen ;" and he advised Rutledge to with- 
draw the garrison and abandon Sulli- 
van's Island without striking a blow. 
Rutledge refused. Lee, with sharp 
words and angry tone, persisted in his 
\ lews, and if he dared he would have 
withdrawn the troops in spite of the 
wiser President. Fie annoyed Moultrie 
by his orders looking to a flight from 
the fort, directing him to build bridges 
for retreat to the main : but Moultrie 
did not believe that he could be driven 
from his little fortress of soft palmetto 
logs, for he knew, better than Lee, their 
resisting power. Lee tried to weaken 
his force by ordering detachments to 
be sent from the fort : and up to the 
last moment he wished to have Moul- 
trie removed from the command. Had 
he been acting in favor of the enemy 
he could not have given better advice ; 
and in view of his subsequent treason, 
it cannot be sure that he was not, at 
that time, acting the part of a traitor. 

Clinton had landed soldiers on Long 
Island, a strip of sandy land separated 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



from Sullivan's Island by a shallow 
creek. There he erected batteries to 
confront those of Thompson on Sulli- 
van's Island, and awaited the pleasure 
of Admiral Parker. On the morning 
of the 28th of June, Sir Peter, from his 
flag-ship, the Bristol, gave a signal for 
attack. 

At this time, Clinton with his two 
thousand land troops and six hundred 
seamen, attempted to co-operate with 
the fleet by landing on Sullivan's Isl- 
and and attacking the fort on its unfin- 
ished side. He opened his batteries on 
Long Island, upon Thompson, who had 
only two guns, but his Carolina rifle- 
men were expert and dangerous sharp- 
shooters. Clinton embarked some of 
his troops in boats covered by floating 
batteries in the creek ; but the soldiers 
could not land in the face of the ter- 
rible volleys from Thompson's men, 
and were speedily disembarked. The 
baronet accomplished almost nothing 
during the furious conflict of ten hours 
on that bright and hot June day. 
Thompson held him at bay until the 
battle ceased at evening. 

In that battle — one of the most se- 
vere of the war — the British lost in 
killed and wounded, two hundred and 
twenty-five men. Of the four hundred 
and thirty-five in the beleaguered fort, 
only ten were killed and twenty-two 
wounded, though thousands of shot and 
many shells were hurled against them. 
Charleston was saved, and South Caro- 
lina was defended from invasion by 
the valor of her own sons ; and in 
honor of the brave colonel who com- 
manded the garrison, the palmetto log- 
fortress was named Fort Moultrie. 
After remaining a few days at Long 
Island to repair damages, the British 
fleet, with Clinton's army, sailed for 
New York, where they joined the 
forces under General and Admiral 
Howe. 

Immediately after the evacuation of 
Boston, Washington hastened to New 
York with a greater part of his army, 
for he suspected Howe of an intention 
to attack that city. British war ves- 
sels lingered in Boston harbor even so 
late as June, and there was a prevail- 



ing fear in New England that Howe 
intended to return to their shattered 
capital. It was therefore determined 
by the Massachusetts Assembly to drive 
the ships to the sea. This was done at 
the middle of June, by General Lin- 
coln, at the head of militia and a few 
regulars, who so annoyed the ships with 
cannon planted on the shores, that they 
departed never to return. Howe went 
to Halifax to prepare for attacking the 
Americans at what he supposed to be 
a more vulnerable point. 

In June, 1776, General Howe sailed 
with his recruited army from Halifax 
for New York, and arrived at Sandy 
Hook at near the close of that month. 
There he was soon afterward joined by 
a large fleet commanded by his brother 
Richard, Earl Howe. The latter had 
been made joint commissioner with the 
general, and authorized by the king to 
ofl:"er pardon to all rebels, in his name, 
and to negotiate for peace or to prose- 
cute the war as circumstances might 
demand. 

When Washington arrived in New 
York, he pushed forward the defences 
of the city, and in the Hudson High- 
lands, for already intimations had 
reached the Americans that a grand 
scheme of the ministers for dividing 
the colonies, was to effect a junction 
between troops going up the Hudson 
\'alley, and others coming down from 
the St. Lawrence, the latter being al- 
ready at the foot of Lake Chainplain. 
Fort Washington was built on the high- 
est part of Manhattan Island (now 
Washington Heights) : and strong bat- 
teries were constructed near it as well 
as in the more immediate vicinity of the 
little town whose northern verge was 
The Fields, now City Hall Park. 

The commander-in-chief went to 
Philadelphia to confer with the Con- 
tinental Congress on the topic of the 
general defence of the colonies, for 
the theatre of war was evidently about 
to expand along the entire seaboard. It 
was then known that the mercenaries 
of the British monarch were on their 
way to America; and it was believed 
that the city of New York was des- 
tined to receive the first stunning blow 



FIFTH PERIOD-THE WAR FOR INDFPF\DENCE 



Ibrj 



fruiii the combined I'.ritish and ficrnian 
armies. Danger appeared imminent, 
and Congress authorized the enlistment 
of thirteen thousand troops from New 
England, New York and New Jersey ; 
also the establishment of a Flying 
Camp under General Hugh Mercer, 
coniposed of men from Pennsylvania, 
Delaware and Maryland. These were 
to rendezvous at Amboy, in New Jer- 
sey, opposite Staten Island. The Con- 
gress also authorized the forming of a 
body of Indians, two thousand in num- 
ber, for service in Canada, to oppose 
the savages employed by Carleton. 
General Schuyler, who was wiser con- 
cerning the Indians than the senators 
at Philadelphia, asked the significant 
question : "\\' here are the Indians to 
be found ?'" He knew it would be im- 
possible to gather so large a number for 
such a purpose. "1 think," he said, 
"that if the Indians can be kept from 
joining the enemy, it will be as much 
as we have a right to expect." Know- 
ing their cruel disposition, he was 
a\ erse to employing them in war ; he 
knew, also, that their maxim in alli- 
ances with the white people was to ad- 
here to the strongest, most liberal in giv- 
ing rewards, and with whom there was 
the least danger. Schuyler labored suc- 
cessfully in effecting that neutrality ; he 
held the Six Nations in restraint from 
1/75 "ntil 1783. 

Washington returned to New York 
early in June. Soon after his return, 
a foul conspiracy, hatched by the un- 
scrupulous Governor Tryon on board 
the Duchess of Gordon, was discovered. 
The brothers Howe were hourly ex- 
pected to enter the harbor of New 
York with a powerful fleet and army, 
and a plan was formed for causing the 
uprising of the Tories in New York and 
in the lower \alley of the Hudson at 
that moment ; to cut off all communica- 
tion with the mainland ; to fire the mag- 
azine ; to murder Washington, his staff 
and other leading officers of the Amer- 
ican army in the city; or to seize them 
and send them to England for trial on 
a charge of treason ; and. making pris- 
oners of the great body of the troops, 
carry out the separating design of the 



ministry just mentioned. The mayor 
of New York (Matthews) was Tryon's 
chief vehicle of communication with 
the Tories. A large number of per- 
sons were concerned in the plot. 
Washington's Life Guards were tam- 
pered with, and two of them were se- 
duced from their fidelity. To one of 
them, an Irishman named Hickey, was 
entrusted the task of destroying Wash- 
ington. He resolved to poison his com- 
mander, and tried to make the gen- 
eral's housekeeper, a faithful maiden, 
an accomplice in the deed. The maiden 
had revealed the plot to Washington. 
He ordered the arrest of Hickey, who 
was tried by a court-martial and was 
condemned. He was hanged on a tree 
in Colonel Rutger's field, a little east 
of the Bowery, on the 28th of June, 
1776, in the presence of twenty thou- 
sand people. Already Mayor Matthews 
and more than twenty others had been 
arrested by order of the Provincial 
Congress, but only Hickey suffered 
death. It was the first military execu- 
tion in the Continental Army : and it 
is a notable fact that the delinquent was 
from a body of men who were specially 
chosen for their trustworthiness. The 
horrible plot was traced directly to Gov- 
ernor Tryon, as its author. 

The question of independence now 
agitated Congress. Some of the ablest 
men in it, including Dickinson, thought 
the time had not yet come to make the 
declaration, and urged that the co-op- 
eration of France or some other nation 
be first secured. It was finally agreed 
that those who opposed the movement, 
but acquiesced in it, should not vote 
at all, so as to make the matter unani- 
mous. Richard Henry Lee had offered 
a resolution declaring independence, 
June 7th, while Congress met in Car- 
penter's Hall, but action was delayed 
until a select committee should draw 
up a report. Dickinson would have 
headed this committee and drawn the 
declaration, but for his personal views, 
which were sincere and cost him much 
of his popularity and future Federal 
honors, though he was afterward 
President (Governor) of Delaware and 
of Pennsylvania. The Declaration was 



170 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



drawn up by Thomas Jefferson, of Vir- 
ginia, and revised by Benjamin Frank- 
lin, John Adams, Roger Sherman and 
Robert R. Livingston. This declara- 
tion was adopted July 4th, 1776, in the 
State House, which has been restored 
to the exact condition it was at that 
time. 

Right here the student should lay 
down this book and carefully read the? 
Declaration of Independence. 

The far-reaching results of the Dec- 
laration of Independence were not ap- 
preciated at the time, by the great 
body of the people. There was gen- 
eral joy, because there was a vague idea 
in the public mind that something bene- 
ficial might immediately ensue. 

Meanwhile the resolution of Congress 
adopted in May, recommending the col- 
onies to form State governments, had 
been acted upon by several of them. 
New Hampshire had prepared for a 
State government, in January, 1776. 
The royal charters of Rhode Island 
and Connecticut were considered suffi- 
ciently democratic : and that of the lat- 
ter remained the fundamental law of 
the State until 1842. New Jersey 
adopted a State constitution on the 2d 
of July ; Virginia adopted one on the 
3th, and Pennsylvania on the 15th. On 
the 14th of August, Maryland followed 
their example ; Delaware on the 20th of 
September, and North Carolina on the 
1 8th of December. Georgia adopted a 
State constitution on the 5th of Feb- 
ruary, 1777, and New York on the 20th 
of April following ; but South Carolina 
did not follow the example until the 
19th of March, 1778. Massachusetts, 
the most eager champion for local self- 
government, deferred the important 
measure that secured it, until the 2d of 
March, 1780. Within a year after the 
Declaration of Independence was made, 
most of the States had organized settletl 
governments, but no national govern- 
ment was established until the armed 
j-truggle had been going on for six 
\ears. as we shall observe hereafter. 

General Howe arrived at Sandy Hook 
at the close of June, and on the 8th of 
July he landed nine thousand men on 
Staten Island. There he awaited the 



arrival of his brother, .Vdmiral Howe, 
with his fleet bearing liritish regulars 
and German hirelings. These, and the 
broken forces of Clinton and Parker 
from the Carolinas, soon joined General 
Howe; and by the middle of August, 
the British, land and naval, numbered 
almost thirty thousand men. 

The brothers entered upon a narrow 
diplomatic mission immediately after 
the arrival of the admiral. They sought 
first to open communication with 
Washington. For this purpose they 
sent a note to him by a flag, inclosing a 
copy of a declaration of the royal clem- 
ency. The letter did not bear the official 
title of the commander-in-chief — only 
"George Washington, Esq." — and he 
refused to receive it. The ad- 
miral addressed a friendly letter to Dr. 
Franklin in a similar manner, and re- 
ceived from the statesman a reply, 
courteous in tone, but in no wise sooth- 
ing to his feelings as a soldier or a 
Briton. Franklin concluded his let- 
ter by saying: "This war against us is 
both unjust and unwise: posterity will 
condemn to infamy those who advised 
it ; and even success will not save from 
some degree of dishonor those who vol- 
untarily engage to conduct it." The 
brothers suspected Franklin uttered the 
sentiments of the Congress with whom 
they were not permitted to treat ; and 
that the words of Washington were in 
accordance with the views of the same 
body. War, and not peace, now occu- 
pied the attention of the brothers for 
awhile. 

Captain Nathan Hale was chosen by 
his colonel from among other volun- 
teers for the perilous service of a spy. 
He entered the British camp as a plain 
young farmer, and made sketches and 
notes unsuspected. At length a Tory 
kinsman betrayed him, and he was taken 
before General Howe at the Beekman 
mansion in New York. Hale frankly 
avowed his name, rank and his char- 
acter of a spy, which his papers re- 
vealed, and Howe ordered him to be 
hanged the next morning ( .September 
22d, 1776 , without even the form of a 
trial. Hale met death with firmness. 
With unfaltering voice he said: "I only 



FIFTH PERIOD— THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE 



rci^rct tliat I lia\c but one life to lose 
for my country." These were the last 
words uttered by the young patriot, 
then only a little more than twenty-tine 
xears of age. 

Silas Deane was sent to France by 
Congress, in the spring of 1776, as a 
commercial agent to obtain supplies for 
an army. 

At that time, Beaumarchais, an irre- 
pressible Frenchman, conspicuous in the 
literary and political world of Paris, 
was a secret agent of the French gov- 
ernment in watching the course of the 
llritish ministry toward the colonies, 
and feeling the pulse of public opinion 
in England. 

Arthur Lee (brother of Richard 
Henry Lee), an aspiring young bar- 
rister, and whom Franklin had left in 
charge of the agency for Massachusetts 
when he returned to America, became 
acquainted with Beaumarchais's ex- 
pressed desire to aid the Americans. 
( ){ this he gave information to the Con- 
gress, through his brother, who was a 
member of that body. 

Early in the autumn of 1776, the 
Congress sent Dr. Franklin as a Com- 
missioner of the United States to the 
French Court, with Deane and Lee as 
bis assistants. The Congress had elab- 
orated a plan for a treaty with France, 
by which it was hoped the States 
would secure their independence. So 
first began the Foreign Diplomacy of 
the L^nited States. 

Washington had, early in his chief- 
taincy, urged upon the Congress the 
necessity of the establishment of a per- 
manent army, and with prophetic words 
had predicted the very evils arising 
from short enlistments and loose me- 
thods of creating officers, which now 
prevailed. But they were so afraid of 
the "military despotism" implied by a 
standing army, that much of the efficacy 
of this longer term of enlistment was 
neutralized by retaining the old method 
of levying troops by requisitions upon 
the several States. Yet he never des- 
paired nor uttered a petulant word of 
complaint, nor threatened to resign. 
His duty as a patriot and soldier was 
plain, and he pursued it. 



T"he crest of Mount Washington was 
crowned with a five-sided earthwork, 
named Fort Washington. It was two 
hundred and thirty feet above tide- 
water, a mile northward of headquar- 
ters at Harlem Heights, with strong 
ravelins and outworks, and motinting 
thirty-four great guns. This was the 
principal fortification within the Amer- 
ican lines, and was commanded by Gen. 
eral Putnam. General Greene, the best 
leader in the army, excepting Washing- 
ton, was in command of Fort Lee on 
the Palisades on the New Jersey shore. 

At this time General Charles Lee was 
making his way toward the camp. Pie 
had been called from the CaroHnas by 
the Congress, to take the chief com- 
mand of the army in the event of Wash- 
ington being disabled. His fame was 
very great, not because of an) thing of 
importance which he had done, but 
from what it was supposed he was 
capable of doing. But he was a char- 
latan, and afterward became a traitor 
to a cause which he really despised and 
supported only from base motives. 

John Adams, then the chairman of 
the lioard of War, gave Lee the confi- 
dence which he always withheld from 
Washington. When a letter from the 
commander-in-chief, warning the Con- 
gress of the great dangers to which 
his army was exposed, was read in that 
body, Adams treated it as the utter- 
ance of a timid man. "'The British 
force is so divided," he said, "they will 
do no great matter this fall ;" and at 
that critical moment, when his energy 
was most needed in his responsible posi- 
tion, he obtained leave of absence. 

In August, 1776, Howe landed on 
Long Island and defeated Washing- 
ton's troops under Sullivan on the 27th. 
Washington then, under cover of fog, 
crossed to New York and took position 
at Harlem Heights, where Howe at- 
tacked him, but was repulsed. At 
White Plains Washington received a 
reverse, and on November i6th Fort 
Washington on the Hudson was cap- 
tured by Howe, with 3,000 prisoners. 
Its unfortunate garrison filled the pris- 
ons of New York and crowded the 
British iirison-ships, wherein they were 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



dreadful sufferers. 

The Jersey was the most noted of the 
floating British prisons. .'^Ibe was the 
hulk of a 64-gun ship lately dismantled, 
and placed in W'allabout Bay near the 
present Brooklyn Navy Yard. Some- 
times more than a thousand prisoners 
were confined in her at one time, where 
they suffered indescribable horrors from 
unwholesome food, foul air, filth and 
vtrmin, and from small-pox, dysentery 
and prison fever, that slew them by 
scores. Their treatment was often 
brutal in the extreme, and despair 
reigned there almost continually. Every 
night, the living, the dying and the dead 
were huddled together. At sunset each 
day was heard the savage order, ac- 
companied by horrid imprecations — 
"Down, rebels, down !" and in the morn- 
ing the significant cry — "Rebels, turn 
out your dead!" The dead were then 
selected from the living, sewed up in 
blankets, taken upon deck, carried on 
shore and buried in shallow graves. 
Full eleven thousand victims were 
taken from the Jersey, and so buried, 
during the war. Their bones were 
gathered and placed in a vault by the 
Tammany Society of New York in 
1808, with imposing ceremonies. That 
vault is at the southwestern corner of 
the Navy Yard, where their remains 
still rest. Several years ago a magnifi- 
cent monument dedicated to the martyrs 
of the British prisons and prison-ships 
was erected in Trinity Churchyard, 
near Broadway, at a point over which 
speculators were trying to extend 
Albany street through the property of 
that corporation. The street was not 
opened. So patriotism triumphed over 
greed. 

The army in the North, sick and 
dispirited, halted, as we have seen, at 
Crown Point, whither General Gates 
was sent to take the command of them, 
General Sullivan retiring. Gates at 
once aspired to be chief of the Northern 
Department, then under the command 
of General Schuyler, and his preten- 
sions were supported by a small fac- 
tion in the Congress. 

Satisfied that Carleton would attempt 
thf recapture of the I^ake fortresses. 



so as to control the waters of Lake 
Champlain, the little army, by order 
of General Schuyler, withdrew from 
Crown Point and took post at Ticon- 
deroga, where they began the construc- 
tion of a flotilla of small war-vessels. 
By the middle of August, a little squad- 
ron was in readiness for service at 
Crown Point, and General Arnold was 
appointed its chief commander. 

When Carleton heard of the ship- 
building on the lake, he sent about seven 
hundred skilled workmen from Quebec 
to St. John, to prepare a fleet to cope 
with the Americans. In the course of 
a few weeks a considerable naval force 
was floating on the Sorel, and a strong 
land force under Burgoyne were on Isle 
aux Noix. On the nth of October, the 
British fleet defeated Arnold and he re- 
treated to Crown Point. 

Early in September, 1776, the Chero- 
kees, excited to hostilities by British 
emissaries, were defeated and subdued 
by the exasperated settlers. 

Governor Carleton, who was with his 
fleet, took possession of Crown Point 
on the 14th of October. Although he 
was within two hours' sail of Ticon- 
deroga, then garrisoned by only three 
thousand efTective men, with twenty- 
five hundred on Mount Independence 
opposite, he was too cautious to attempt 
its capture. At the beginning of No- 
vember, he fled back to Canada, with 
his troops, where he found himself 
about to be superseded in military com- 
mand by General Burgoyne. 

Washington with his little army near 
Fort Lee was on the Jersey shore. Pie 
was soon disturbed by Lord Cornwalhs, 
who, early on the morning of the 20th 
of November, crossed the Hudson from 
Dobb's Ferry to Closter's Landing, five 
miles above Fort Lee, and with ar- 
tillery climbed a steep, rocky road to 
the top of the Palisades, unobserved 
by Greene. That officer was told of 
his danger by a farmer, who awoke 
him from slumber. Greene gave warn- 
ing to Washington, who ordered Lee 
to cross the Hudson immediately and 
join him. Greene fled in haste from 
I*"ort Lee, with two thousand men, 
lea\'ing behind cannon, tents, stores 



FIFTH PERIOD— THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE 



and camp equipage, and barely escap- 
ing capture. Washington covered tlie 
retreat of the garrison so effectually 
that less than one hundred stragglers 
were made prisoners. 

It was now suspected tliat the Brit- 
ish would move on Philadelphia. Wash- 
ington, with his army, led by himself, 
and reduced to less than four thousand 
men, marched toward the Delaware to 
impede the progress of the invader as 
much as possible. His force decreased 
at almost every step. The patriotism 
of New Jersey seemed to be para- 
lyzed by the presence of a British 
army on the soil. Hundreds of re- 
[)ublicans — even men who had been ac- 
tive in the patriot cause — signed a 
pledge of fidelity to the British crown. 
During the twelve days that Washing- 
ton was making his way to the Dela- 
ware, so closely pursued by Cornwallis, 
that the rear-guard of the Americans 
often heard the music of the van-guard 
of the royal troops, he was chilled by 
the seeming indifference of the people. 
He halted at points as long as possible, 
for Lee to join him and so give him 
strength to make a stand against his 
pursuers ; but that officer, assuming 
that his was an independent command, 
paid no attention to the order of his 
superior. He was then evidently play- 
mg a desperate game of treason. Daily 
messages to him, urging him to push 
forward with his troops, did not affect 
him. He lingered long on the Hudson, 
until many of his soldiers had left him 
and gone home ; and he tried to induce 
Heath to weaken his force in the High- 
lands by assigning for duty under Lee, 
two thousand of his men. Failing in 
this, he moved slowly as far in the 
rear of Washington as possible ; and 
finally (eleven days after the chief had 
reached the Delaware), he took lodg- 
ings at Baskingridge in East Jersey, 
three miles from his camp, and nearer 
the enemy. There, on the morning of 
the 13th of December, he suffered him- 
self to be captured by a small British 
scout. General Sullivan led the rest of 
the troops to join Washington. Every- 
thing seemed to be going against the 
patriotic cause, and one more defeat 



must have crushed all present hope of 
independence. Washington rightly con- 
sidered that the Hessians at Trenton 
would be making merry at Christmas 
time. On that night (1776), crossing 
the Delaware in small boats during a 
blinding snowstorm, he captured the 
whole of the Hessians (1,000). This 
revived the hopes of the patriots. Lord 
Cornwallis now brought an army to 
Trenton to destroy Washington, but the 
latter stole away one night and on the 
morning of January 3, 1777, defeated 
the British at Princeton, and then 
marched to Morristown. Cornwallis 
then went back to New York. This 
rather disheartened the British, but 
they said it only postponed the end a 
short time, as General Burgoyne was 
coming from Canada with an army. 
It was the great military fault of the 
British generals that they jierpetually 
tried to hold territory rather than crush 
the American army. These mistakes 
cost them dear. Burgoyne was to come 
down from Canada and the plan, laid 
in London, was that another army 
under Colonel St. Leger should start 
from Oswego, while Howe should move 
up from New York and all three armies 
should join and operate against the ene- 
my. The story goes that the order to 
Howe was written out in London, but 
was corrected in several places. The 
Minister laid it aside to have a fair 
copy made, and forgot all about it, and 
it never reached New York. Burgoyne 
started with his army and Indian al- 
lies in the spring of 1777, but found 
his task more difficult than he expected. 
The roads through the woods were 
poor, and the Americans felled so many 
trees across them that it was slow work 
to move the army. Burgoyne heard of 
some supplies at Bennington, \^ermont, 
and sent a detachment of Hessians to 
destroy them. The Hessians were de- 
feated by Colonel John Stark, and his 
Green Mountain boys. St. Leger had 
started from Oswego and had raised a 
lot of Indians as allies. General Nich- 
olas Herkimer went to meet him, but 
was ambushed near Oriskany by a 
large force of British and Indians. Her- 
kimer was nuirtallv wounded and with- 



THE HOME Al'XILlARY AND REFEREXXE 



liix-w his forces. Arnold hastened to 
the rehef of Herkimer's troops, St. 
Leger retreated to Lake Ontario, and 
that part of the expedition failed. To 
meet Burgoyne there was a small but 
tolerably etTective army under General 
Schuyler, but he was removed on false 
suspicion, and General Horatio Gates, a 
vain mediocre man, given command. 
Burgoyne was now in a critical condi- 
tion. He had no help coming from any 
source, and his supplies were cut off 
from Canada. He fought an indecisive 
battle at Bemis Heights, and suffered 
a defeat near Saratoga, where Arnold 
fiercely attacked him. The poor Hes- 
sians were greatly alarmed and refused 
to fight any more. Burgoyne's army 
had dwindled to 6,000. He sur- 
rendered, October 17, 1777, to Gates, 
who thus obtained an honor he did not 
deserve. As a result of this, France 
recognized the Independence of the 
United States, loaned some money, 
promised a great deal of aid on land 
and sea, very little of which was really 
performed; but it was a great advan- 
tage to us, as England had to fight 
I'Yance once more, who was now joined 
by Spain and later by Holland. 

One would suppose that General 
Howe would naturally want to hunt up 
Washington's army and defeat it. In- 
stead he decided to capture Philadel- 
phia, and at the same time hold New 
York. He sailed southward, but did 
not come up the Delaware, choosing the 
Chesapeake. Washington marched to 
Wilmington, Delaware, and up the 
Brandy wine to Chadd's Ford. Here he 
met the British, and for a time pre- 
vented the crossing, but a detachment 
of the latter crossed further up the 
stream and outflanked Washington, Sep- 
tember II, 1777, who was compelled to 
retreat. In this battle General Laf- 
ayette, a young French nobleman who 
had come to our aid, was wounded. 
Washington retreated and Howe en- 
tered Philadelphia. Washington at- 
tacked him in the suburbs of the city 
at Germantown, October 4, 1777, but 
owing to a fog and tactical mistakes, he 
was defeated and retired to Valley 
Forge on the Schuylkill for winter 



f|uartcrs. Howe s|ient the winter in 
Philadelphia, but accomplished abso- 
lutely nothing in a military way. Many 
of the Philadelphians, especially the 
Quakers, were opposed to the war any- 
way, and Howe simply divided his 
forces without accomplishing anything. 

That winter at Valley Forge was one 
of the darkest periods of the war. 
Through the impotence of Congress, 
tile rascality of contractors, and the 
lack of system, the army was often 
without food or clothing. I\Ien went 
barefoot in the snow and many froze 
to death or starved. During this win- 
tei a damnable pint on the part of some 
of the officers and men in civil life was 
hatched to supplant Washington. This 
conspiracy, known as the Conway 
Cabal, was discovered, but its authors 
were not punished. The only ray of 
light was the fact that Baron Steuben, 
an accomplished German officer, had 
come over, and by the greatest expen- 
diture of energy had drilled the troops 
so that they were more effective than 
ever before. Howe was now succeeded 
by Sir Henry Clinton, who evacuated 
Philadelphia. Washington started after 
him and overtook him at Monmouth, 
New Jersey, where he delivered battle, 
June 28, 1778. The treacherous Lee, 
who had been exchanged, insisted on 
taking the lead, but had scarcely be- 
gun to fight when he retreated. For- 
tunately \\^ashington came up in time 
to arrest Lee and continue the battle. 
The British retreated to New York as 
fast as they could, losing men and muni- 
tions on the way. Washington marched 
up the Hudson to West Point. A 
French fleet came over and an attack 
was made on a British garrison at New- 
port without success. There was little 
fighting in the North for the rest of the 
year, except that small bands of Brit- 
ish raided Connecticut without doing 
serious damage. One of the strongest 
British fortifications on the Hudson was 
Stony Point. One dark night General 
Anthony Wayne carried it by assault 
with little loss. This is considered one 
of the most brilliant events in military 
history. 

Late in 1775, the Congress ordered 



FIFTH PERIOD— THE WAR I'OR IXDEPEXDEXCE 



tlic establishment of a Continental na\ y. 
The thirteen vessels then authorized to 
be built or purchased were furnished 
early in 1776, and these, with many 
])rivateers. did good service on the 
ocean. 

Esek Hopkins, of Rhode Island, was 
appointed coniniander-in-chicf of the 
little Continental navy. The avowed 
object of the armament was to inter- 
cept British vessels bearing supplies for 
the British armies in America, but the 
Continental war-ships were fref|uently 
more aggressive. Hopkins sailed on his 
first cruise in February, 1776. He left 
the Delaware with a small squadron of 
five vessels, carrying an aggregate of 
ninety-eight guns. The Alfred. 28, was 
his flag-ship, and his first-lieutenant 
was John Paul Jones, who afterward 
became famous. Jones raised on the 
.1 If red, in the Delaware, in December, 
1775, the first American ensign e\er 
shown on an American vessel-of-war. 
Hopkins's captains were Whipple, Bid- 
die, J. B. Hopkins and Hazard, all of 
them, but Biddle, Rhode Island men. 
The first cruise was against Lord Dun- 
more, then distressing the Virginia 
coast. Hopkins extended his cruise to 
the Bahama Islands to capture British 
stores at Nassau, New Providence, and 
was successful. Among the spoils were 
one hundred cannon. Retiring, he 
o])erated ofif the New England coasts : 
but the Congress censured him for de- 
parting from the line of his instruc- 
tions, and dismissed him from the ser- 
vice. His lieutenant, Jones, was placed 
in command of the Alfred, the follow- 
ing autumn. No naval commander-in- 
chief was subsequently appointed. 

Jones was always successful. While 
in command of the Providence, in Sep- 
tember, 1776, he was chased by two 
British ships-of-war off the Carolina 
coasts, but escaped, and sailing east- 
ward as far as Nova Scotia, he cap- 
tured and carried into Newport fifteen 
prizes. Aleanwhile Whipple and Bid- 
die were equally successful ofl:' the east- 
ern coasts ; and the New England col- 
ony vessels were very active. These, 
and the Continental cruisers, deprived 
the British army of about five hundred 



si.ildiers during the summer and fall 
of 1776. No less than three hundred 
and forty-two British vessels fell into 
the hands of the Americans that year. 

In the fall of 1776, the Continental 
ship Reprisal, Captain Wickes, carried 
Dr. Franklin, as American Commis- 
sioner, to France, where she cruised 
in European waters, the first Ameri- 
can armed ship that had appeared there. 
She captured se\eral British jjrizes in 
the Bay of Biscay. .Among these was 
the royal English packet on its way 
from F"alniouth to Lisbon. These 
prizes were sold in French ports, and 
the proceeds were used by the Ameri- 
can commissioners in Paris for purchas- 
ing other vessels in French ports. In 
the summer of 1777, Wickes, with a 
little squadron of three vessels, sailed 
entirely around Ireland, sweeping the 
channel in its whole breadth, and cap- 
turing or destroying a great number 
of British merchant vessels. This cruise 
produced a powerful impression on 
the public mind in England, and France 
was required to renounce its friendshi]) 
for the rebellious colonists or pronounce 
a disclaimer. Policy, then, dictated the 
latter course, and the .American vessels 
were ordered to leave the French coast. 
When the Reprisal was returning home- 
ward, she was wrecked on the coast 
of Newfoundland, and Captain Wickes 
and all of his people but the cook per- 
ished. 

Early in 1777, the Randolph. Captain 
Biddle, sailed on her first cruise. She 
was successful ; but in the spring of 
1778, while fighting a British vessel- 
of-war, she blew up, and Biddle and 
all of his crew perished, excepting four 
men. During 1777, Captains Manly, 
McNeil, Saltonstall, Olney, Hinman, 
Thompson and others made successful 
cruises: and the year closed with a less 
to the British of four hundred and 
sixty-se\en merchantmen, notwithstand- 
ing they had seventy vessels-of-war in 
American waters. 

Soon after the conclusion of the treaty 
of alliance in 1778, French vcssels-of- 
v.'ar went out on the ocean to co-operate 
with the .\mericans. and the Congress 
fitted out some more armed ships at 



176 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AXD REFERENCE 



the same time. Among thcni, the .11- 
liancc, ^2, became the favorite ship of 
the patriots. The most conspicuous 
naval operations of that year were the 
cruise of the Providence, Captain Rath- 
burne, to the Bahamas; of the Raleigh, 
Captain Thompson, and the Alfred, 
Captain Hinman, from L'Orient ; the 
J'irginia, Captain Nicholson, on the 
American coast ; of John Paul Jones in 
the Ranger, in British waters, and of 
Captain Barry in the Raleigh, in the 
waters of the Atlantic ocean. The ^-U- 
fred was captured in March, 1778, by 
two British war-ships, in European 
waters, and at about the same time the 
Virginia was lost in Chesapeake Bay. 
Early in April (1778), Jones appeared 
in British waters for the first time. The 
Ranger was an inferior vessel, and yet 
lier commander, after making some im- 
portant captures in the British Chan- 
nel, undertook the bold task of seizing 
the English ship-of-war Drake, lying in 
the harbor of Carrickfergus, Ireland. 
He failed. Then he sailed to the Eng- 
lish coast, entered the port of White- 
haven, seized the forts, spiked the can- 
non, and, setting fire to a ship in the 
midst of a hundred other vessels, de- 
parted. The flames were extinguished 
and the shipping was saved ; and from 
that day to this, the name of Jones 
has been associated in the English mind 
with ideas of piracy and devastation, 
and he is called a "pirate" and "cor- 
sair" by English historians. His ex- 
ploit spread terror along the British 
coasts, and produced a profound sen- 
sation throughout the kingdom. 

Emboldened by this success, Jones 
proceeded to the coast of his native 
country (Scotland), cruised up and 
down between the Solway and the 
Clyde, and attempted the capture of 
the Earl of Selkirk, at his seat near the 
mouth of the Dec. The earl was the 
early friend of Jones's father ; and be- 
neath his majestic oak and huge chest- 
nut trees our hero had played in his 
boyhood. He anchored the Ranger in 
the Solway at noon, and with a few 
men in a single boat, went to the 
wooded promontory on which the earl's 
fine mansion stood, where he learned 



that his lordship was absent. Disap- 
pointed, he ordered his men back to the 
boat, when his lieutenant, a large and 
fiery man, proposed to carry away the 
plate of the earl, in imitation of Eng- 
lish plunderers on the American coasts. 
Jones would not entertain the proposal. 
The memory of old associations forbade 
it. He was standing in the shadows 
of the old wood wherein he had enjoyed 
life in his childhood. From the hand 
of Lady Selkirk he had received noth- 
ing but kindness. Again he ordered liis 
men back, but they and the lieutenant, 
eager for prize money, made his ex- 
postulations vain, and he ordered them 
to perform, what he deemed to be a 
iviean robbery, with the greatest deli- 
cacy. The frightened Lady Selkirk de- 
livered up the plate with her own 
hands : and when the marauders re- 
turned to the boat, they found Jones 
walking moodily among the old trees. 
He had laid his plans for the future. 
When the prizes of the Ranger were 
sold in the harbor of Brest, in May, he 
bought the plate and returned it to Lady 
Selkirk with a letter, in which he ex- 
pressed his regret because of the an- 
noyance she had suffered. 

Late in Apn'l, Jones again appeared 
oflF Carrickfergus, when the Drake went 
out to give the Ranger battle. They 
fought more than an hour, when the 
Drake, much shattered, and forty of 
her men slain, surrendered. With this 
prize Jones went around Ireland and 
arrived at Brest on the 8th of May. 
Meanwhile D'Estaing had sailed for the 
Delaware, and his arrival made the 
American cruisers more active and bold. 
Captain Barry performed some notable 
exploits in the fall of 1778: and early 
in 1779, the Alliance. Captain Landais. 
sailed for France, bearing Lafayette, 
who went home to urge his king to send 
troops to America. 

During the spring and summer of 
1779, the American cruisers were verv 
active. In March, the Hanifyden, a 
Massachusetts ship, had a severe fight 
with an English Indiaman. and was 
much damaged, but escaped capture. In 
April, Captain J. B. Hopkins, .sailing 
on a cruise from Boston, captured sev- 



FIFTH PFRIOD— THF WAR FOR INDFPFNDENCE 



cral British vessels bound for Georgia 
w itli supplies for Prevost. In June, 
Captains Whipple and Rathburne, in 
command of two ships, captured several 
British merchant-vessels under con- 
voy of a ship-of-the-line. In a money 
point of view, this was one of the most 
successful enterprises of the war. The 
estimated value of eight of the prizes 
taken into Boston was over a million 
dollars. 

While these events were occurring 
in the western hemisphere, the French 
monarch and the American commis- 
sioners joined in sending Paul Jones, 
with five vessels, from L'Orient to the 
coast of Scotland, at the micldle of 
August. His flag-ship was the Boii- 
Hoiutnc Richard. Just as he was about 
to strike some armed British vessels, 
in the harbor of Leith, a storm arose, 
which drove his squadron into the 
Xorth Sea. When the tempest sub- 
sided he drew near the land, and cruis- 
ing along the coast of Scotland, he cap- 
tured thirteen prizes by the middle of 
September. Consternation prevailed 
along the coast, and many people buried 
their plate to keep the "pirate's" hands 
from it. 

Later in September, while the squad- 
ron of Jones lay a few leagues north 
of the mouth of the Humber. he dis- 
covered the Baltic fleet of forty mer- 
chantment, convoyed by the Scrapis. a 
44-gun ship, and the Countless of Scar- 
borough, of 22 guns, stretching sea- 
ward from behind Flamborough Head. 
Here was a tempting prize for which 
he had sought. Jones signalled for a 
general chase, and all but the Alliance, 
Captain Landais, obeyed. The l^)ritish 
vessels immediately prepared to defend 
the merchantmen : and while they and 
the Richard and Pallas were manoeuv- 
ring for advantage, night fell upon the 
scene. The darkness did not restrain 
the impetuous Jones. At seven o'clock 
in the evening, the Richard was within 
musket-shot distance of the Serapis. 
when one of the most desperate naval 
fights ever recorded began. The wind 
was slack, and as the vessels were 
struggling for the weather-guage, they 
came in contact. Their spars and rig- 



ging were entangled, when Jones, at 
the head of his men, attempted to board 
the Serapis. After a sharp and close 
contest with pike, pistol and cutlass, he 
was repulsed, when Captain Pearson of 
the Serapis, who could not see the en- 
sign of the Richard, called out: "Has 
your flag been struck?" Jones shouted, 
"1 have not begun to fight yet." 

The vessels now separated, and Jones 
attempted to lay his ship athwart the 
hawser of his enemy. He failed, and 
the wind brought the two ships broad- 
side to broadside, the muzzles of the 
guns touching each other. Jones in- 
stantly lashed the ships together, and 
in that close embrace they poured their 
terrible volleys into each other with aw- 
ful effect. From deck to deck of the 
entangled vessels the combatants madly 
rushed, fighting like demons. Very 
soon the Richard was pierced between 
wind and water with several 1 8-pound 
balls, and began to fill. The ten greater 
guns were silenced, and only three g- 
pounders kept up the cannonade ; but 
the marines in the round top of the 
Richard sent deadly volleys of bullets 
down upon the struggling Englishmen. 
Ignited combustibles were scattered 
over the Serapis; and at one time she 
was on fire in a dozen places. Some 
cartridges were ignited on her lower 
deck and blew up the whole of the offi- 
cers and men that were quartered abaft 
the mainmast. At half-past nine, just 
as the moon rose in a cloudless sky, 
the Richard was discovered to be on 
fire, also, and a scene of appalling gran- 
deur was presented. In the midst of 
smoke and half- smothered flame, and 
the incessant roar of great guns, men 
as furious as wounded tigers were seen 
struggling hand-to-hand for the mas- 
tery. At that moment a cry was raised 
on the Richard — "The ship is sinking !" 
.\ frightened gunner ran aft to pull 
down the .American flag, when he found 
the halyards cut away. He cried, 
"Quarter, quarter!" until he was sil- 
enced by a blow from a discharged 
pistol which Jones hurled at his head. 
It fractured his skull, and sent him 
headlong down the gangway. "Did you 
ask for quarter?" shouted Pearson. 



178 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REEEREXCE 



"Never!" replied Jones. "Then I'll 
give you none," answered the enraged 
Englishman ; and the desperate fight 
went on more fiercely than before. 

The situation of Junes was becom- 
ing, every moment, more critical, for 
his ship could not float much longer. 
Nothing appeared more hopeless than 
his prospect for victory. Yet he won 
it. The flames crept up the rigging 
of the Scrapis, and by their glow and 
the full light of the moon, Jones saw 
that his double-headed shot had almost 
cut Pearson's mainmast in two. He 
hurled another shot upon it, until the 
tall mast reeled. Pearson saw his great 
peril, and striking his flag, surrendered 
to his really weaker foe. Enveloped in 
sparks and smoke, Pearson said, in a 
surly manner, as he hurriedly handed 
his sabre to Jones : "It is painful to de- 
liver up my sword to a man who has 
fought with a rope around his neck." 
Jones courteously replied, as he re- 
turned the weapon: "Sir, you have 
fought like a hero, and I make no 
doubt your sovereign will reward you 
.in the most ample maimer." The king 
knighted Pearson. When Jones heard 
of it, he said : "Well, he deserves it ; 
and if I fall in with him again, I'll make 
a lord of him." 

The battle ceased after raging three 
hours. Fire was consuming both shi]:)S, 
and all hands turned to fighting the 
flames. They did so successfully. The 
vessels were soon disengaged, when the 
mast of the Serapis. which had been 
kept erect by the entangled spars and 
rigging, fell with a tremendous crash. 
carrying with it the mizzen-topmast. 
The Richard was damaged past recov- 
ery, and now settled rapidly. Every 
living person was transferred to the 
Scrapis. and sixteen hours afterward 
the gallant Bon Houunc Richard went 
down into the valleys of the North Sea. 

The Countess of Scarborough, Cap- 
tain Contineau, surrendered to the Pal- 
las after an hour's fight, notwithstand- 
ing the treacherous Landais brought 
the guns of the Alliance to bear upon 
the latter as he had ujjon the Richard. 
pretending to have mistaken them, in 
the darkness, for the ships of the ene- 



my. This brilliant \ictory was achieved 
on the night of the 23d of September. 
The Baltic fleet had taken shelter be- 
hind Flamborough Head. After toss- 
ing about on the Northern Sea ten days, 
Jones ran into the Texel, Holland, with 
his little squadron^ and prizes, only a 
few hours before eleven English ships- 
of-war that had been sent after him, ap- 
peared in the offing. A demand was 
made upon Holland to deliver up the 
prizes, and Jones and his men, to the 
English authorities. By adroit diplo- 
macy, the States-General refused, with- 
out involving themselves in trouble 
with the British government ; and Jones, 
instead of being conveyed to England 
as a "corsair," was put in command of 
the Alliance, and did good service for 
the Americans afterward. His fame 
spread through the civilized world. 
The French monarch gave him an ele- 
gant gold-mounted sword, bearing on 
its blade the words : "Louis XVI, Re- 
warder of the J^aliant Asserter of the 
Freedom of the Sea." He also created 
him a knight of the Order of Merit. 
Catharine of Russia conferred on him 
the ribbon of St. .\nne : and from Den- 
mark he received marks of distinction 
and a pension. The United States 
thanked him cordially, and eight years 
afterward gave him a gold medal. 

The exploits of Jones exasperated 
and alarmed the British. They made 
even hea\y line-of-battle-ships shy of 
him. 

There was no more fighting in the 
North, but the scene shifted to the 
South, where the campaigns were ac- 
tive, and where the British showed bet- 
ter generalship than in the North. 
Early in the war a British attack had 
been made on Charleston, but it failed. 
Later Savannah was captured, and the 
-State of Georgia fell into British hands. 
When in the winter of 1778-9 Clinton 
seized Sa\annah, a combined French 
and American force under General 
Lincoln besieged the city, but could not 
dislodge the British. An assault was 
made, but failed, with a terrible loss of 
life. In 1780 Clinton transferred the 
seat of war to the South and came with 
an army and captured Charleston. 



FIFTH PFRIOD— THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE 



179 



(iding back to Xew York, Cornwallis 
was left in command, with Lord Raw- 
don next in rank. Another prominent 
figure was Colonel Tarletoii, who com- 
n^anded the British cavalry. These 
three men acted with promptness and 
\ igor. Gates, flushed with pride over 
liis success in the North, was in com- 
mand of the American army in South 
Carolina. It was not a well disciplined 
force, but might have done well under 
an able commander. Cornwallis met 
tliis army August 16, 1780, at Cam- 
den and routed it almost completely. 
It was the worst American defeat of 
the war. For the time this broke up 
organized resistance on the part of the 
.\niericans, but Generals Sumter and 
Marion, with small bodies of horsemen, 
continued to harass the British at every 
possible point. The daring of these men, 
the swiftness with which they would ap- 
pear and as suddenly disappear, gained 
them the name of "swamp foxes." The 
British horsemen were too confident 
that they had put down all opposition. 
While many of the people were Tories, 
there were many patriots left, who con- 
tinued the war. In October over 1,000 
British went as far west as King's 
^fountain, in \orth Carolina. Here the 
Americans hastily gathered a force 
largely of mountaineer riflemen, who 
suddenly fell on the British and killed 
or captured them all. 

Clinton attempted, by the aid of trea- 
son, to accomplish what he had failed 
to do by honorable warfare. The man 
who played the part of a traitor to the 
.\merican cause on that occasion was 
C.eneral Benedict Arnold, a brave sol- 
dier, but a bad man. He was ambitious 
of personal renown, impulsive, rapa- 
cious, unscrupulous and vindictive ; per- 
sonally very unpopular, and seldom 
without a C|uarrel with some of his fel- 
low-officers. The sad stor\- of his trea- 
son has been so often told in detail, 
that we need to give it in general out- 
line only. 

Soon after the appointment to the 
military governorship of Philadelphia, 
in 1778, he married the beautiful daugh- 
ter of Edward Shippen, a leading loval- 
ist of that city. He lived in a s'tvle 



which caused expenditure beyond his 
income, and to meet the demands of 
importunate creditors, he engaged in 
fraudulent and dishonorable official acts 
which caused the public to detest him. 
Finally serious charges of dishonest\- 
were preferred against him before the 
Continental Congress : and a court- 
martial ordered by that body to try him, 
found him guilty. In their sentence 
they treated him most leniently. It 
was a simple reprimand by the com- 
mander-in-chief. That duty was per- 
formed by Washington in the most 
delicate manner : but the disgrace awak- 
ened vengeful feelings in the bosom of 
Arnold. These, operating with the 
pressure of debt, made him listen to 
the suggestions of a bad nature ; and he 
let Sir Henry Clinton know that he pre- 
ferred service in the British army to 
that in which he was engaged. Corre- 
spondence upon the subject, which was 
continued several months, was con- 
ducted on the part of Sir Henry, 
through the accomplished Major Andre, 
his adjutant-general, under an assumed 
name. So, also did Arnold assume a 
fictitious name ; and on the part of 
both, the correspondence was carried 
'on in commercial phraseology. Arnold 
agreed to ask for the command of the 
strong post of ^^'est Point and its de- 
pendencies, in the Hudson Highlands, 
and, if obtained, to betray it into the 
bauds of Clinton. For thisi service 
Arnold was to receive the commission 
of brigadier in the British army and 
fifty thousand dollars in gold. It is 
asserted by Mr. Bancroft that "in the 
course of the winter of 1778-1779, he 
was taken into the pay of Clinton, to 
whom he gave on every occasion most 
material intelligence." 

The nefarious plot had been made 
known to the British minister, and he 
and Clinton believed that its consum- 
mation would end the war. In the 
spring of 1780, Arnold took lueasures 
to secure for himself the command of 
West Point. He enlisted the sym- 
pathies and services in his behalf of 
General Schuyler, Robert R. Living- 
ston and other leading patriots in New 
York, pretending that his wounds 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



would riol ijcnnit him to do active ser- 
vice in the field, and that he was very 
anxious to serve his country. Mis pro- 
fessions of patriotism were so vehe- 
ment that he deceived those men, and 
they united in recommending Washing- 
ton to give him the important position. 
The latter had lost faith in Arnold's 
integrity, but could not believe him 
capable of treason to the cause. He 
finally yielded to the request of others 
more than to the dictates of his better 
judgment, and in August ( 1780) he 
placed Arnold in command of the High- 
land forts, with his headquarters at the 
house of Beverly Robinson (yet stand- 
ing), opposite West Point. Then 
Arnold bent all his energies for the 
consummation of his treason, first re- 
quiring a personal interview with 
Andre, to make a definite arrangement 
about the terms of the bargain. 

It was late in September before that 
personal interview was held. Wash- 
ington, accompanied by Lafayette and 
Hamilton, crossed the Hudson at Ver- 
planck's Point (where he was joined 
by Arnold), on his way to Hartford, to 
have his first personal conference with 
Rochambeau there. That was on the 
i8th. Arnold ascertained the time 
when they might be expected at West 
Point, on their return, and he resolved 
to bring the plot to a point ready for 
the final act before them. He immedi- 
ately informed Clinton of the situation, 
and desired him to send Andre up the 
river to the Vulture sloop-of-war, then 
lying just above Teller's (now Croton) 
Point, to which a boat with a flag would 
be sent to convey the major to a selected 
place of meeting between midnight and 
dawn. Clinton embarked troops on the 
Hudson, with a pretext that they were 
bound for the Chesapeake. These he 
intended to lead in person against the 
Highland forts. 

On the morning of the 20th Andre- 
departed from Dobb's Ferry for the 
I'ulture; but it was the second night 
after his arrival, when the flag ap- 
peared, borne by Joshua H. Smith, a 
resident near Haverstraw. Andre had 
been instructed by Clinton not to change 
his dress and not to take any papers 



with him ; so, with his regimentals, cov- 
ered with a long surtout, he went ashore 
and met Arnold in bushes at the foot 
of Thorn Mountain, near Haverstraw, 
by the light of a waning moon. Dawn 
was approaching before the interview 
was ended ; and the conspirators 
mounted horses which Arnold had 
provided, and rode to the house of 
Smith before the break of day. At 
sunrise, cannons were heard upon the 
river, and the J^ulture was seen to fall 
down the stream, out of sight, to avoid 
the effects of artillery trained upon her 
at Teller's Point. This gave Andre un- 
easiness, for he would be compelled to 
return to New York by land. 

The conference at Smith's house 
lasted several hours. It was agreed 
that Arnold should so distribute the 
garrison at West Point as to weaken it. 
When it should be known that the 
British troops were ascending the river, 
Arnold was to apply to Washington at 
Tappan for reinforcements; and after 
making a show of resistance, he was to 
surrender the post in time for Clinton 
to fall upon the approaching troops 
which might be led by the commander- 
in-chief in person. So, at one blow, 
Washington's army was to be ruined, 
and the important post to be seized by 
the enemy. 

Andre received from Arnold a writ- 
ten statement of the condition of the 
Highland forts, and a pass for "John 
Anderson" (his assumed name) "to the 
White Plains and beyond." With the 
latter in his pocket and the former 
under his feet, in his boots, the young 
officer, having exchanged his scarlet 
uniform for a coat that belonged to Mr. 
Smith, buttoned his surtout up to his 
chin, crossed the river at the King's 
Ferry, and on horseback made his way 
toward New York on the east side of 
the Hudson. So far the plot had 
worked well. Knowledge of the con- 
spiracy was yet locked in the bosom of 
a single American — the traitor himself. 
But difficulties soon arose. When the 
major had reached the vicinity of Tar- 
rytown, sixteen miles from the strong 
British post at King's Bridge, and was 
riding in fancied security up the gentle 



FIFTH PERIOD— THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE 



hill from Sleepy Hollow, he was sud- 
denly confronted hy three young mil- 
itiamen — John Paulding, Isaac Van 
Wart and David Williams — who be- 
longed to a party of seven who were 
out to prevent cattle being driven from 
the vicinity to the British lines and to 
arrest any suspicious characters on the 
highway. These young men were play- 
ing cards in the shadow of a wood by 
the road side, when Andre appeared. 
Paulding, followed by his companions, 
stepped into the road, and presenting 
his bayonet ordered the well-dressed 
"gentlemanly traveler" to stop. Andre, 
supposing them to be Loyalists, said : 
"Gentlemen, I hope you belong to our 
party." "Which party?" asked Pauld- 
ing. "The Lower party." Paulding an- 
swered misleadingly, "We do," when 
Andre said, "Gentlemen, I am a Brit- 
ish officer, out in the country on par- 
ticular business, and hope you will not 
detain me a minute." He then showed 
them his watch in token of his being an 
officer, when Paulding ordered him to 
dismount. Perceiving his mistake, 
Andre said: "My God! I must do any- 
thing to get along," and then showed 
them Arnold's pass. "Gentlemen," he 
said, "you had best let me go, or you 
will bring yourselves into trouble, for 
your stopping me will detain the gen- 
eral's business." He told them he was 
going to Dobb's Ferry to meet a per- 
son there from whom he expected im- 
portant intelligence for Arnold. Pauld- 
ing courteously said : "I hope you'll not 
be offended ; we do not intend to take 
anything from you ; there are many bad 
people on the road, and you, perhaps 
are one of them. Have you any let- 
ters?" He answered, "No." Then 
they took him into the bushes and 
searched him. Andre was dressed in a 
blue surtout, a claret-colored body-coat 
trimmed with lace ; nankeen waistcoat 
and breeches ; flannel underclothes, 
round hat and thread stockings and 
boots. They stripped him to his shirt, 
but foinid no papers on him ; and they 
were about to let him go, when it was 
suggested that something might be con- 
cealed in his boots. He reluctantly 
obeyed an order to pull them off, when 



the papers alluded to were found be- 
tween his stockings and his feet. "This 
is a spy!" exclaimed Paulding. Andre 
oft'ered them large bribes to release him. 
"Not for ten thousand guineas," said 
Paulding ; and the three young men con- 
ducted their prisoner to Lieutenant- 
Colonel Jameson, who was in command 
of the nearest military post, at North 
Castle. Jameson, with amazing stupid- 
ity, resolved to send the prisoner to 
.'\rnold. Major Tallmadge, next in 
rank, suspecting the general of treach- 
ery, warmly remonstrated, when Jame- 
son consented to confine the captive 
until he should receive orders from 
Washington or Arnold. He insisted 
upon writing a letter to Arnold inform- 
ing him of the arrest of the prisoner. 
This was a fatal blunder, and led to 
great mischief. 

That night the prisoner wrote a let- 
tei to Washington, frankly announcing 
his name and rank, and giving a truth- 
ful account of the whole affair. He 
gave the letter to Tallmadge, to read, 
who was astonished to find that the 
captive was Major Andre, adjutant- 
general of the British army. He was 
finally taken to the headquarters of the 
army at Tappan. 

While these events were occurring, 
Washington was on his way from Hart- 
ford. On the morning of the 25th 
(September, 1780), he and his attend- 
ants left Fishkill before the dawn, and 
rode on with speed toward the Rob- 
inson house to breakfast with General 
and Mrs. Arnold. When near there, the 
chief turned down a lane to view a bat- 
tery on the brink of the river, and told 
his young companions to go forward 
and he would soon join them. While 
they were at the table with the general, 
a messenger brought a letter to him 
from Jameson ; but instead of announ- 
cing, as he expected he would, that a 
British armament was ascending the 
river, it told him of the arrest of ]\Ta- 
jor Andre. His presence of mind did 
not forsake him. He told his guests 
that business of importance demanded 
his presence at West Point immedi- 
ately. He ascended to his wife's 
chamber and sent for her. There, 



THE HOME ArXILTARY AND REFERENCE 



in brief and hurried words, lie told her 
that they must instantly part, perhajis 
forever, for his life depended upon his 
reaching the British lines as ([uickly 
as possible. Horror-stricken, the poor 
young creature, one year a mother but 
not two a bride, swooned and sank 
senseless upon the floor. Arnold dared 
not call for help, but kissing with lips 
blasted by words of guilt and treason, 
his boy then sweetly sleeping, he rushed 
from the room, mounted a horse be- 
longing to one of his guests, and has- 
tened to the river along a byway yet 
known as Arnold's Path. Then he en- 
tered his barge, and directed his six 
oarsmen to push out into the middle of 
the river and pull for Teller's Point. 
They were ignorant of his errand, and 
having their muscles stimulated by a 
promise of two gallons of rum, they 
rowed the little vessel swiftly down the 
stream to the I'lilturc. Having made 
himself known to the commander, 
Arnold rewarded his faithful men with 
the fate of prisoners instead of the 
promised beverage. Clinton, despising 
the traitor's meanness, set them at lib- 
erty when the I'lilture arrived at New 
York. 

Washington arrived at Robinson's 
house just after Arnold had left. .\o 
one there, excepting Airs. .A.rnold in her 
chamber, knew of the traitor's flight. 
Supposing he had gone over to West 
Point, the chief crossed the river, and 
did not return until near noon. He was 
met near the landing-place by Hamil- 
ton, into whose hand a messenger from 
Jameson had placed the proof of 
Arnold's guilt — the papers taken from 
Andre's boots, and the major's letter to 
Washington. Efforts were immediately 
made to overtake the traitor, but he had 
four hours the start, and escaped, as 
we have observed. The fugitive's wife 
was crazed by the shock for several 
hours, and her condition e.xcited the 
warmest sympathy of the chief and his 
attendants. She pressed her infant to 
her bosom and lamented his fate be- 
cause of the conduct of his father. 
"All the sweetness of beauty, all the 
loveliness of innocence, all the tender- 
ness of a wife, and all the fondness of 



a mother," wrote Colonel Hamilton, 
"showed themselves in her appearance 
and conduct." They believed that she 
was entirely ignorant of his crime until 
it was revealed to her at the time of 
his flight. 

Major Andre was tried at Tappan by 
fourteen general officers, found guilt\-, 
and hanged there on the 2d of October, 
1780. He begged to be shot that he 
might die like a soldier and not as a. spy. 
In a letter to Washington he pleaded 
with touching but manly earnestness for 
this boon. 

The usage of both armies and the im- 
placable demands of the military code 
toward a spy forbade a compliance with 
his wishes. The British officers, on all 
occasions, had been quick to hang 
American captives. We have seen how 
brutally they gibbeted young Nathan 
liale; and scores of patriots in South 
Carolina had recently perished by the 
rope by order of Cornwallis, for no 
other oflfence than loving the serxice 
of their own country better than that 
of their oppressors. Every officer in 
the American army would gladly have 
exchanged .Andre for Arnold, and ef- 
forts to accomplish that end were made, 
but failed. .Arnold died in his bed 
twenty-one years afterward ; wlvle 
Andre, the more innocent victim of the 
wicked complot of Clinton and Arnold, 
perished on a gibbet four days after he 
was convicted. 

Washington now sent General 
Greene, one of his most trusted offi- 
cers, to take command in the South. 
With difficulty a small army was raised. 
It was officered admirably by Generals 
Daniel Morgan, "Light-Horse" Harry 
Lee and William Washington. These 
made one of the most remarkable com- 
paigns in history. They won but a sin- 
gle victory of the first importance, and 
were several times defeated, but won 
the campaign. January 17, 1781, Col- 
onel Tarleton fell on General Morgan 
at the Cowpens and was defeated and 
almost annihilated. The Americans had 
the smaller force and lost but twelve 
men killed. Greene ne.xt met Corn- 
wallis at Guildford, North Carolina. It 
was a hard-fought battle, but Greene 



FIFTH PFRIOD— niE WAR FOR IXDEPEXDEXCE 



iS.^ 



had to retire. Cornwallis did not fol- 
low, but went to \'irginia to recuper- 
ate. The moral effect of the campaign 
was favorable to the Americans. 
Greene was hard pu.'ihed by Cornwallis 
and had retreated northward until 
ready to fight, when he chose his own 
ground. Pretty soon Greene returned 
South and was defeated by Rawdon at 
Hobkirk"s Hill and Eiitaw Springs, but 
he so manoeuvercd that he cleared the 
Ilritish out of the interior, and the cam- 
paign was a decided success. In \'ir- 
ginia Cornwallis found Arnold in com- 
mand of a British force. He sent the 
traitor to New York, and took pos- 
session of Yorktown, which was of no 
possible use to him. For some reason 
not entirely clear, but with the idea he 
was obeying orders, he fortified the 
place, and he and Lafayette with a 
small army had played at hide and seek 
with each other. When \\'ashington 
heard about Cornwallis' position, he 
feinted as if about to attack New York, 
but swifty moved South and besieged 
Cornwallis with the aid of some French 
troops brought by Admiral De Grasse, 
who had been long cooped up in New- 
liort. but had escaped. For the first 
time in the war the military odds were 
against the British, and escape was im- 
])ossible. Cornwallis surrendered Oc- 
t(-,ber 10, 1781, and the war was prac- 
tically over. 

Great was the exultation and joy of 
the .\mericans as the news of the sur- 
render went from lip to lip throughout 
the Union. Lieutenant-Colonel Tighl- 
man, one of Washington's aids, rode ex- 
pressly to Philadelphia to carry the de- 
spatches of his chief announcing the 
joyful tidings to the Congress. It was 
midnight (October 23d) when he en- 
tered the city. Thomas IMcKean. then 
President of the Congress, resided on 
High .Street, near Second Street. 
Tighlman knocked so violently at his 
door that a watchman was disposed to 
arrest him as a disturber of the peace. 
]\fcKean arose, received the messencjer 
with joy, and soon the glad tidings 
spread over the city. The watchmen 
proclaiming the hour, and the usual crv 
"All's well !" added "and Cornwallis is 



taken !" That announcement, going out 
upon the frosty night air, called thou- 
sands from their beds. The old State 
House bell that sounded so clearlv 
when independence was declared more 
than five years before, now rang out 
tones of gladness. Lights were seen 
moving in almost every house : and 
very soon the streets were thronged 
with men and women, all eager to know 
the details. It was a night of great joy 
in Philadeljihia, for the people had an- 
xiously waited for news from York- 
town. The first flush of morning was 
greeted with the booming of cannon : 
and at an early hour the Congress as- 
sembled and heard Charles Thompson 
read the despatch from Washington. 
That grave Senate could hardly repress 
huzzas while the Secretary read : and 
at its conclusion it was resolved to go 
in a body, at two o'clock in the after- 
noon, to the Dutch Lutheran Church, 
and "return thanks to Almighty God 
for crowning the allied armies of the 
United States and France with suc- 
cess." Six- days afterward that body 
voted thanks and appropriate honors to 
Washington, Rochambeau and De 
Grasse and their officers, and resolved 
that a marble column should be erected 
at Yorktown with emblems of the alli- 
ance in commemoration of the event. 
The Congress also appointed a dav for 
a grand thanksgiving and prayer 
throughout the Union, on account of 
the signal mark of Divine power. Leg- 
islative bodies, executive councils, city 
corporations and many private socie- 
ties presented congratulatory addresses 
to the commanding generals and their 
officers : and from almost every pul- 
pit in the land arose the voice of thanks- 
giving and praise, accompanied by the 
alleluiahs of thousands of worshipers 
before the altars of the Lord of Hosts. 

The Duke de Lauzun bore the glad 
tidings to I*"rance. w^here he found the 
king and court rejoicing because of the 
birth of a dauphin, or heir to the 
French throne. The city of London 
petitioned the king to "put an end to the 
unnatural and unfortunate war." 

Measures had meanwhile been taken 
by the Congress and tlie British govern- 



i84 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



nient to arrange a treaty of peace. The 
former appointed (September, 1782) 
four Commissioners for the purpose, 
that different States of the Union might 
be represented. These Commissioners 
were John Adams, of Massachusetts ; 
John Jay, of New York ; Dr. Franklin, 
of Pennsylvania, and Henry Laurens, 
of South Carolina, who were all in 
Europe at that time. The British gov- 
ernment gave Mr. Oswald full power 
to treat for peace with these Commis- 
sioners. He had discussed the terms 
with Dr. Franklin, who assured him 
that independence, satisfactory bound- 
aries and a participation in the fisher- 
ies would be indispensable requisites in 
a treaty. In July the British Parliament 
had passed a bill to enable the king to 
acknowledge the independence of the 
United States, and all obstacles in the 
way of negotiation were removed. The 
American Commissioners first named 
were joined by Laurens at Paris, where 
the negotiations were carried on. 
There, on the 30th of November, a pre- 
liminary treaty of peace, on the basis 
of independence, was signed by the 
American Commissioners, and Mr. 
Oswald without the knowledge of the 
French government. This was in viola- 
tion of the spirit of the terms of alli- 
ance, by which it was understood ( and 
the Commissioners had been so instruc- 
ted) that no treaty should be signed by 
either party to the alliance without the 
knowledge of the other. Some of the 
Commissioners doubted the good faith 
of Vergennes, believing him to be 
swayed by Spanish influence ; but he 
acted honorably throughout. Dr. 
Franklin, who never doubted him, re- 
moved the dissatisfaction in the mind 
of Vergennes, because of this affront. 
by a few soft words. In the mean- 
time the States-General of Holland had 
acknowledged the independence of the 
L'nited States by receiving John Adams 
as an ambassador from the Congress 
in April of that year; and on the 8th 
of October (1772I they concluded a 
treaty of amity and commerce with 
them. This was signed at the Hague 
by I\Tr. Adams and representatives of 



the Netherlands. It was not ratified 
until January, 1783. 

Coincident with these preparations 
for a solid national existence, was the 
adoption of a device for a great seal — - 
the symbol of sovereignty and author- 
ity — for the inchoate republic. A com- 
mittee for the purpose was appointed 
iin the afternoon of the 4th of July, 
1776. That committee and others, from 
time to time, presented unsatisfactory 
devices. Finally, in the spring of 1782, 
Charles Thompson, the Secretary of 
Congress, gave to that body a device 
largely suggested to John Adams by Sir 
John Prestwich, of EnglaJid, which was 
made the basis of a design adopted on 
the 20th of June, 1782, and which is still 
the device of our great seal. It is com- 
posed of a spread-eagle, the emblem of 
strength, bearing on its breast an es- 
cutcheon with thirteen stripes alternate 
red and white. In his right talon he 
holds an olive-branch, emblem of peace, 
and in his left, thirteen arrows, em- 
blems of the thirteen States, ready for 
war if it should be necessary. In his 
beak is a ribbon bearing the legend : 
£ Pliiribns Uiium — "many in one" — • 
many States making one nation. Over 
the head of the eagle is a golden light 
breaking through a cloud surrounding 
thirteen staps forming a constellation 
on a blue field. On the reverse is an 
unfinished pyramid, emblematic of the 
unfinished republic, the building of 
which is still going on. In the zenith 
is an All-seeing Eye surrounded b}' 
light, and over the eye the word Annuit 
Coeptis — "God favors the undertaking." 
On the base of the pyramid, in Roman 
numerals, the date 1776, and below the 
words: Novus ordo scclonim — "a new 
series of ages." So the .\mericans 
showed their faith in the stability of the 
structure' whose foundations they had 
laid. Only the side on which the 
eagle and escutcheon appear has ever 
been used. 

Peace hath her troubles no less than 
war. When the war was over the sit- 
uation of the country was not what 
might have been supposed. There was 
practically no government. During the 



FIFTH PERIOD-THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE 



war the old self-constituted Continental 
Congress had been succeeded by the 
Congress under the Articles of Confed- 
eration which had been adopted as a 
constitution. This Congress was com- 
posed of inferior men and was sub- 
ject to limitations which made legisla- 
tion well nigh impossible. Each State 
had but a single vote, while two-thirds 
of the States were necessary to pass im- 
portant bills. It had no power to raise 
money except by borrowing if it could, 
issuing scrip which became worthless, 
or asking the States, which did not re- 
sult very satisfactorily. Congress could 
levy no taxes and had no coercive 
power. Little wonder then that poor 
provision was made for the army, that 
it was poorly fed. worse clad and almost 
never paid ! Small wonder that officers 
complained when no provision was 
made for them, or that the men some- 
times mutinied. It was due to Wash- 
ington's skill, forbearance and moral 
influence, the patriotism and bravery 
of his officers and men that victory 
came, and not to Congress, which was 
almost useless. 

Indeed, so critical was the situation, 
so necessary was some strong govern- 
ment, that Washington's army would 
have made him King, a suggestion he 
would not consider. Finally Congress 
made some provision in the way of land 
grants for the Army, but many of that 
patriot band had little other than glory 
as a reward. In the eight years many 
troops had been enlisted, but most of 
them served only a very short time dur- 
ing some emergency. It was seldom 
that Washington had 12,000 men in one 
army. The country had prospered in 
spite of the war which, except for the 
ravages of Indians on the frontier, was 
humanely conducted. New Jersey and 
Pennsylvania saw most of the fight- 
ing, but business was not greatly inter- 
rupted. 

When the war was over, the States 
drifted back into their old ways be- 
fore the war. Each had its own laws. 
Strong jealousies and rivalries existed 
which were manifested in legislation. 
Each State had its own tariff law and 
discriminated against its neighbors. 



i8s 

Each State was in debt for the war. 
Congress was in debt for the loans it 
had made abroad, and'borrowed money 
U> pay the interest. Large sums had 
been borrowed at home, largely 
through the efforts of Robert Morris, 
but no interest was paid on this, while 
the Continental currency was practi- 
cally worthless. 

In the meantime, Great Britain did 
not evacuate the Western forts, nor did 
the States pay debts to British citizens 
contracted before the war. Congress 
was in desperate straits. The Confed- 
eration was only formed by promises 
of all the States to give up to the Gov- 
ernment the lands west of the Alle- 
.ghanies, north of the old Ohio, but the 
Government was slow in making any 
government for them. In 1784, Jeft'er- 
son drew up a plan, but it failed, and 
he went to Paris as our minister. In 
1787, the so-called Ordinance was 
passed, which provided for the govern- 
ment of the Northwest Territory and 
Its ultimate division into States. ' This 
law provided for limited self-govern- 
ment under national control, and for- 
ever prohibited slavery in that section. 
On this general basis, excepting the 
slavery clause, all our territories were 
erected up to i8q8. 

It seems paradoxical, but it is true, 
that the first years of peace and free- 
dom of the States were in many re- 
spects less satisfactory than before the 
war began. There were quarrels over 
which State had done the most in the 
war, claims of offsets against demands 
by Congress, crimination and recrimi- 
nation over various points, until that 
body became so powerless that some- 
times it could not actually raise enough 
money to buy stationery. Thoughtful 
men soon saw that something must be 
done right speedily, or else we would 
either have a civil war or would fall a 
prey to foreign attack. In 1754, 
twenty_ years before the struggle, 
Franklin had published the picture of a 
serpent cut into thirteen parts, with the 
superscription: "LInite or die." This 
advice or warning was now quite as 
imperative. If the .Articles of Confed- 
eration had been stronger our history 



THE HOME AUXn,TARY AND REFERENCE 



niiyht have Iieen slioiier. 'I'hcy being 
so weak, a stronger govcrnnK'nt l)c- 
came necessary. " 

Maryland, as we have seen, had 
troubles about her boundaries, but now 
she had troubles of a different sort. 
On the south she was bounded by the 
Potomac, while the Susquehanna came 
down from the north. It was very 
difficult to settle on trade regulations 
under these circumstances, as oppor- 
tunities for smuggling and cheating 
were plenty. There was a question 
also as to who could rightfully control 
the mouth of the Potomac, while Penn- 
-sylvania was in danger of having the 
mouth of the Susquehanna closed ea- 
tirely. In consequence the three States 
were about to send Commissioners to 
discuss the matter when \^irginia in- 
vited delegates fronj all the States to 
discuss trade and commerce. Neither 
New England nor the far South took 
any interest in the matter, but delegates 
from five States met at Annapolis in 
1786. They declared in favor of a con- 
vention at Philadelphia the next year 
to amend the Articles of Confedera- 
tion, to which Congress agreed after 
som.e hesitation. 

The Constitutional Convention of 1787 
marks the turning point in our history. 
Rut for its work we might be now in as 
deplorable condition as South America. 
It was a common danger that once 
more forced the former colonies to act. 
The Convention was called to amend 
the Articles of Confederation — it 
adopted a new constitution entirely. 
Indeed, amendment had several times 
proved impossible, as it required a 
unanimous vote of all the States. Twice 
Rhode Island and once New York had 
prevented the adoption of absolutely 
necessary amendments to enable the 
Congress to raise money. In conse- 
quence every State did practically as 
seemed good in its own eyes. Con- 
necticut laid claim to Northeastern 
Pennsylvania and was driven out by 
force. In Massachusetts the so-called 
Shay's Rebellion, in favor of paper 
money had necessitated raising an 
army. It was hard to collect debts in 
distant States,, and all sorts of foolish 



legislation was indulged in, until it 
was seen that ruin or regeneration 
must follow. 

Fortunately the .States sent delega- 
tions of their ablest men. Not since 
the Continental Congress of 1776 had 
so many strong men been gathered to- 
gether. From Massachusetts came 
Caleb Strong, Nathaniel Gorham, El- 
bridge Gerry and Rufus King. From 
New York, Alexander Hamilton, John 
Lansing and Robert Yates but the two 
latter left the convention and did not 
sign. From Delaware Gunning Bed- 
ford, Jr., George Read and John 
Dickinson. From Pennsylvania, Jared 
Ingersoll, Robert Morris, Thomas 
Mifflin, James Wilson and Benjamin 
Franklin, the wisest man of all. From 
\'irginia, George Washington, James 
Madison, Edmund Randolph and 
George Mason. From New Jersey, 
W'illiam Paterson and Jonathan Day- 
ton. From North Carolina, William 
r.lount and Alexander Martin. From 
South Carolina, Pierce Butler, John 
Rutledge, Charles Pinckney and Chas. 
C. Pinckney. From Georgia, William 
Houston and Abraham Baldwin. 
From Connecticut, Roger Sherman and 
Oliver Ellsworth. From Maryland, 
Daniel Carroll and James jNIcHenry. 
From New Hampshire, John Langdon 
and Nicholas Gilman. Rhode Island 
was not represented. The above are 
only the leading delegates from the 
States, but they sufficiently indicate the 
high quality of the whole. The Con- 
vention met in Philadelphia, ]\Iay 25, 
1787. with at first only seven States 
represented : it did not complete its 
work until September 17, and all its 
sessions were secret. George Wash- 
ington was elected President, and it 1 
was in great measure due to the cer- 
tainty that he would be the first Ex- 
ecutive of the country that the Con- 
vention was finallv adopted. 

It was soon developed that there was 
a marked division of opinion amona;' 
the delegates as to the nature of the 
new frame of government. The larger 
States in population, such as \''irginia, 
A^assachusetts and Pennsylvania, 
wanted a strong Central Government. 



FIFTH PERIOD— THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE 



Small States, like New Jersey and 
Delaware, preferred to have the gen- 
eral plan of the Articles of Confedera- 
tion remain. It was soon agreed to 
divide all powers of government be- 
tween executive, legislative and judi- 
cial bodies. But here harmony ceased. 
Some wanted a single and some a 
plural executive. Some wanted a 
single and some a dual legislature. 
Some wanted only States represented, 
some wanted the population, some the 
wealth and some both wealth and 
population as bases of representation, 
'ilie final agreement was that the lower 
house should be based on population 
and the upper on the States which were 
all accounted equal. This was the first 
compromise, but it involved another. 
The States of South Carolina and 
Georgia wanted all slaves enumerated ; 
the Northern States wanted them ig- 
nored. A compromise was elTected by 
counting three-fifths of the negroes. 

Trade regulations caused great dis- 
cussion, and it was long ere a compro- 
mise was agreed on whereby no export 
duties were to be laid, while the im- 
portation of slaves was permitted until 
1808. Congress was allowed to con- 
trol navigation laws, and fugitive 
slaves were returnable to their owners. 
The question of State representation 
and slavery being settled, the Consti- 
tution was finally evolved and signed 
by members from all the States, but 
not bv all of them. Congress referred 
the Constitution to the various States, 
who called conventions to consider it. 
Delaware led the way and Pennsyl- 
vania and New Jersey soon followed. 
Georgia and Connecticut ratified in 
January, 1788, and Massachusetts in 
February. Then there was a lull, and 
fears were entertained that the neces- 
sary nine States could not be secured. 
In the interest of ratification a series 
of publications called "The Federalist" 
were issued which argued strongly the 
merits of the Constitution and have 
ever since held high rank among the 
commentaries on that great document. 
These papers were by .Alexander 
Hamilton, James Madison and John 
lay. The rise of political parties was 



based on the issue of ratification. 
Those favoring the strong Centra! 
Government of the Constitution be- 
came known as Federalists. Those 
who objected to the powers ceded to 
the Federal Government and preferred 
to reserve more to the States, opposed 
ratification and were known as antr- 
federalists, and later formed the 
nucleus of the Republican, now called 
the Democratic party. It was not un- 
til June that New Hampshire, the 
necessary ninth State, ratified, but 
New York and \'irginia soon followed. 
North Carolina waited more than a 
year, and Rhode Island was not admit- 
ted until 1790, by which time she was 
treated as a foreign power and was 
about to feel strong pressure. 

It is noteworthy that the choice of 
President by an Electoral College was 
deliberately made after once proposing 
to have Congress perform the duty. 
No suggestion was made that the elec- 
tion be by the people. Such a proposi- 
tion would have received no support. 
The Constitutional Fathers were not 
believers in democracy. They feared 
the masses, and believed that only the 
learned, the wise, the wealthy and the 
well born should govern. This is the 
less remarkable when we consider that 
in all the States except New Jersey the 
franchise was ver\' considerably re- 
stricted. Property owners, or those 
paying a certain amount of rental, 
alone were allowed to vote for assem- 
blymen, while the State Senates were 
chosen by a much more exclusive class 
of voters. The Fathers left the choice 
of a President to a body of electors, 
who were supposed to be the wisest 
men in the country and fit for the .sol- 
emn duty of choosing a chief magis- 
trate. It was intended that they should 
be unhampered, but this theory soon 
broke down. 

The Congress was sitting at New 
York when it adopted the Constitution. 
It ordered that electors be chosen (in 
this case all by the Legislatures) on the 
first Wednesday in January, that they 
vote on the first W'ednesdav in Febru- 
ary, and that the inauguration take 
place on the first Wednesday in March. 



1 88 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERF-XXE 



whicli on that day fell on the fourth. 
Washington was unanimously chosen 
President and John Adams was chosen 
Vice-President, but the inauguration 
did not take place until April 30, 1789. 
Nevertheless the term was held to be- 
gin on March 4, and has so continued, 
much to the distress of people who 
gather on that date to witness the cere- 
monies, for it is not infrequently that 
the weather is raw and inclement. The 
old Congress did not dissolve in state. 
It died for want of a quorum, and its 
decease was unlamented. 

The history of the old Continental 
Congress is a remarkable one. At first 
it was a spontaneous gathering of 
patriotic representatives of thirteen 
colonies that stretched a thousand miles 
along the western shores of the At- 
lantic, who met to act for the common 
good. With unexampled boldness and 
faith, they snatched the sceptre of rule 
from their oppressing sovereign, and 
assuming imperial functions, created 
armies, issued bills of credit, declared 



the provinces to be independent States, 
made treaties with foreign nations, 
founded an empire, and compelled 
their king to acknowledge the States, 
which they represented, to be indepen- 
dent of the British crown. The career 
of that Congress astonished the world 
with the brilliancy of the events 
achieved. A mightier and more stable 
power took the place of this conqueror, 
and immediately arrested the profound 
attention of the civilized nations. It 
was seen that its commerce, diplomacy, 
and dignity were no longer exposed to 
neglect by thirteen clashing legislative 
bodies, but were guarded and con- 
trolled by a central power of wonder- 
ful energy. Great Britain no longer 
thought of sending hither consuls, 
alone, to represent her, but placed a 
minister plentipotentiary near the re- 
publican court. Other European gov- 
ernments sent hither dignified diplo- 
matic agents. We no longer exhibited 
the weakness of a League of States, but 
the power of a Nation. 



SIXTH PERIOD— WASHINGTON'S ADMINISTRATION 



189 



SIXTH PERIOD 

ADMINISTRATIONS 



WASHINGTON'S ADlMIN- 
ISTRATION. 

Washington was making the usual 
tour of his fields on the 14th of March, 
1789, when Charles Thomson, the Sec- 
retary of the Continental Congress, ar- 
vhed at Mount \>rnon with a letter 
from John Langdon, tlie pro-tcmporc 
president of the United States, an- 
nouncing the election of the illustrious 
farmer to the Presidency o'f the re- 
public. Washington accepted the office 
and made immediate preparations for 
the journey to the seat of government. 
Toward evening, accompanied by his 
favorite body-servant, Billy, he left 
Mount \'ernon and rode rapidly to- 
ward Fredericksburg, to visit his 
mother, then past eighty years of age 
and sutifering from an incurable dis- 
ease. The interview was a touching 
one. When he was about to leave, the 
son promised the mother, that so soon 
as public business would allow, he 
would hasten to \'irginia to see her. 
"You will see rrie no more," said the 
aged matron ; "my great age and the 
disease which is rapidly approaching 
my vitals warn me that I shall not be 
long in this world." The dutiful son 
stooped and kissed her, as she sat in 
her arm-chair, when she took his 
brawny hands in her attenuated ones 
and said : "Go, George ; fulfill the 
high destinies which Heaven appears 
to assign to you ; go, my son, and may 
that Heaven's and your mother's bles- 
sing be with vou always." They never 
met again on the earth. When Wash- 
ington returned to Virginia, his 
mother's body was in the grave. She 
died in August, 1789, at the age of 
eighty-two years. 

On the morning of the 6th of .April, 
Washington left Mount Vernon for 
New York, accompanied by Mr. Thom- 
son and Colonel Humphreys. Every- 



where on his journey he was greeted 
by demonstrations of the most pro- 
found respect and reverence. At 
Gray's Ferry, on the Schuylkill, near 
Philadelphia, a triumphal arch had 
been erected and covered with laurel 
branches. As ^Vashington passed 
through it, Angelica Peale, a daughter 
of the artist, Charles Wilson Peale— a 
child of rare beauty, concealed among 
the foliage — let down an ornamented 
civic crown of laurel which rented on 
the head of the Patriot. This incident 
drew from the multitude loud huzzas, 
and shouts of "Long live George 
\yashington! long live the Father of 
his Country !" filled the air. 

At Elizabethtown Point, Washing- 
ton was met by a committee from each 
House of Congress, and civil and mili- 
tary officers. They had prepared a 
magnificent barge for his reception, 
manned by thirteen pilots in white uni- 
forms. In this the President-elect was 
conveyed to New York. 

On the 30th of April, Washington 
was inaugurated President of the re- 
public. The ceremony took place in 
the open gallery of the old City Hall 
(afterward callejd Federal Hall), in 
the presence of a vast multitude. The 
oath of office was administered by 
Robert R. Livingston, then chancellor 
of the State of New York. Near them 
were John Adams, who had been 
chosen \"ice-President ; George Clin- 
ton, Governor of New York; Philip 
Schuyler, John Jay, General Knox, 
Ebenezer Hazard, Samuel Osgood and 
other distinguished men. The Chan- 
cellor exclaimed, "It is done !" and then 
turning to the people he shouted, 
"Long live George Washington, the 
first President of the United States." 
That shout was echoed and re-echoed 
Ijy the multitude, when the President 
and the members of Congress retired 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AXD REFERENXE 



to tlie Senate Chamber, where Wash- 
ington pronounced a most impressive 
inaugural address. 

The new government entered upon 
its duties under the keen scrutiny of a 
jealous op]50sition, and an ever-watch- 
ful democracy which regarded with 
alarm every aspect of aristocracy to be 
found in the new order of things. 

Washington was anxious to so regu- 
late his intercourse with the public at 
large, that he might secure dignity for 
the office and order for his own com- 
fort and the public good. W'ishing to 
give his time to public affairs, he re- 
solved at the outset not to return any 
visits. To prevent being overrun witli 
mere callers, he appointed the hour be- 
tween three and four o'clock each 
Tuesday for the reception of gentle- 
men. He met ladies at the receptions 
given by Mrs. Washington, who also 
had stated times for the ceremony. 

Even before the inauguration of the 
President, Congress began in earnest 
the great work of putting the machin- 
ery of the new government into har- 
monious and vigorous action. The 
first and most important duties to 
which they were called were the de- 
vising of a revenue system — for the 
public treasury was empty — and es- 
tablishing a national judiciary as a co- 
ordinate branch of the national gov- 
ernment. Two days after the votes of 
the Presidential electors were counted, 
Mr. Madison, to whom the leadership 
in the House of Representatives was 
conceded, brought forward a plan for 
a temporary .system of imports, to be 
based upon one proposed by the Con- 
tinental Congress. He was decidedly 
favorable to free trade ; but the wants 
of the public treasury and the impossi- 
bility to obtain reciprocal action on the 
part of other governments, made him 
consent to and propose a tariff. Ac- 
cordingly the first act of importance 
(being numerically the second") was one 
laying the duties on enumerated articles 
to raise money and for "the protection 
of manufactures." The duties were 
low, there was a considerable free list, 
and a discrimination was made in favor 
of goods imported in .American bot- 



toms. The debates on this bill were 
practically the same that have been re- 
peated ever since. There were those 
who believed in protection ; there were 
those who believed only in a revenue 
measure, and there were those who 
were a,gainst the theory of protection, 
but saw to jt that industries in their 
own localities were protected. 

Soon after the inauguration of 
Washington, the House having made 
provisions for raising a revenue, 
turned their attention to a reorganiza- 
tion of the Executive Departments. 
Those of the old Congress were still in 
operation, and were filled by the in- 
cumbents appointed by that body. The 
Department of Forei.gn .Affairs, es- 
tablished in 1 781, was incorporated 
with one for Home Affairs, and was 
called the Department of State, having 
charge not only of all foreign negotia- 
tions, and all papers connected there- 
with, but also the custody of all papers 
and documents of the old Congress, 
and all engrossed acts and resolutions 
of the new government which had be- 
come laws ; also the issuing of all com- 
missions for civil officers. The Treas- 
ury Department was continued sub- 
stantially on the plan established in 
1 78 1. It was the duty of its chief offi- 
cer to digest and prop.ose plans for the 
improvement and management of the 
public revenue ; to superintend the col- 
lection of the same ; to execute services 
connected with the sale of public lands ; 
to grant warrants on the treasury for 
all appropriations made by law; and to 
report to either House of Congress as 
to matters referred to him or aper- 
taining to his office. Under him were 
subordinate officers — a controller, an 
auditor, a register, and a treasurer. 
The chief of the Department of State 
was called Secretary of State, and of 
the Treasury Department, Secretarv' 
of the Treasury. 

The Department of ^^'^ar was organ- 
ized very much upon the plan adopted 
in 1 781, and its head was called Secre- 
tary of W^ar. He was also intrusted 
with the superintendence of naval as 
well as military afifairs, the material of 
the united service then being limited. 



SIXTH PERIOD— WASHINGTON'S ADMINISTRATION 



Not a single vessel of llie C'oiitiiieiilal 
navy remained ; aiul the military es- 
tablishment consisted of only a single 
regiment of foot, a battalion of artil- 
lery, and the militia which the Presi- 
dent might call out for the defence of 
the frontiers. There was a wholesome 
dread of a standing army. The Post- 
office Department was continued on 
the plan of Dr. Franklin, the first Post- 
master-General appointed by the Con- 
tinental Congress. Franklin had been 
succeeded by his son-in-law, Richard 
Bache, and he, in turn by Ebenezer 
Hazard, who then held the office. A 
Secretary of the Navy was not ap- 
pointed until 1798. The Postmaster- 
General did not become a cabinet offi- 
cer until 1829, the first year of Presi- 
dent Jackson's administration. 

While the House of Representatives 
were engaged with the subject of rev- 
enue and the Executive Departments, 
the Senate was busy in perfecting a 
plan for national judiciary. A bill 
drawn by Oliver Ellsworth, of Con- 
necticut, chairman of a committee ap- 
pointed for the purpose, was, after 
considerable discussion and some al- 
teration, passed, and was concurred in 
by the other House. By its provisions, 
the judiciary was to consist of a Su- 
preme Court, having one Chief Justice 
and five Associate Justices, who were 
to hold two sessions annually at the 
seat of the national government. Cir- 
cuit and district courts were also es- 
tablished, which had jurisdiction over 
certain specified cases. Each State in 
the Union was made a district, as were 
also the territories of Kentucky and 
Maine. With the exception of these 
two, the districts were grouped into 
three circuits. An appeal from these 
lower courts to the Supreme Court was 
allowed, as to points of law, in all civil 
cases when the matter in dispute 
amounted to two thousand dollars. 
The President was authorized to ap- 
point a marshal for each district, hav- 
ing the general powers of a sheriff, 
who was to attend all courts and was 
authorized to serve all processe'^. 
Provision was also made for a district 
attorney in each district to act for the 



I'nited States in all cases in which the 
national government might be inter- 
ested. That organization, with slight 
modifications, is still in force. 

The next important business that en- 
gaged the attention of Congress dur- 
ing its first session was the considera- 
tion of amendments to the national 
Constitution. The subject was brought 
forward by Mr. Madison, in conform- 
ity to pledges given to his State (Vir- 
ginia), which was opposed to the Con- 
stitution without certain amendments. 
These were referred to a committee, 
which consisted of one member from 
each State. That committee finally re- 
ported, and after long debate and var- 
ious alterations, twelve articles were 
agreed to and submitted to the people 
of the several States for ratification or 
rejection. Only ten were ratified in 
the course of the next two years. Two 
other amendments were afterward 
made, and these were the only ones 
adopted until the period of the late 
Civil War. 

The national debt was a subject that 
demanded the earnest attention of Con- 
gress. Hamilton's views were by 
many believed to be fanciful, but he 
was prepared to demonstrate that they 
were feasible. He proposed to fund all 
the debt and interest at par, to es- 
tablish a national bank, which should 
become the fiscal agent of the Govern- 
ment, and levy an internal revenue tax 
to make up the deficiency in revenue. 
.Strange as it may seem, there was the 
bitterest opposition on the part of 
some States to beine relieved from 
debt. Moreover, the domestic debt 
which it was proposed to refund at 
par, had long been at a heavy discount, 
and few of the bonds were in the hands 
of the original owners. Many wanted 
these scaled down, but Hamilton was 
firm for keeping the national pledge, 
and won. 

Interlaced with this proposition was 
one to locate the Federal Capital ac- 
cording to its Constitutional permis- 
sion. New York, Philadelphia and 
Baltimore wanted the honor, while 
Southern men wanted a site on the 
Potomac chosen. Germantown, then a 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



suburb of rhiladelphia, was once al- 
most selected, but tbe debt matter got 
mixed up with it, and finally, by Jeffer- 
son's aid, a compromise was effected 
by which Philadelphia was made the 
temporary Capital, the Potomac site, 
where now stands the Capital City, was 
chosen as the permanent Capital, and 
Southern votes supported the assump- 
tion of the State war debt. This was 
a fine piece of log-rolling, and the only 
time that Jeft'erson and Hamilton 
worked together. At the next session 
Hamilton succeeded in getting a char- 
ter for his National Bank, with $io,- 
000,000 capital, but the charter was to 
run only twenty years. A tax on 
spirits was laid which soon had impor- 
tant consequences. The slavery ques- 
tion was injected into this Congress by 
petitions of Quakers in favor of eman- 
cipation. There were some earnest de- 
bates on the subject, but the House re- 
solved that the .States alone could deal 
with the subject. South Carolina and 
Georgia were largely responsible for 
the maintenance and growth of slavery. 
It soon became extinct in all the States 
north of Maryland. Virginia was ser- 
iously considering emancipation, but 
rouki not solve the problem. But tor 
the invention of the cotton gin, slavery 
might have died out in the South. 
Certainly the institution would have 
been milder than it finally became. But 
for Georgia and South Carolina some 
project looking toward gradual eman- 
cipation would probably have been 
placed in the Constitution. 

The third and final session of the 
First Congress at Philadelphia de- 
veloped differences of policy which 
gave the trend of future political par- 
ties. Alexander Hamilton was the 
leader of the Federalists, and his policy 
of protection, bounties, national bank, 
and strong federal control was the plat- 
form of his followers. Jefferson was 
the leader of the opposition, who re- 
gretted assumption, objected to the 
National Bank, and feared the protec- 
tive and concentrating policy of Hamil- 
ton. The administration won most of 
its measures, but Madison was no 
longer its leader in the House, as he 



\eere(l over to Jeft'erson's views. The 
financial condition of the country had 
vastly improved, our national credit 
was high at home and abroad, confi- 
(ience in business was restored, and 
Hamilton was justified by the results 
of his policy. There was opposition to 
the excise tax in the West, but it cul- 
minated later. 

The most serious trouble was with 
the Indians, west of the Alleghenies. 
The trend of emigration had been so 
great that Kentucky was admitted in 
1792 as a State along with Vermont 
( 1791). What is now Ohio was being 
settled, but the savages had committed 
such ravages that it was necessary to 
suppress them with a strong hand. 
The regular army was small — indeed, 
it has never been sufficiently large for 
the emergencies that have so often 
arisen, lb General Harmar was con- 
fided the task, in 1790, of restoring or- 
der, but he underestimated the task. 
The British posts w-ere still held in de- 
fiance of the Treaty of Paris, and from 
them the Indians received material and 
moral support. Harmar was badly 
worsted at the R-Iaumee, in October, 
1790, by Little Turtle, largely by the 
sudden flight of the raw militia. An- 
other expedition was determined on 
and Gen. Arthur St. Clair, Governor of 
the Northwest Territory, was chosen 
to lead it. Washington, who was 
skilled in frontier warfare, warned St. 
Clair of the nature of his task, and 
bade him beware of surprise. St. Clair 
was a good officer, but old and gouty. 
Most of his troops were undisciplined 
militia from the West, and he had 
great difficulty in getting together any- 
thing like a suitable force. In Septem- 
ber, 1 79 1, about 2.000 regulars and 
] ,000 militia started from near the pre- 
sent city of Cincinnati for the head- 
waters of the Wabash, building a line 
of forts as they progressed through 
the wilderness. The journey was slow, 
c'lnd by November desertions had re- 
duced the little army to about 1,400 
men. Straggling along with improper 
discipline, the army reached the head- 
waters of the Wabash, not far from 
the scene of I larmar's defeat, when they 



SIXTH PERIOD— WASHINGTON'S ADMINISTRATION 



were suddenly set upon (November 4, 
1791) by Little Turtle and his braves, 
and cut to pieces. St. Clair fougiit 
i:obly, but the Indians were in a stra- 
tegic position behind trees and logs, so 
that they were not easily attacked. 
General Butler, his second in com- 
mand, was heroic in his eliforts but fell 
in battle. The battle raged for three 
hours before the flight began with a 
remnant of survivors. Over 600 offi- 
cers and men were killed and 250 
wounded. The rout was complete. 

When Washington heard of the dis- 
aster his rage knew no bounds. For a 
few moments he gave vent to his tem- 
per, which at such times was terrible. 
Then he regained composure and de- 
termined to turn defeat into victory. 
The new expedition was placed in com- 
mand of General Anthony Wayne, of 
Pennsylvania. Wayne and Greene 
were the only two Americans aside 
from Washington who had come out 
of the recent war with reputations of 
the first rank. Both were soldiers of 
the highest order, and would have won 
honors in any field. Wayne was the 
greater genius, though Greene may 
have excelled him as a strategist. The 
only other General of the war who de- 
veloped genius was the traitor Bene- 
dict Arnold, whose military sagacity 
and courage were ruined by his moral 
depravity. In 1793, Wayne started 
from Pittsburg via Fort Washington 
■Cincinnati) for the Indian country. 
In 1794 he advanced to the Maumee, 
not far from Toledo, and fell upon the 
Indians, August 20th, whom he de- 
feated with terrible slaughter. The 
Indian opposition was broken forever 
in this section. All the chiefs sought 
for peace, gave up their captives, and 
the rich country was rapidly settled by 
a prosperous people. In this campaign 
Wayne showed all the qualities of a 
great general. He kept all details un- 
der his own eye, enforced discipline, 
kept ever on the alert, so that he gained 
the name of "the General who never 
sleeps." His winter quarters after the 
battle now bears the historic name Fort 
Wayne, one of the thriving cities of 
Northern Indiana. 



The federal city chosen by Washing- 
ion, on the banks of the Potomac, orig- 
inally included a portion of Virginia, 
which was later ceded again to that 
State. On the hills above the river 
where Washington had encamped his 
army in the Braddock campaign, the 
new capital was located. Owners of 
the land gave one half their ground to 
the Government, and sold what else 
was needed at a reasonable rate. One 
half the territory was given up to 
streets and parks under the wise direc- 
tion of Major L'Enfant, who provided 
for a great city in the future which 
could be beautifully adorned as well as 
made strategically defensible from the 
leading hill tops. It is, however, within 
the memory of the present generation 
that Washington became a beautiful, 
well ordered, well paved and properly 
adorned city. 

The period of the First Congress 
was one of general satisfaction, but 
d.uring that of the Second the storm of 
partisanship burst. The new National 
Bank, chartered for twenty years, had 
been launched with great success, but 
it encountered the fiercest opposition. 
The exxise tax made trouble on the 
frontier. Hamilton was busy pushing 
his sthemes for concentration, while 
Jefferson was his open opponent, 
though both sat at the same executive 
board. Both were among the most 
useful of American citizens, each was 
actually modified in action by the other, 
but they agreed on nothing. Hamilton 
was brilliant, original, forceful, domi- 
neering, and self-confident. He was 
pro-British in his views, and a theorist 
in political philosophy, but bold in 
action. Jefiferson was also brilliant, but 
facile, secretix'e, rued with a plastic 
touch, and was greatly influenced by 
his residence in France when demo- 
cracy was being elevated to the gods 
before being turned into anarchy. Of 
all our statesmen Hamilton was the 
most original in constructive legisla- 
tion. He fought for his views, gener- 
ally right, but with too little regard for 
the means employed, so that he jvas 
obliged to purge himself of a false 
charge of fraudulent official conduct. 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



Hamilton was the friend of rich men, 
but never gained a dollar by his official 
position, though it was charged that 
his friends grew rich. Jefferson was 
never accused of enriching himself by 
official position, and died poor, but he 
used the patronage of his office to in- 
jure Hamilton. The result of this 
quarrel was that eventually both left 
the Cabinet after inducing \\'ashing- 
ton, much against his will, to accept a 
second term. 

Before this term ended, however, the 
French Revolution took place and for 
a time this country was wild with en- 
thusiasm for the people that had helped 
us in our time of trial and had now 
erected a democracy. Washington did 
not share in the enthusiasm of Jeffer- 
son, and the latter soon found that the 
French ideas of liberty, equality and 
fraternity were not those which in 
theory he had commended. In 1793. 
Genet, the French Minister from the 
new Republic, arrived at Charleston 
and proceeded North more as a sover- 
eign than an ambassador. Assuming 
that we would take up arms at once for 
France, he gave commissions right and 
left, and was received with enthusiasm 
until he reached Philadelphia, where 
news of the excesses of the Directory 
had proceeded him. In a short time he 
was denouncing and defying Washing- 
ton for his dignified attitude of neu- 
trality. This latter course brought the 
people to their senses. Genet was soon 
discredited here and recalled by the 
Directory, but that body had gotten into 
such an unconquerable habit of decapi- 
tating those who displeased them that 
Genet remained and married an .Amer- 
ican heiress. 

Washington's second term was full 
of disappointments. During ninst of 
it he was obliged to forsake his digni- 
fied position of independence and be- 
come an avowed Federalist. He was 
maligned as almost no man in our his- 
tory. It almost broke his heart, for he 
had been pure in thought and honor- 
able in action, yet he had not escaped 
calumnv. Edmund Randolph became 
Secretary of State, while William I'rad- 
ford, of Pennsylvania, took the At- 



torney-Generalship. Oliver W'olcott, 
of Connecticut, became Secretary of 
the Treasury somewhat later, and 
Timothy Pickering, of Pennsylvania, 
became Secretary of War and later 
Secretary of State. All these changes 
were gradual. 

The First Congress was strongly 
with the administration, Frederick A. 
Muhlenberg, of Pennsylvania, being 
Speaker. The Second was Federalist 
and chose Jonathan Trumbull ( Brother 
Jonathan ) as Speaker. The Third had 
\eered round to the party of Jei?er.son, 
known as Republicans, and Aluhlen- 
berg was once more Speaker. In the 
latter Congress the Senate was very 
close, and the Federalists used their 
slight advantage to refuse a seat to 
Albert Gallatin, just chosen from Penn- 
sylvania, on the technical ground that 
he had not been long enough a citizen 
of the country. Gallatin was a Swiss, 
but had lived here since boyhood. Set- 
tling in ^^'estern Pennsylvania, he soon 
came into prominence and became one 
of the most useful .American citizens of 
his time, serving in many capacities and 
living to a green old age. He was 
soon elected to the House, where he in- 
jured the Federalists far more than he 
could have done in the Senate. 

The chief danger confronting the 
peo])le was the insolent and aggressive 
position of Great Britain. That coun- 
try had not carried out its obligation 
to abandon the forts in our territory, 
where the Indians received most of 
their support, nor had it permitted us 
that freedom of trade which our sov- 
ereignty entitled us to. Moreover, she 
had a habit of seizing on any persons 
she choose to claim as her own citizens 
and impress them into her navy. In- 
cluded among these were many Ameri- 
can citizens. Protests were useless, 
and we soon came to the situation that 
we must go to war or acknowledge 
King George as our suzerain. This 
situation was complicated by the begin- 
ning of the wars between France and 
the rest of Europe, which lasted for 
twenty-two years with brief intervals. 
Our shipping was in danger of being 
ruined. The Federalist party gener- 



SIXTH PERIOD-WASHINGTON'S ADMINISTRATION 



ally sided with Great Britain hoping 
for an accommodation. The Republi- 
cans sympathized with France but were 
doubtful as to a policy. In this di- 
lemma \\'ashington sent Chief Justice 
John Jay on a special mission to Great 
Britain to negotiate a new treaty. He 
arrived at London in 1794 and after 
some delay negotiated a treaty that was 
far from satisfying the wishes of the 
administration. The British posts were 
to be evacuated, the Mississippi was to 
be open to both countries, we were to 
pay certain damages claimed, the 
northern boundary was to be rectified, 
while Great Britain was to pay for 
certain American vessels recently 
seized. The only trade rights secured 
were very meager ones with the West 
Indies, under restrictions that were 
practically of no value. This was a 
stingy treaty and the Senate ratified it 
by a bare two-thirds necessary vote. 
As an appropriation was necessary the 
House had to bring in a bill and here 
the opposition was intense. Jay was 
reviled and execrated to an extent that 
now seems almost impossible. The treaty 
would have failed but for one man. 
Fisher Ames, of Massachusetts, was 
the first of Congressional orators. He 
w as ill, believed he was on his death- 
bed, but so anxious to avert war that 
he came to the House and in a speech 
of the most impassioned imagery anri 
touching pathos, besought the House 
to avert war, which was the only alter- 
native. As one about to sink to the 
grave, he begged Congress not to per- 
mit the indiscriminate horrors on the 
frontier, when women and children 
would be a prey to the savages. This 
turned the scale and the treaty was 
saved by a close vote. The treaty was 
not satisfactory and it was not long be- 
fore new friction arose which finally 
culminated in war. 

The other important event of this ad- 
ministration was a domestic one. In 
\\'estern Pennsylvania the people for- 
cibly resisted the collection of the ex- 
cise tax and brought on the Whisky 
Rebellion — so-called. This rebellion 
was not only against what was es- 
teemed a tax on a necessitv, but be- 



cause suits arising out of the subject 
were triable in Philadelphia, which 
caused enormous troube and expense. 
In 1794 the federal authorities were 
forcib,ly resisted in Western Pennsyl- 
\ania and Washington immediately 
took measures to restore order. An 
army of 15,000 men was called for and 
the response was immediate. No re- 
sistance was offered and the opposition 
quieted down. There were two con- 
victions of crimes and Washington 
pardoned both. 

The Fourth Congress was torn up 
over the Jay treaty and the rivalries be- 
tween the friends of Hamilton and 
Jefferson. The Federalists had gained 
slightly in the Senate, but the Republi- 
cans still held the house. Muhlenberg 
was succeeded by William Dayton, of 
New Jersey, a Moderate. Congress 
was obliged to pay the Dey of Algiers 
$1,000,000 to ransom some captives 
and agree to an indemnity of $60,000 a 
year as guarantee against his pirate 
hordes and finally present him with a 
frigate. This humiliation was atoned 
for later. 

The Presidential succession proved 
an exciting contest. Washington had 
positively refused to be considered and 
John Adamc- became the Federalist 
candidate, much to the chagrin of Ham- 
ilton. Jefferson was the Republican 
candidate, who, on his retirement (after 
leaving the Cabinet) had not lost his 
grip on public affairs. In those days 
many States chose their electors by 
Congressional districts, while in some 
the Legislature chose them. There was 
no fixed rule. Each elector voted for 
two persons without designating which 
was to be President. While electors 
were allowed to vote for whom they 
pleased, this was the only contest in 
which it was even alleged that any 
personal choice was exercised. The 
vote was so close that two electors 
carried the scale in favor of Adams. 
It was charged that they were elected 
in the interest of Jefferson. The Fed- 
eralist candidate for the Vice-Presi- 
dency was Thomas Pinckney, of South 
Carolina, while Aaron Burr, of New 
York, was second choice of the Re- 



ig6 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



publicans. Hamilton hoped that Pinck- 
ncy's popularity in the South would 
be such that he might even get more 
votes than Adams and thus become 
President, but the scheme failed, 
though it produced a breach in the 
Federalist party. Jefferson was chosen 
Vice-President. It is pleasing to note 
that as the retirement of Washington 
drew near, partisan spirit vanished, 
and all looked up to the patriot sage 
with honor and appreciation. His fare- 
well Message has ever since been a 
beacon light in our history. 

JOHN ADAIMS" ADMINISTRA- 
TIOX. 

John Adams took the chair as chief 
magistrate of the republic, in the spring 
of 1797, with a powerful, energetic 
and disappointed political party in op- 
position. They lacked only two votes 
in the electoral college of giving the 
office to Adams's democratic rival, 
Thomas Jefferson, who became Vice- 
President. 

The French Directory composed of 
five persons who had been installed 
executive rulers of France late in 1795. 
In the plentitude of their pride, when 
they heard that the people of the 
United States, refusing to bow to their 
dictation, had probably elected the op- 
ponent of their friend, Mr. Jefferson, 
they declared that until our govern- 
ment had redressed some alleged griev- 
ances of which they comjilained, no 
minister of our republic should be re- 
ceived by them. 

James Monroe, a senator from Vir- 
ginia, who had been sent to France as 
minister, in 1794, remained as such 
after the installation of the Directory. 
He had been received in a most theat- 
rical manner, as he was properly re- 
garded as the represfrntative of the 
ultra sympathizers with the French rev- 
olutionists in America. 

Having opposed Jay's treaty at the 
French republican court, Monroe was 
recalled by his government in 1796, and 
Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, of .South 
Carolina, was appointed to fill his 
place. On Pinckney's arrival in France 



late in the year with the letter of re- 
call and his own credentials as min- 
ister, the Directory refused to receive 
him. Not only so, but after treating 
him with great discourtesy, the Direc- 
tory peremptorily ordered him to leave 
France. He v/ithdrew to Holland in 
February, 1797, and there awaited fur- 
ther orders from home. When Mr. 
.Adams took the Presidential chair, the 
United States were without a diplo- 
matic agent in France. 

Disappointed by the failure of the 
"French party" to elect Mr. Jefferson 
President of our republic, the insolent 
Directory, after hearing of the result 
in the electoral colleges, determined to 
punish a people who dared to thwart 
their plans. In May, 1797, they issued 
a decree which was tantamount to a 
declaration of war against the United 
States. It not only authorized the cap- 
ture of American vessels under certain 
ccmditions, but declared that any Amer- 
ican found on board of a hostile ship, 
though placed there without his con- 
sent, by impressment, should l>e hanged 
as a pirate. 

Almost simultaneously with the issu- 
ing of the French decree, an extraordi- 
nary session of Congress, called by 
President Adams to consider the for- 
eign relations of our government, met 
at Philadelphia. The conduct of the 
Directory had produced a great revul- 
sion in public feeling in our country. 
The reaction strengthened the Execu- 
tive arm and the administration party, 
and patriotic Democrats began to talk 
complacently of war with France, which 
then seemed inevitable. Rut a majority 
of the cabinet favored further attempts 
at negotiations ; and the President, 
with the concurrence of the Senate, ap- 
pointed John Marshall, a Federalist and 
afterward Chief Justice of the United 
States, and Elbridge Gerry, a Demo- 
crat and afterward Vice-President of 
the republic, envoys extraordinary to 
join Mr. Pinckney and attempt to set- 
tle all matters in dispute between the 
two governments, by diplomacy. After 
a session of little more than six weeks. 
Congress adjourned. They had pro- 
vided for calling out eighty thousand 



SIXTH PERIOD— ADAMS' ADMINISTRATION 



militia, creating a small naval force, 
and acts for preventing privateering. 

In the meantime success had waited 
on French arms and French diplomacy 
almost everywhere. Bonaparte, who 
was making his victorious marches 
toward the Danube and the Carpathian 
Mountains, had compelled Austria to 
make peace with his government ; and 
England, the most powerful of the ene- 
mies of Prance, seemed to be totter- 
ing to its fall, for the suspension of 
specie payment by the Bank of Eng- 
land had rudely shaken and weakened 
her financial power. It was at this 
flood-tide of the military and diploma- 
tic conquests of France in October, 
1/97, that the American envoys reached 
that country and sought an audience 
with the French Directory. Their re- 
quest was met by a haughty refusal, un- 
less the envoys would agree to the hu- 
miliating terms of first paying into the 
exhausted French treasury a large sum 
of mone)' in the form of a loan ; by the 
purchase of Dutch bonds wrung from 
that nation by the French, and a bribe 
to the amount of $240,000 for the pri- 
vate use of the five members of the 
French Directory! This proposition 
came semi-officially from Talleyrand, 
one of the most expert and unscrupu- 
lous political trimmers that ever lived. 
It was accompanied by a covert threat, 
that if the proposition was not com- 
plied with, the envoys might be ordered 
to leave France in twenty-four hours, 
and the coasts of the United States be 
ravaged by French frigates sent from 
St. Domingo. The envoys refused com- 
pliance, and the occasion gave Pinck- 
ney the opportunity to utter in sub- 
stance the noble words: "Millions for 
defence, but not one cent for tribute." 
Finding their mission to be useless, the 
envoys asked for their passports. They 
were given to the two I'ederal envoys 
under circumstances which amounted to 
their virtual expulsion from the coun- 
try, while Gerry was induced to remain. 
He, too, was soon treated with so much 
insolence and contempt by Talleyrand 
and his associates that he returned 
home in disgust to meet the indignation 
of his countrymen for consenting to re- 



main. Gerry had held interviews with 
Talleyrand without the knowledge of 
his associates, and it was believed that 
his representation of the strength of the 
"I'"rench party" in the United States en- 
couraged that minister to pursue the 
course he did. 

Meanwhile the Directory had issued 
another decree, which effectually anni- 
hilated American commerce in Euro- 
pean waters. This act, the indecent 
treatment of the envoys and the con- 
tiiuied depredations of the French 
cruisers, aroused a vehement war-spirit 
in the United States. President Adams, 
in his first annual message to Congress 
(November 2;^, 1797), recommended 
preparations for war. In March, 1798, 
the P'resident, in a special message, 
asked Congress to provide means for 
war. The request was promptly com- 
plied with. A provisional army of 
twenty thousand regular soldiers was 
voted, and provision was made for the 
employment of volunteers as well as 
militia ; and then were made those pro- 
visions for a national navy already al- 
luded to. The office of Secretary of the 
Navy was created, and Benjamin Stod- 
ert, of the District of Columbia, was 
the first to enter the cabinet as the head 
of the Navy Department, which he did 
at the close of April, 1798. I'arty- 
spirit disappeared in the National Leg- 
islature to a great degree, and the pop- 
ular excitement against the opposition 
leaders in Congress became so intense, 
that some of the most obnoxious of 
them from Virginia sought personal 
safety in flight, under the pretence of 
needed attention to their private affairs. 
Washington approved the war-meas- 
ures of the government, and in July he 
was appointed by the President com- 
mander-in-chief of all the forces raised 
and to be raised, with the commission 
of lieutenant-general. Washington re- 
quested the appointment of his friend 
Alexander Hamilton, then forty-one 
years of age, as acting general-in-chief. 
For this purpose, Hamilton was com- 
missioned the first major-general. 
Washington held a conference with all 
the general officers of the army at 
Philadelphia, in November (1798) 



ipS 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



when arrangements were made for a 
complete organization of the regular 
forces on a war-footing. But from the 
beginning he believed that the gathering 
clouds, portending a fearful tempest, 
would pass away and leave his country 
unscathed by the lightning and the hail 
of war. 

Events soon justified Washington's 
faith. The wily Talleyrand, ever ready 
to change his political coat, caused in- 
formation to reach the Lhiited States 
governiment that the Directory were 
ready to receive advances from the 
former for entering into negotiations. 

Without consulting his cabinet or the 
national dignity, President Adams nom- 
inated William \'ance Murray, then the 
representative of the United States at 
the Hague, as minister plenipotentiary 
to France. Congress and the people 
were amazed, and the Senate deter- 
mined not to confirm the nomination. 
No direct communication had been re- 
ceived from the Directory, and this 
advance after unatoned insults, seemed 
like cowardly cringing before a half- 
relenting tyrant. The President stoutly 
persisted for awhile, when he con- 
sented to the appointment of three en- 
voys extraordinary, oi which Mr. Mur- 
ray should be one, to settle all disputes 
between the two governments. For this 
purpose Oliver Ellsworth and William 
R. Davie were appointed to join Mr. 
Murray, but they were not to proceed 
to Europe until assurances should be 
received from France of their courte- 
ous reception there. Such assurances 
came from Talleyrand, and in Novem- 
ber, 1799, the two envoys sailed for 
France. 

Fortunately for all parties concerned, 
a change occurred in the government of 
France in the month when the envoys 
departed from our shores. Bonaparte 
was made First Consul or supreme 
ruler of France for life. 

It was at this crisis in the political 
affairs of France when the American 
envoys reached Paris. They were cor- 
dially received by Talleyrand, by order 
of the First Consul, and an amicable 
settlement of all difficulties was soon 
made. A convention was signed at 



Paris on the 30th of September, 1800, 
by the American envoys and Joseph 
Bonaparte, C. P. E. Fluvien and Pierre 
L. Roederer, in behalf of France, which 
was satisfactory to both parties. The 
convention aLso made the important de- 
cision, in the face of the contrary doc- 
trine avowed and practiced by the Brit- 
ish government, that free slii(^s should 
■make free goods. Peace was estab- 
lished, the envoys returned home, and 
the provisional army of the United 
States was disbanded. 

While the political events just re- 
corded were in progress, war between 
the two nations actually began upon the 
ocean, although neither party had pro- 
claimed hostilities. In July, 1798, the 
American Congress had declared the 
treaties between the United States and 
France at an end, and authorized Amer- 
ican vessels-of-war to capture French 
cruisers. A marine corps was organ- 
ized, and a total of thirty cruisers were 
provided for. Under the law for the 
creation of a navy, several frigates had 
been put in commission in 1797, but 
they were not ready for sea in the 
spring of 1798: but it was not long in 
the presence of impending war, before 
the United States, the Constitution, the 
Constellation and other war-vessels 
were out upon the ocean under 
such commanders as Dale, Barry, Deca- 
tur the elder, Truxton, Nicholson and 
Phillips. Decatur soon captured a 
French corsair (April, 1798); and the 
British and French, authorities in the 
West Indies were greatly surprised by 
the appearance of so many American 
cruisers in those waters in the summer 
and autumn of 1798. At the close of 
th.e year, the American navy consisted 
of tweny-three vessels, with an aggre- 
gate armament of four hundred and 
forty-six guns. 

It was at this time that the first of a 
series of outrages upon the flag of the 
republic was committed by a British 
naval commander, that finally aroused 
the people of the United States to a vin- 
dication of their honor and independ- 
ence by an appeal to arms. The Ameri- 
can cruiser Baltimore, Captain Phillips, 
in charge of a convoy of merchant ves- 



SIXTH PERIOD— ADAMS' ADMINISTRATION 



199 



sels from Havanna to Charleston, when 
in sight of Moro Castle fell in with a 
British squadron. The United States 
and Great Britain were then at peace, 
and Phillips did not expect anything 
from the commander of the squadron 
but friendship, when, to his surprise, 
three of the convoy were captured by 
the British cruisers. Phillips bore up 
alongside the British flag-ship to ask 
for an explanation, when he was in- 
formed by her commander that every 
man on board the Baltimore, who could 
not show a regular American protec- 
tion paper, should be transferred to the 
British vessel. Phillips protested 
against the outrage ; and when fifty- 
five of his crew were taken to the Brit- 
ish flagship, he, under legal advice, sur- 
rendered his vessel with the intention 
of referring the matter to his govern- 
ment. Only five of the crew were 
detained by the British commander. 
These were impressed into the service 
of the royal navy, and the remainder 
were sent back. The Baltimore was re- 
leased, and the British sf|uadron sailed 
away with the three merchant-vessels as 
prizes. 

This outrage — this practical applica- 
tion of the claims of the British govern- 
ment to the right of searching American 
vessels without leave and taking sea- 
men from them without redress — 
lighted a flame of hot indignation 
throughout our republic. But, at that 
time, the American government, like 
that of England, was strongly influ- 
enced, if not controlled, by the mer- 
cantile interest which had become very 
potential. The American cabinet in 
their obsequious deference to Great 
Britain had actually instructed the naval 
commanders not to molest the cruisers 
of any nation (the French excepted) on 
any account — not even to save a ves- 
sel of their own nation. The pusillan- 
imity of this policy was now aggravated 
by an act of flagrant injustice and cow- 
ardice on the part of our government, 
that made the cheeks of true patriots 
crimson with shame. Captain Phillips 
was dismissed from the navy, without 
trial, because he had surrendered his 
vessel without making a show of re- 



sistance, and no notice was taken of the 
outrage by the British commander! 

During the year 1799, the .\merican 
navy was much strengthened by the 
launching and putting into commission 
of several new vessels. In February, 
the frigate Constellation. Commodore 
Truxton commanding, fell in with and 
captured the famous French frigate 
L'Insurgentc, of 44 guns and 409 men, 
off the Island of Nevis, in the West 
Indies. The American and English 
press teemed with eulogies of Truxton. 

At the beginning of February, 1800, 
Truxton, in the Constellation, gained a 
victory over the French frigate La 
J'engeance, of 54 guns and 500 men. 
The battle was fought on the 1st of 
February, off Guadaloupe. In conse- 
(luence of the falling of the mainmast 
of the Constellation, the supporting 
shrouds of which had been cut away, 
the Vengeance escaped. For this ex- 
ploit Congress gave Truxton a gold 
medal. La I'engeance would have been 
a rich prize. She had on board a large 
amount of merchandise and specie, and 
the governor of Guadaloupe and his 
family returning to France. The con- 
vention at Paris brought peace, and the 
navy of the United States was soon 
called into another field of service. 

The action of President Adams in the 
nomination of envoys to France before 
official intimations from the Directory 
that negotiations were desirable haci 
been received, caused very serious di- 
visions in the Federal party. Hostile 
feelings already existing, were thereby 
intensified, and the speedy downfall of 
the Federal party, as a. controlling 
power in the government, was charged 
to the errors of judgment and temper 
on the part of Mr. Adams. He had 
already become unpopular because of 
his obstinacy and ])ersonal strictures. 
Very vain and egotistical, he was sen- 
sitive and jealous. His judgment was 
often swayed by his vivid imagination. 
His prejudices were violent and im- 
placable, and his honesty and frank- 
ness, which made him almost a stranger 
to policy and expediency, made him 
very indiscreet in his expressions of 
opinions concerning men and measures. 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AXD REFEREXCE 



These characteristics made him an un- 
til leader of a great party. Persons who 
disagreed with him concerning meas- 
ures of puWic policy, he regarded as 
personal enemies, and for this reason 
his feelings toward Hamilton were as 
bitter as ever were those of Jefferson. 
The consequence was that he was at 
vi'.riance with many of the leaders of the 
Federal party, who, regarding him as a 
Jonah, laid a plan to defeat his re-elec- 
tion to the Presidency — an event which 
they knew he earnestly desired should 
take place. The cunning Democrats 
fanned the flame of separation in the 
Federal party. Mr. Adams's political 
partisans succeeded in the scheme for 
his defeat : but they did no more. They 
defeated the Federal party. The Demo- 
cratic candidate for President, Mr. Jef- 
ferson, was elected, with Aaron Burr 
as \'ice-President. The controlling 
power of that party, in the government, 
was then lost forever, after a most use- 
ful existence of about ten years. The 
odium in which Adams's administration 
was held was in consequence of the pas- 
sage of the Alien and Sedition Laws 
which he favored — laws which author- 
ized the President to expel aliens from 
our countrv under certain conditions. 
and by which citizens might be punished 
by fine and imprisonment who might 
combine in opposing government mea.s- 
ures. or who might resist the govern- 
ment in words, in a "false and scanda- 
lous manner." Hamilton deprecated 
the laws and wrote: "Let us not estab- 
lish a tyranny. Energy is a very differ- 
ent thing from violence." He saw the 
danger, and wrote prophetically: "If 
we push things to the extreme, we shall 
then give to faction body and solidity." 

In the closing month of the 1 8th 
century the inhabitants of the young 
republic were bereaved by the death of 
Washington. 

(jn the 13th of December, 179Q. 
\\ ashington was exposed to a storm of 
sleet, and took cold. The malady in- 
creased in intensity, and before mid- 
night the spirit of the Beloved Patriot 
took ita flight 



TEFFERSOX'S ADMINISTRA- 
TION. 

In the summer and autumn of the 
vcar iSoo, the seat of the national gov- 
ernment was transferred from Phila- 
delphia to the embryo city of Washing- 
ton, on the banks of the Potomac and 
at the verge of a Maryland forest. 

The City of Washington was laid out 
on a magnificent scale, in 1791. with 
broad avenues bearing the names of the 
several States of the Union radiating 
from the hill on which the Capitol was 
built, with streets intersecting them in 
such a peculiar way that they have ever 
been a puzzle to strangers. The corn- 
erstone of the Capitol was laid by 
Washington, hi April, 1793, with ma- 
sonic ceremonies. Only the two wings 
were first built, and these were not 
completed until 1808. 

The site for the citj' was a dreary 
one. At the time when the govern- 
ment was first seated there, only a 
path, leading through an alder swamp 
on the line of the present Pennsylvania 
Avenue, was the way of communica- 
tion between the President's house and 
the Capitol. For awhile the executive 
and legislative officers of the govern- 
ment were compelled to suffer many 
privations there. 

^Ir. Jefferson began his administra- 
tion on the 4th of ^larch, 1801, under 
favorable auspices. 

Mr. Jefferson indicated his policy, as 
follows, in a letter to Nathaniel Macon : 
"i. Levees are done away with. 2. The 
first communication to the next Con- 
gress will be. like all subsequent ones, 
by message, to which no answer will be 
expected. 3. The diplomatic establish- 
ment in Europe will be reduced to three 
ministers. 4. The compensation of col- 
lectors depends on you (Congress), and 
not on me. 3. The army is undergoing 
a chaste reformation. 6. The navy will 
be reduced to the legal establishment by 
the last of this month (May, 1801). 7. 
Agencies in even,' department will be 
revised. 8. We shall push you to the 
uttermost in economizing. 9. A very 
early recommendation has been given to 
the Postmaster-General to emiiloy no 



SIXTH PERIOD— JEFFERSON'S ADMIXISTRATIOX 



printer, foreigner, or Revolutionary 
Tory in any of his offices." Mr. Jefifer- 
son appointed James Madison, Secre- 
tary of State; Henry Dearborn, Secre- 
tary of War; and Levi Lincoln, Attor- 
ney-General; He retained Mr. Adams's 
Secretaries of Treasury and Navy, un- 
til the following autumn, when Albert 
Gallatin, a naturalized foreigner, was 
appointed to the first-named office, and 
Robert Smith, to the second. The Pres- 
ident early resolved to reward his pol- 
itical friends, when he came to "revise" 
the "agencies in every department." 
Three days after his inauguration he 
wrote to Colonel Monroe: "I have 
firmly refused to follow the counsels 
of those who have desired the giving 
of offices to some of the Federalist lead- 
ers in order to reconcile. I have given, 
and will give, only to Republicans, 
under existing circumstanres." The 
doctrine, ever since acted upon, that "to 
the victor belongs the spoils," was then 
practically promulgated from the foun- 
tain-head of the government patronage ; 
and with a Cabinet wholly Democratic 
when Congress met in December, 1800, 
and with the minor offices filled with his 
political friends, Mr. JefTerson began 
his Presidential career of eight years" 
duration. 

The insolence of the North African 
pirates now became unbearable, and the 
United States resolved to cease paying 
tribute to the Barbary Powers. Captain 
Bainbridge had been sent, in 1800, in 
the frigate George Washington, to pay 
the usual tribute to the Dey of .Algiers, 
and had been treated with cruel inso- 
lence by that ruler. After performing 
the errand courteously, and when he 
was about to leave, the Dey commanded 
Bainbridge to carrj- an Algerian ambas- 
sador to the Court of the Sultan of 
Constantinople. Bainbridge politely re- 
fused compliance, when the haughty 
governor said : "You pay me tribute, by 
which you become my slave, and there- 
fore I have a right to order you as I 
think proper." Bainbridge could not 
sail out of the harbor of Algiers with- 
out the permission of the vigilant guns 
of the castle, and was compelled to 
yield. He bore the swarthy ambassador 



to the Golden Horn, when the .Sultan 
saw our starry-flag for the first time. 
He had never heard of the United 
States of America. His own flag was 
garnished with a crescent, and he con- 
sidered it a favorable omen for a flag 
bearing the stars of heaven to enter the 
waters of the seat of the Moslem Em- 
pire. 

Bainbridge was granted a firman to 
protect him from further insolence 
from the Barbary rulers, and he u.sed 
it efficiently. When he returned to Al- 
giers, he was ordered by the Dey to 
go on another errand to Constantinople, 
when the captain peremptorily refused. 
The African, enraged, sprang from his 
seat, and threatening Bainbridge with 
personal injury, ordered his attendants 
to seize him. Bainbridge quietly pro- 
duced the firman, when the lion became 
like a lamb. The Dey obsequiously of- 
fered the man whom he had just re- 
garded as his slave, his friendship and 
service. Bainbridge. assuming the air 
of a dictator, demanded the instant re- 
lease of the French consul and fifty or 
sixty of his own countrymen, whom 
the Dey had imprisoned, and they were 
borne away in the Washington in tri- 
umph. Then he wrote to the Secretary 
of the Navy : "I hope I shall never again 
be sent to Algiers with tributes, unless 
I am authorized to deliver it from the 
mouth of our cannon." 

In the spring of 1801, President Jef- 
ferson, in anticipation of troubles with 
the Barbary powers, ordered Commo- 
dore Dale to go with a squadron, com- 
posed of the frigates President, Phila- 
delphia, Essex and Enterprise, to 
cruise ofif the North African coasts. 
Dale reached Gibraltar on the first of 
July, and found that Tripoli had lately 
declared war against the United States, 
and its corsairs were out upon the sea. 
His presence efifectually restrained the 
pirates, and made them quite circum- 
spect. The next year a larger squad- 
ron, composed of the frigates Chesa- 
peake, Constitution. Xezv York, John 
Adams, Adams and Enterprise, com- 
manded by Commodore Richard \'. 
^Morris, were sent to the same waters, 
one after another, from February to 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



September. The harbor of Tripoli was 
blockaded in May, and not long after- 
ward the Chesapeake, Lieutenant 
Chauncey acting captain, had a severe 
fight with a flotilla of Tripolitan gun- 
boats. These, as well as some cavalry 
on shore, were severely handled by this 
frigate. Finally, in 1803, the whole 
squadron appeared off the coasts of the 
Barbary powers, and effectually pro- 
tected American commerce from the 
corsairs, for awhile. But Morris's 
cruise was not regarded as an efficient 
one. A court of inquiry decided that 
he had not "discovered due diligence 
and activity in annoying the enemy," 
and the President dismissed him from 
the service without trial. 

In August, 1803, Commodore Preble, 
in command of a squadron, sailed for 
the Mediterranean in the frigate Con- 
stitution. After settling some difficul- 
ties with the Emperor of Morocco, 
whose corsairs were on the sea, he ap- 
peared with his vessel before the har- 
bor of Tripoli, where a serious disaster 
occurred. The frigate Philadelphia, 
commanded by Captain Bainbridge, 
while reconnoitering the harbor, struck 
a rock and was captured by the Tri- 
politains. Her officers were made pris- 
oners-of-war, and her crew were made 
slaves. When the news reached Preble 
at Malta, a plan was devised for the de- 
struction of the Philadelphia before 
her captors could make her ready for 
sea. Lieutenant Decatur, with seventy- 
four volunteers — ardent and gallant 
young men like himself — sailed from 
Syracuse in a small vessel called a 
"ketch," named the Intrepid. She en- 
tered the harbor of Tripoli on the 
evening of the 3d of February, 1804, 
in the disguise of a vessel in distress, 
and was moored alongside the Phila- 
delphia. Decatur and his men were 
concealed below, when suddenly they 
burst from the hatches like a destruc- 
tive flame, leaped on board the Phila- 
delphia, and after a desperate fight, 
killed or drove into the sea her turban- 
ed occupants. Then they set her on 
fire and escaped by the light, under 
cover of a heavy cannonade from the 
American squadron, and followed by 



shots from the castle, vessels at anchor 
in the harbor, and batteries on shore. 
Yet not one of Decatur's men was 
harmed. Before a favoring breeze 
they sailed to Syracuse, where they 
were greeted with joy by the American 
squadron there. The scene of the 
burning vessel was magnificent. As 
the guns of the Philadelphia were 
heated, they were discharged, giving a 
grand feu de joie for the victory. 

This bold act alarmed the Bashaw, 
and subsequent events made him very 
discreet. In August following, Preble, 
with his squadron, opened a heavy bom- 
bardment upon his town, castle, shore- 
batteries and flotilla of gun-boats, no 
less than four times, between the 3d 
and the 28th. In one of these engage- 
ments Decatur again distinguished 
himself. In command of a gun-boat, he 
laid her alongside one of the largest 
of the Tripolitan vessels, boarded her, 
aud made her a prize. Then he boarded 
another, when he had a desperate per- 
sonal encounter with her powerful cap- 
tain. The struggle was brief but fear- 
ful. Decatur killed his antagonist, and 
the vessel was captured. Finally, on 
the 28th of August, Preble, with his 
flag-ship, the Constitution, entered the 
harbor, when her great guns opened 
a heavy fire upon the town, the castle, 
the batteries on shore and the camps of 
twenty-five thousand land troops, and 
the flotilla in the harbor. She silenced 
the Tripolitan guns, sunk a Tunisian 
vessel-of-war, damaged a Spanish one, 
severely bruised the enemy's galleys and 
gun-boats, and then withdrew without 
a man hurt. 

Another attack was made on the 2d 
of September. On that night — a very 
dark one — the Intrepid, which had been 
converted into a floating mine — an im- 
mense torpedo — with one hundred bar- 
rels of gimpowder below her deck, and 
a large quantity of shot, shell and ir- 
regular pieces of iron lying over them, 
went into the harbor under the general 
direction of Captain Somers, to scatter 
destruction among the vessels of the 
enemy. She was towed in by two 
boats, with brave crews, in which it 
was expected all would escape, after 



SIXTH PERIOD— JEFFERSON'S ADMINISTRATION 



203 



firing combustibles on board of her. 
All hearts in the American sciuadron 
followed the Intrepid as she disap- 
])eared in the gloom. Suddenly a lurid 
llame, like that from a volcano, shot 
up from the bosom of the harbor, and 
lighted with its horrid glare the town, 
castle, batteries, ships camps and sur- 
rounding hills. It was followed by an 
cx])losion that shook the earth and sea, 
and flaming masts and sails and fiery 
bombs rained upon the waters for a 
moment, when darkness more pro- 
found settled upon the scene. The saf- 
ety-boats were anxiously watched for 
until the dawn. They never returned, 
and no mar> of that perilous expedi- 
tion was heard of afterward. Their 
names are inscribed upon a monument 
elected to the memory of these brave 
men, and the event, that stands at the 
western front of the Capitol at Wash- 
ington city. Hostilities on the Barbary 
coast now ceased for the season. Preble 
was relieved by Commodore Samuel 
I'.arron, and early in 1805 he returned 
home and received the homage of the 
nation's gratitude. 

While Barron's ships blockaded Trip- 
oli, an important land movement against 
that province was undertaken, under 
the general management of William 
Eaton, American consul at Tunis. The 
reigning Bashaw of Tripoli was an 
ursurper, who had murdered his father 
and taken the seat of power from his 
brother, Hamet Caramalli. The latter 
had fled to Egypt. A plan was con- 
certed between him and General Eaton 
for the restoration of his rights. The 
latter acted under the sanction of his 
government. Eaton went to Egypt, and 
at the beginning of ?ilarch he left Alex- 
andria, accompanied by liamet and his 
followers, some Egyptian soldiers, and 
seventy United States seamen. They 
made a march of a thousand miles 
across the borders of the Libyan desert ; 
and at near the close of April, in con- 
junction with two American vessels, 
they captured the Tripolitan city of 
Derne, on the borders of the Medi- 
terranean Sea. They had defeated the 
Tripolitan forces in two battles, and 
were about to march on the capital 



when news came that the American 
consul-general (Tobias Lear) had made 
a treaty of peace with the terrified 
Bashaw. So ended the hopes of Hamet, 
and also the four years' war with Trip- 
oli. But the ruler of Tunis was yet 
insolent. He was speedily humbled by 
Commodore Rodgers, Barron's succes- 
sor, and the power of the L^nited States 
was respected and feared by the half- 
barbarians of the north of Africa. Pope 
Pius the Seventh declared that the 
Aimericans had done more for Christen- 
dom against the pirates than all the 
powers of Europe united. 

In 1802 JelYerson learned with alarm 
that Spain had in 1800 secretly ceded 
back to France all the territory gained 
after the French and Indian war. The 
importance to us arose from the fact 
that this territory called Louisiana con- 
trolled the navigation of the Mississippi, 
which was of vast importance to the 
people of Tennessee, Kentucky and 
Ohio, which had just been admitted as 
a State (1802). We had succeeded in 
getting from Spain the right to freely 
navigate the river through her terri- 
tory, and what was of more import- 
ance, obtained the privilege of making 
New Orleans a base of deposit for our 
merchandise. This concession, how- 
ever, was suddenly revoked, with the 
result that our trade was ruined. Jef- 
ferson accordingly instructed Edward 
Livingston, our Rlinister to Paris, to 
urge strongly upon Napoleon the pur- 
chase on our part of what was called 
"the island of New Orleans" on the east 
side of the river. Talleyrand at first 
conducted the negotiation with his usual 
baffling policy, until Monroe arrived in 
Paris, who joined Livingston in the 
negotiations. Suddenly Najwleon 
turned on Livingston and asked him 
how he would like to buy the whole 
Louisiana territory, stretching from the 
Mississippi river to Mexico and the 
Rocky Mountains. Such a proposition 
came very much as would now an otter 
of Great Britain to sell us the whole 
of the Dominion of Canada. Livings- 
ton consulted Monroe, and, though they 
were without authority, resolved to 
make the bargain, not without a feel- 



THE HO^rE AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



ing that there was some uherior motive 
on the part of Kapoleon. The chief 
motive was money, of which the con- 
queror stood in great need, and also 
the fact that he had no means of de- 
fending the territory against the Brit- 
ish fleet, and that his enemy might de- 
prive him of it. The bargain was 
(juickly struck. Talleyrand not appear- 
ing in this negotiation, because of the 
X. Y. Z. controversy. Napoleon's min- 
mum was 50,000,000 francs, but Barbe- 
Alarbois, who acted for him, offered 
first to sell for 100,000,000, and finally 
took 80,000,000, which would equal 
about $15,000,000 of our money, ac- 
cording to the rate of exchange. We 
were to pay $11,250,000 in 6 per cent, 
bonds and assume $3,750,000 of claims 
of our own people against France for 
the spoilations of our commerce. We 
agreed to give French shipping equal 
rights with ours for twelve years, and 
forever on the basis of the most fav- 
ored Nation. The ceded citizens were 
assured the rights in religion and prop- 
erty and were in due time to become 
citizens. This took but a few days to 
settle, and our commissioners were as- 
tounded at their success. Finding, after 
the bargain was struck, that the terms 
delimiting this territory were indefinite, 
they tried later to find whether Louis- 
iana included the Florida, but were met 
with evasive answers. We got all that 
Spain got from France, but whether 
this included West Florida or not was 
uncertain. It would not do to ask 
Spain, for that Nation was ignorant of 
the transaction, and great was her 
wrath on hearing of it, when it was too 
late. She then resisted our effort to 
include even West Florida in the ces- 
sion, but we finally took it by force. 
The southwestern boundary was not 
stated and not settled for many .years. 
The treaty was signed i\Iay 2, 1803, 
and great was the excitement in .Amer- 
ica when the news became known. The 
treaty was ratified in spite of Jeffer- 
son's own belief that it was unconsti- 
tutional thus to acquire territory, and 
the objections from the East that it 
would ruin the country. In spite of all 
fears the people considered it a good 



bargain and decided that the sovereignty 
of the Nation gave the right to acquire 
territory as might be desired. Thus by 
a stroke of the pen our territory was 
almost doubled. 

The same year when Louisiana was 
bought. President Jefferson, by a con- 
fidential message to Congress, recom- 
mended an appropriation, which was 
made, to defray the expenses of the 
Lewis and Clark e.xpedition to explore 
the \^'est, detailed elsewhere in this 
volume. Michigan was erected into a 
Territory in the year 1805, and all 
along the Mississippi settlements were 
taking deep root and flourishing. 

At that time there was. a prevailing 
opinion in our country that the Span- 
ish inhabitants in Louisiana would not 
quietly submit to the rule of our gov- 
ernment. Taking advantage of this be- 
lief, and the restless spirits of the in- 
habitants who were forming States in 
the Great \'alley, Aaron Burr, an ard- 
ent politician and expert and unscrupu- 
lous intriguer, who had been Vice- 
President of the United States during 
Jefferson's first term, thought he saw 
an opportunity to make circumstances 
subservient to his own ambitious views. 
In the summer of 1804 he had murdered 
General Hamilton in a duel, and became 
an outcast from society. He was tol- 
erated only by his political party, and 
was not renominated by Mr. Jefferson. 

In the spring of 1805 Burr departed 
for the West, giving deceptive reasons 
for his journey. He went down the 
Ohio River in an open boat, and on a 
pleasant morning in May he appeared 
at the charming island home of Herman 
Blennerhassett. 

Into that paradise the wily serpent 
crept, and repeated the story of the 
fall. Mrs. Blennerhassett, an ambitious 
woman, with an enthusiastic nature, 
^\as tempted by the apple of liurr's se- 
ductive promises of wealth, power and 
immortal honors, and she persuaded 
her husband to eat of the fruit. He 
placed his fortune and reputation at 
the disposal of that heartless dema- 
gogue, and lost both. He was driven 
by necessity from his lost paradise, and 
died in comparative poverty. 



SIXTH PERIOD—JEFFERSON'S ADMINISTRATION 



Burr, at first, gained the confidence 
of that stern patriot, Andrew Jackson, 
whom he visited at his log-dwelling at 
the "Hermitage," near Nashville. They 
corresponded for a time after Burr re- 
turned to the East in the fall of 1805, 
and so active were the schemer and his 
few partisans in the West in 1806 that 
a military organization was partly ef- 
fected. He had overcome General Wil- 
kinson with his wiles ; and so strong 
was the confidence of Jackson in the 
integrity of Burr, that when the latter 
again visited the Hermitage early in 
the autumn of 1806, the former pro- 
cured for him a public ball at Nash- 
ville, at which the tall hero, in military 
dress, led the little adventurer in his 
suit of black into the room, and intro- 
duced him to the ladies and gentlemen 
present. Circumstances soon afterward 
caused Jackson to suspect Burr's fidel- 
ity to his country, and he communicated 
his suspicions to Governor Claiborne at 
New Orleans. The national govern- 
ment received similar warnings, and 
took measures to crush the viper in its 
egg. Burr's arrest was ordered, and 
this was accomplished in February, 
1807, near Fort Stoddart, in Alabama, 
by Lieutenant (afterward Major-Gen- 
eral ) E. P. Gaines. Burr was taken 
to Richmond, in Virginia, and there 
tried for treason. The evidence seemed 
to show that his probable design was an 
invasion of the Mexican provinces and 
not a disseverance of the Union, and 
he was acquitted. 

At about this time when Burr con- 
ceived his schemes, trouble between 
Spain and the United States had oc- 
curred, and, for awhile, threatened to 
kindle a flame of war between the two 
governments. But the boundaries were 
amicably settled by satisfactory defini- 
tions, and the clouds passed away. 

The First Consul of France had pro- 
cured his election to a seat on an im- 
perial throne, in the spring of 1804; 
and on the 2d of December following, 
he appeared before the altar of the 
Church of Notre Dame, in Paris, where 
he was consecrated "The High and 
Mighty Napoleon the First, Emperor of 
the French." In 1806, he was monarch 



of Italy, and his three brothers were 
made ruling sovereigns. Then he was 
upon the full tide of successful domi- 
nation, and a large part of continental 
Europe was prostrate at his feet. Eng- 
land had joined the continental powers 
against him in 1803, in order to crush 
out the Democratic revolution which 
liad occurred in France, and threatened 
the peace of the United Kingdom ; and 
the British navy had almost destroyed 
the French power on the sea. At the 
same time American shipping enjoyed 
the privilege of free intercourse between 
the ports of England and France, and 
pursued a very profitable carr)ing 
trade which unforeseen circumstances 
soon destroyed. 

The envious shipping-merchants of 
Great Ijritain, and her navy officers 
and pri\'ateers who could then obtain 
\ery few prizes lawfully, represented to 
their government that the Americans, 
under the guise of neutrality, were sec- 
retly aiding the French. This hint 
caused that government to revive in full 
force the "rule of 1756" concerning 
neutrals ; and orders were secretly is- 
sued authorizing British cruisers t6 
seize and British admiralty courts to 
condenui as prizes American vessels 
and their cargoes that might be captured 
by British cruisers. 

The depredations of these cruisers 
upon American commerce were com- 
menced under the most frivolous and 
absurd pretexts, and the most intense 
indignation was aroused throughout the 
United States. Memorials from mer- 
chants in all the seaboard towns and 
cities were presented to Congress, in 
which the Democrats, with Mr. Jeffer- 
son (just re-elected) at their head, had 
an overwhelming majority. This and 
other grievances inflicted by the Brit- 
ish government were discussed. Among 
them the alleged right of search which 
the British put forth, was paramount ; 
and on the recommendation of the 
President, Congress, in the spring of 
1806, jiassed an act prohibiting the im- 
portation into the United States of 
many of the more important manufac- 
tures of Great Britain, after the first 
of November following. In May Wil- 



206 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AXD REFERENCE 



lliain Pinckney was sent to London to 
join Mr. Monroe, the American min- 
ister there, in negotiating a treaty with 
the British government concerning the 
rights of neutrals, the impressment of 
seamen, and the right of search. A 
treaty was finally signed, but as it did 
not offer security to American vessels 
against the aggressions of British cruis- 
ers in searching for and carrying off 
seamen, the President would not lay it 
before the Senate. 

A new difficulty now arose. In their 
anxiety to injure each other, the British 
and French governments ceased to re- 
spect the rights of other nations, and 
dealt heavy blows at the life of the 
commerce of the world. In this busi- 
ness Great Britain took the lead. On 
the i6th of May (1806) that govern- 
ment, by an order in council, declared 
the whole coast of Europe from the 
Elbe to Brest to be in a state of block- 
ade. Napoleon retaliated by issuing a 
decree from Berlin on the 21st of No- 
vember, in which he declared all the 
British islands to be in a state of block- 
ade. This was intended as a blow 
against Britain's maritime supremacy, 
and was the beginning of the Emperor's 
"Continental System," designed to ruin 
Great Britain. The latter, by another 
order in council issued January, 1807, 
prohibited all coast trade with France. 
So these desperate powers played with 
the world's commerce in their mad ef- 
forts to injure each other. American 
vessels were seized by both English and 
French cruisers, and American com- 
merce dwindled to a merely coast trade. 
Our republic lacked a competent navy 
to protect our commerce on the high 
seas; and the swarm of gun-boats 
(small sailing-vessels having each a can- 
non in the bow and stern), which Con- 
gress had authorized from time to time, 
were insufficient for a coast-guard. 

Early in 1807, American commerce 
was almost swept from the sea by the 
operations of the "orders" and "de- 
crees." The French had withheld the 
operation of the decrees for full a year, 
but the British cruisers had been let 
loose at once. This produced bitter 
feeling toward the government of (ireat 



Hritain on the part of the .\mcricans, 
and this was intensified by the haughty 
assertion and offensive practice of the 
British doctrine of the right of search 
for suspected deserters from the royal 
navy, and to carry away the suspected 
without hindrance. This right was 
claimed on the ground that a British- 
born subject could never expatriate 
himself, and that his government might 
take him, wherever found, and place 
him in the army or navy, although, by 
legal process, he may have been a citizen 
of another nation. This right of search 
and seizure had been strenuously denied 
and its policy strongly condemned, be- 
cause American seamen might be thus 
forced into the British service under 
the false pretext that they were desert- 
ers. Thij had already happened. It 
had been proven, after thorough inves- 
tigation, that since the promulgation of 
the British rule of 1756, a dozen years 
before, nearly three hundred seamen, a 
greater portion of them Americans, had 
been taken from vessels and pressed 
into the British service. 

A crisis now approached. A small 
British squadron lay in American 
waters near the mouth of the Chesa- 
peake Bay, watching some French frig- 
ates blockaded at Annapolis, in the 
spring of 1807. Three of the crew of 
(jne of the vessels, and one of another 
had deserted, and enlisted on board the 
United States frigate Chesapeake, lying 
at the Washington Navy Yard. The 
British minister made a formal demand 
for their surrender. Our govern/nent 
refused compliance, because it was as- 
certained that two of the men (one 
colored) were natives of the United 
States, and there was strong presump- 
tive evidence that a third was, likewise. 
No more was said, but the commander 
of the British squadron took the mat- 
ter into his own hands. The Chesa- 
peake, on going to sea on the morning 
of the 22d of June ( 1807), bearing the 
broad pennant of Commodore Barron, 
was intercepted by the British frigate 
Leopard, whose commander hailed the 
commoilore and informed him that he 
had a dispatch for him. L^nsuspicious 
of unfriendliness, the Chesapeake was 



SIXTFl PERIOD— JEFFERSONS' ADMINISTRATION 



laid to. when a British boat bearing a 
iHeutenant came alongside. That offi- 
cer was politely received by Barron, in 
his cabin, when the former presented 
a demand from the commander of the 
Leopard to allow the bearer to muster 
the crew of the Chesapeake, that he 
might select and carry away the alleged 
deserters. The demand was author- 
ized by instructions received from 
Vice-Admiral Berkeley, at Halifax. 
Barron told the lieutenant that iiis 
crew should not be mustered, e.xcepting 
his own officers, when the latter with- 
drew and the Chesapeake moved on. 

Barron, suspecting mischief, had 
caused his vessel to be prepared for 
action as far as possible. The Leopard 
followed, and her commander called 
out to the commodore through his 
trumpet: "Commodore Barron must 
be aware that the vice-admiral's com- 
mands must be obeyed." This was re- 
peated. The Chesapeake kept on her 
way, when the Leopard sent two shot.s 
athwart her bows. These were followed 
by the remainder of the broadside that 
poured shot into the -hull of the Chesa- 
peake. The latter was unable to re- 
turn the fire, for her guns had no 
priming powder. Not a shot could be 
returned ; and after being severely 
bruised by repeated broadsides, she 
was surrendered to the assailant. Her 
crew was mustered by British officers ; 
the deserters were carried away, and 
the Chesapeake was left to pursue her 
voyage or return. The "vice-admiral's 
command" had been obeyed. One of 
the deserters, who was a British sub- 
ject, was hung at Halifax, and the 
three Americans were spared from the 
gallows only on the condition that they 
should re-enter the British service. 

The indignation of the American 
people was hot because of this outrage. 
The President i.'^sued a proclamation at 
the beginning of July, ordering all 
British armed vessels to leave the 
waters of the United States, and for- 
bidding any to enter them until ample 
satisfaction should be given. A de- 
mand for redress was made upon the 
British government, when an envoy ex 



iraordinary was sent to Washington 
city to settle the difficulty. He was in- 
structed to do nothing until the Presi- 
dent's proclamation should be with- 
drawn. So the matter stood for more 
than four years, when, in 1811, the 
P.ritish government disavowed the act. 
Meanwhile Commodore Barron had 
been tried on a charge of neglect of 
duty in not being prepared for action, 
found guilty, and suspended from ser- 
vice for five years without pay or 
emolument. 

During the year 1807, American 
genius and enterprise achieved a great 
triumph in science and art, by the 
successful and permanent establish- 
ment of navigation by the power of 
steam. This was the second of the 
great and beneficient achievements 
which have distinguished American in- 
ventors during the last eighty years. 
The cotton-gin, invented by Eli Whit- 
ney, was the first; an implement that 
can do the work of a thousand persons 
ill cleaning cotton-wool of the seeds. 

Another heavy blow was struck at 
American commerce late in 1807. A 
British order in council issued on the 
nth of November, forbade all neutral 
nations to trade with France or her 
allies, except upon the payment of a 
tribute to Great Britain. Napoleon re- 
taliated by issuing a decree at Milan, in 
Italy, on the 17th of December, for- 
bidding all trade with England and her 
colonies; and authorizing the confisca- 
tion of any vessel found in his port.« 
which had submitted to English search, 
or paid the tribute exacted. These edicts 
almost stopped the commercial opera- 
tions of the civilized world. American 
foreign commerce was annihilated. 
The President had called Congress to- 
gether at an earlier day ( October 25 ) 
than usual, to consider the critical state 
of public affairs ; and in a confidential 
message, he recommended that body to 
pass an act levying a commercial em- 
bargo. Such an act was passed on the 
22d of December, 1807, by which all 
American and foreign vessels in our 
ports were detained and all American 
vessels abroad were ordered home iin- 



208 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



mediately, that the seamen might he 
trained for the impending war in de- 
fence of sacred rights. 

This act caused widespread distress 
in commercial communities, and the 
firmness of the government and the 
patriotism of the people were severely 
tried for more than a year, under ag- 
gravated insults by the Britisli govern- 
ment which exacted tribute in a form 
more odious than that of the North 
African robbers. In the spring of 
1808, the British Parliament, with an 
air of condescension, passed an act per- 
mitting Americans to trade with 
France and her dependencies, on the 
condition that vessels engaged in such 
trade should first enter some British 
port, pay a transit duty, and take out 
a license. 

The embargo failed to obtain from 
France or Great Britain the slightest 
acknowledgment of American rights, 
and it was repealed on the first day of 
]\Iarch, iSog — three days before Mr. 
Jefferson left the Presidential chair to 
make room for James Madison, who 
had been elected to succeed him as 
chief magistrate of the republic. On 
the same day Congress passed an act 
forbidding all commercial intercourse 
with France and Great Britain until the 
"orders in council" and the "decrees" 
should be repealed. 

JAMES MADISON'S AD:\1INIS- 
TRATION 

James Madison began his adminis- 
tration with George Clinton, of New 
York, as Vice-President, during this 
troublesome time in our Country's his- 
tory. 

It was believed that the new Presi- 
dent would perpetuate the policy of 
Jefiferson ; but when, dressed in a suit 
of plain black cloth, he modestly pro- 
nounced his inaugural address before 
a multitude of eager spectators, on the 
4th of ^larch, i8oq, the tone and tem- 
per of that speech fell like oil upon 
troubled waters. His most placable 
political enemies who heard him, and 
those who read the address, could not 
refrain from uttering words of appro- 



bation ; and the whole nation enter- 
tained hopes that his measures might 
change the gloomy aspect of public 
affairs. He had able constitutional ad- 
visors in Robert Smith, as Secretary 
of State ; Albert Gallatin, Secretary of 
the Treasury; William Eustis, Secretary 
of War; Paul Hamilton, Secretary of 
the Navy, and Csesar Rodney, At- 
torney-General. 

At the beginning of his administra- 
tion, Madison was assured by the 
British minister at Washington (Mr. 
Erskinc) that such portions of the or- 
ders in council as affected the United 
States would be repealed by the loth 
of June; and that a special envoy would 
be sent by his government to adjust all 
matters in dispute. Regarding these 
assurances as official, the event seemed 
like a ray of sunlight among the tem- 
pestuous clouds. The President issued 
a proclamation on the 19th of April 
( 1809), permitting a renewal of com- 
mercial intercourse with Great Britain 
from that day ; but the British govern- 
ment disavowed Erskine's act, and in 
August the President, by proclamation, 
renewed the restrictions. This event 
produced intense excitement through- 
out our country ; and had the President 
then proclaimed war against Great 
Britain, it would undoubtedly have 
been a popular measure. 

Great Britain not only continued her 
hostile orders, but sent ships-of-war 
to cruise off the principal ports of the 
L^nited States to intercept American 
merchant-vessels and send them to 
England as lawful prizes. In this busi- 
ness the Little Belt, Captain Bingham, 
a British sloop-of-war, was engaged in 
the spring of 181 1 off the coast of \'ir- 
ginia, where she was met on the i6tli 
of April by the American frigate 
President, Captain Ludlow, bearing 
the broad pennant of Commodore 
Rodgers. The latter hailed the com- 
mander of the sloop, asking — "What 
ship is that?" and received a cannon- 
shot in reply. "Equally determined." 
said Rodgers, in his report, "not to be 
the aggressor, or suffer the flag of my 
country to be insulted with impunity. 
I gave a general order to fire." .After 



SIXTH PERIOD— .A! ADISOX'S AD.MINISTRATIOX 



a very brief action, Captain Bingham, 
having eleven men killed and twenty- 
one wounded, gave a satisfactory ans- 
wer. The vessels parted company, the 
Little Belt sailing for Halifax. 

The conduct of both officers, in this 
affair, was approved by their respec- 
tive governments. That of the United 
States and the people regarded the con- 
duct of Captain Bingham as an out- 
rage without palliation ; and the Am- 
ericans wcer willing to take up arms in 
I !e fence of what they regarde(l as right, 
justice and honor. They knew the 
strength of the British navy and the 
weakness of their own, yet they were 
willing to accept war as an alternative 
for submission, and to measure 
strength on the ocean. At that time 
the British navy consisted of almost nine 
linudi'cd vessels, with an aggregate of 
one hundred and forty-four thousand 
men. The American vessels-of-war, of 
large size, numbered only twek'c, with 
about three hundred guns. There was 
a large number of gun-boats, but these 
were scarcely sufficient for a coast- 
guard. For a navy so weak to defy a 
navy so strong, seemed like madness. 
\\'e must remember, however, that the 
royal navy was much scattered, for that 
government had interests to protect In 
\arious parts of the w-orld. It was the 
boast of the Britons that the sun never 
set on the dominions of their monarch. 

The administration was now sus- 
tained by a larger majority of the Am- 
erican people than that of Jefferson 
had ever been, and the Federalists, or 
the Opposition, were in a hopeless 
minority. The continued acts of ag- 
gression by the British were increas- 
ing the Democratic strength every day ; 
and in 1811, circumstances seemed to 
niake war with Great Britain an im- 
]ierative necessity for the vindication of 
ihe honor, rights and independence of 
tlic I'nited States. 

In the same )'ear occurred an upris- 
ing of Indians in the West, which at 
one time looked very serious. The 
British agents in Canada had continued 
to stir up the Indians against the 
United States, which caused much fric- 
tion There arose now two remarkable 



chiefs among the Shawnee tribe, in In- 
diana, who planned a general ujtrising 
tiiat should destroy our rule West of 
the Alleghanies. These two brothers 
were Tecumseh, a warrior chief, and 
Elkswatawa, a medicine man or priest, 
commonly known as the "Prophet." 
These were men of ability and cunning. 
They preached a general uprising of 
all the Indian tribes in the country and 
succeeded in stirring u[) great excite- 
ment among the redmen. With no 
pi'oper organization or equipment such 
a movement was bound to fail, but it 
was nipped in the bud by General Wil- 
liam Henry Harrison, Governor of the 
Northwest Territory. After consider- 
able palaver, in which the Indian chiefs 
professed friendship Harrison did not 
believe, and which their marauding be- 
lied, Harrison was treacherously at- 
tacked by the Indian allies at Tippe- 
canoe, the Prophet's town, near Terre 
Haute, in the absence of Tecumseh. 
I le utterly defeated them, after a hard 
battle, and broke the power of the con- 
federacy. Tecumseh sought Canada 
and the knowledge of aid he secured 
there increased the resentment against 
Great Britain. On top of this came the 
Henry exposure. John Henry, a 
British agent, had been in this country 
seeking to stir up political factions and 
to fan the Federalist resentment 
agains the Administration. Having a 
falling out with the ministry he sold 
the correspondence in his possession to 
Madison for $50,000. This showed a 
great defection in New England, and 
while no one was incriminated it dis- 
clo.sed that Great Britain was secretly 
trying to bring about a civil war. 
After this, the preservation of peace 
was no longer possible unless Great 
Britain should back down. 

The Twelfth Congress chose Henry 
Clay, of Kentucky, as Speaker. Clay, 
who had already served a part of a 
term in the Senate, was now the com- 
ing man in Congress. He was the first 
of the vigorous, breezy Western states- 
men. He was bold, earnest and de- 
fiant. In the House the young men 
who had grown up since the Revolu- 
tion were in the ascendant. John C. 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



Calhoun and Langdon Cheeves, of 
South Carolina, were men who became 
leaders at the start and were particu- 
larly the leaders of the party of War 
Hawks, who declared that negotiations 
should end and war begin. Randolph 
had fallen from influence, but was still 
a picturesque and brilliant free lance. 
On April 4, 1812, a ninety days em- 
bargo was laid, preliminary to war, and 
June 18, war was formally declared 
against great Britain. Hurried meas- 
ures were passed to raise funds, enroll 
militia and increase the army and navy 
to prepare for the contest. Canada 
was looked upon as the battle ground, 
though the actual military force at 
hand was ludicrously small. 

As a matter of fact. Great Britain 
had already repealed the obnoxious or- 
ders in Council, but this did not be- 
come known for weeks. Quick com- 
numication might have prevented war, 
but. perhaps, it was necessary to show 
to the world that we could maintain 
our position by force if necessary. 

Surely the country was ill prepared 
for war. The army was small, muni- 
tions were scarce ; of able generals 
there were almost none, while the 
Treasury was not prepared to raise the 
money needed for the strife. More- 
over the country was by no means 
unanimous in favor of the war. New 
England was largely against it and the 
financial centers as a whole were op- 
posed to it. The National Bank was 
gone and the only way to raise money 
was by an appeal for subscriptions to 
bonds. New England leaders had 
never been satisfied with Republican 
rule, but success of the administration 
of Jefferson had carried some of the 
States in its favor. A reaction now set 
in and the subscriptions to bonds in 
New England were almost nil. In- 
deed, if Stephen Girard, the Philadel- 
phia banker, a native Frenchman, had 
not come forward at a critical moment 
with a loan of $5,000,000 the Treasury 
would have been bankrupt. 

The fir.st year of the war consisted 
in one series of disastrous failures on 
land and brilliant victories on the sea. 
The war will be treated as a whole, and 



an interruption is here made to an- 
nounce that Madison was re-elected, 
though the opposition was formidable, 
and for a time it seemed as if a coali- 
tion had been formed which would 
have defeated him. Eldridge Gerry, of 
Alassachusetts, who has added the 
term "gerrymander" to our political 
lexicon, was chosen Vice-President. 
The opposition candidates were De- 
witt Clinton, of New York, and Jared 
Ingersoll, of Pennsylvania. The elec- 
toral vote stood: Madison, 128: Clin- 
ton, 89. This seems like a comfortable 
majority. but Pennsylvania alone 
turned the scale. Even then Clinton 
would have won had he carried North 
Carolina and either Vermont or Ohio, 
all of which were confidently claimed 
by the Federalists. This was the last 
National stand of the father party and 
they now practically disappeared from 
politics. 

Few persons realize that George HI 
was still King of Great Britain at this 
time, but he was no longer the am- 
bitious, bull-headed man of fifty years 
previous. He was practically an im- 
becile and Great Britain was governed 
by a ministry which contained hard 
headed, gruff men, v\d:o could see or 
would see nothing but Napoleon, for 
whose destruction they worked un- 
ceasingly. Strange as it may seem to 
us, after all the bitter affronts to our 
representatives, the terrible spoliation 
of our commerce, the wholesale im- 
pressment of our seamen amounting to 
worse than slavery, the aid given to 
barbarous Indians and the continuous 
insults to the Nation, the British Min- 
istry was not only surprised but pro- 
fessed itself hurt at the declaration of 
war and really believed it was paving 
the way for a good understanding. It 
is not remarkable that a war was neces- 
sary to enlighten such an intellectual 
status. Had this country been pre- 
pared to strike quick and hard, Canada 
would soon have been ours. Unfortu- 
nately this country has never been pre- 
pared for war, has always suffered 
terribly for its neglect of so plain a 
duty, yet the lessons of every conflict 
up to and including the Spanish War, 



SIXTH PERIOD— MADISON'S ADMINISTRATIOX' 



of 1898, seem to liave taught Congress 
little of the virtues of being forearmed. 

The Canada campaign of 1812 reads 
almost like a comic history. Three at- 
tempts were made, or rather were to 
be made: one by way of Lake Cham- 
plain, one at Buffalo and one at De- 
troit, while General Harrison was to 
raise an army in the South and West 
to follow up expected victories. Gov- 
ernor Hull, of Alichigan Territory, 
crossed from Detroit into Canada, July 
12, 1812, with 2,200 men, mostly vol- 
unteers, captured a small post and 
threatened Maiden. Soon he learned 
that the British and Indians had cap- 
tured Fort Mackinaw, and hearing that 
the British General. Brock, was ap- 
proaching, had a slight skirmish with 
his advance guard and retreated to De- 
troit in August. (In the i6th he basely 
surrendered without a struggle. Har- 
rison was now appointed to retrieve 
our fortunes in this section and the 
task proved a difficult one. It was 
hard to get an army together, supplies 
were scarce, transportation slow and 
unsatisfactory, so tliat winter came on 
before any move could be made. 

In the meantime General Dearborn 
imdertook the Eastern campaign with 
no better success. Gen. Van Rensselaer 
assembled an army principally of vol- 
unteer mihtia on the .\iagara River, 
crossed over and would have had bril- 
liant success if most of 4he militia had 
not refused to cooperate. Captain John 
Wool and Lieutenant Winlield Scott, 
destined to later fame, fought valiantly 
but in vain, though General Brock, con- 
queror of Detroit, fell mortally 
wounded. The expedition completely 
failed, \'an Rensselaer resigned, and 
General Smyth, who succeeded him, 
made a more disgraceful failure, 
though he was much better equipped. 
Dearborn, at Lake Champlain. did 
i;ractically nothing at all except to re- 
pulse a small British attack, wherein 
(jne Jacob Brown, a recent Quaker far- 
mer, showed those qualities which later 
made him the chief hero of the war. 
Certainly this was a record of failure 
most discouraging. The only offset 



was the sudden and une.xjjected glory 
achieved by our little navy. 

Four complete victories not only 
fired American hearts, stimulated them 
to renewed efforts on land, but struck 
terror and amazement to British hearts 
for their navy had been considered 
well-nigh irresistible. These four 
naval duels were as follows : 

The American frigate Constitution, 
forty-four guns. Captain Isaac Hull, on 
August 15th, met the British frigate 
Guerriere, thirty-eight guns, oft' the 
Gulf of St. Lawrence. They were al- 
most evenly matched, though the Con- 
stitution was the stronger vessel and 
threw a heavier broadside, but the con- 
test was decided by the superior gun- 
nery of the .American tars in a very 
brief time. The Guerriere was forced 
to strike her colors — the first time a 
British frigate had surrendered to a 
single frigate in many years. 

On October i8th. Captain Jacob 
was cruising the sloop-of-war Wasp, 
eighteen guns, in Southern waters, 
when he fell in with the British sloop 
Frolic, twenty guns, convoying mer- 
chantmen. .Again superior marksman- 
ship decided the contest, and the 
Frolic, reduced almost to a complete 
wreck, struck her colors. Both vessels 
were shortly afterward captured by a 
British frigate, but this did not dim 
the glory of the achievement. 

On October 25th, Captain Decatur, 
in the frigate United States, forty- 
four guns, fell in with the British 
frigate Macedonian, off the Madeiras, 
and captured her after a two hour's 
fight. Again the odds were slightly in 
favor of the .American ship, but they 
were small. 

The last sea fight of the year was be- 
tween the Constitution and the British 
frigate Java, thirty-eight ^,vnfi, off the 
coast of Brazil. The ships were nearly 
equal, the Constitution, now being 
commanded by Captain Bainbridge. 
The contest was soon decided over- 
whelmingly in our fa\or. Indeed, in 
all these contests it was apparent that 
our captains were better seamen, the 
tars more alert, while our gunners were 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



far superior. If, as sIkhiIiI have been, 
our operations on land had been 
equally successful, the war would 
probably have come to an end at once 
with a good understanding all around, 
for neither the British Ministry nor the 
British people liked the war. It added 
terribly to the national expense, de- 
prived them of a source of provisions, 
and presently a horde of American 
privateers went forth and almost 
ruined British commerce. .American 
privateers were daredevils in those 
days, and often paid dearly for their 
ri.sks ; yet in the w-ar they captured 
some 2,700 British merchantmen, 
sometimes in sight of the coast of Eng- 
land, infested the Irish Channel, put 
up marine insurance to prohibitive 
rates, produced famine prices for 
grain, and brought about unnecessary 
distress. And for what? \\'eli. 
Great Britain's original idea in her 
policy was that she was using us to 
crush Napoleon, and now here she was 
at war with us, while Napoleon 
laughed in his sleeve. If, after the re- 
peal of the Order's in Council, the 
British Government had given assur- 
ance that impressment would be dis- 
continued, peace might have been 
made, but the Ministry evidently felt 
that they had gone far enough, and the 
v/ar proceeded on the main question of 
sailor's rights. And it was our sailors 
who first demonstrated that .American 
seamen must be free. After their vic- 
tories in this war no treaty was neces- 
sary to assure them their rights. The 
greatest hardship was that impressed 
American tars were now comjielled to 
fight their own countrymen, and when 
they refused were placed in dungeons, 
where many of them died. 

The war was no sooner begun than 
Napoleon undertook his long-cherished 
plan of bringing Russia to book. Rus- 
sia, it seems, would not agree to Na- 
poleon's demands in the way of neutral 
trade, and was far from being humble 
or submissive. Having reduced most 
of the rest of the Continent to al)ject 
submission. Napoleon marked the 
Czar for his next victim. Then en- 
sued the disastrous Moscow camjiaign. 



which broke the Napoleonic spell and 
marked the beginning of his ruin. 
Great Britain and Russia were now 
allied against Napoleon, and it seemed 
.-trange to the Czar that the American 
war should continue over abstract 
questions which would settle them- 
selves if Napoleon were out of the 
way. Our ^linister at St. Petersburg 
v\as John Ouincy Adams, son of the 
second President, with whom the Czar 
iiad repeated conferences, and Adams 
impressed upon him the true situation. 
Accordingly, the Czar officially jiro- 
posed to Great Britain to mediate on 
all questions involved in the American 
war. This offer was embarrassing to 
the British Ministry. The American 
war was a burden, but it could not be 
given up at this stage, because pride 
forbade. And so the Czar's offer was 
refused, but not until this country had 
accepted it and commissioners were 
sent to represent our side of the con- 
troversy. Madison sent Gallatin and 
James A. Bayard, of Delaware, to join 
Adams, but by the time they arrived 
Great Britain had declined the offer of 
the Czar, and the war went on. 

To raise an army was easy enough 
on paper, but difficult in fact. Bonds 
sold slowly, heavy war taxes were laid, 
and every effort put forth to instill life 
into the army without a great deal of 
success. 

The military campaign of 1813 was 
opened by Harrison in the West. A 
]iortion of his troops were surprised in 
January at the River Basin by a British 
and Indian force, and utterly defeated. 
Surrendering the remnant, the P>ritish 
commander allowed his red-skinned al- 
lies to wreak their fury on the captives, 
and a terrible slaughter of innocents 
followed. This fresh disaster brought 
gloom to the country, but a desire for 
revenge as well, so that "Remember the 
River Raisin" was long a battle-cry. It 
was now midwinter, and Harrison 
could not bring up reinforcements, so 
that operations in this quarter were su- 
spended for some time. 

The war in the East promised little 
more. Dearborn captured York (now 
Toronto) and ;i few towns in Ontario 



SIXTH PERIOD— MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION 



213 



of no strategic iniiKirtaiice- which he 
was obhged to abandon. The British 
made an attack on Sackett's Harbor, 
which was bravely repulsed by Hrown, 
wlio had few resources at his command. 
Uearborn, who was aged and incom- 
petent, now retired, and CJeneral Wil- 
kinson, who had been implicated in the 
Burr plot, was brought from Louisiana 
to command. He prepared for an at- 
tack on Montreal- but with little vigor. 
General Armstrong, who had now be- 
ctjme Secretary of War, came to the 
front and took personal charge. .\n 
invasion by two armies was planned, 
and then the Secretary went home, 
leaving a bad state of feeling behind. 
The army was fairly well equipped, the 
elTort was made in a feeble way. but 
absolutely nothing came of it, and the 
Eastern army went into winter quar- 
ters. Another year of failure on land. 
Again it was the navy that brought 
all the honors of the year. The con- 
trol of the Great Lakes being of the 
highest importance, efforts were put 
forth on both sides to produce a fleet 
which had to be built of green timber. 
In an incredibly short time a small fleet 
was constructed at Erie, for which the 
cannon and rigging had laboriously been 
dragged overland. In command of 
Captain Oliver H. Perry this fleet with 
diiificulty got afloat, largely manned by 
landsmen, and set forth to dispute pos- 
session with Captain Barclay, a vet- 
eran British officer who had a flotilla at 
the other end of the lake. Battle was 
joined September loth. The British 
were superior in guns, particularly 
those available at long range. The 
American fleet was the largest, but part 
of the vessels stayed out of the fight 
until it was nearly over. Barclay 
brought his heavy guns to bear on the 
Lawrence, and soon disabled her. 
Perry transferred his flag from the 
Lawrence and began the fight once 
more, whicli ended in complete victory, 
after heavy losses on both sides. This 
fight took place off the present city of 
Sandusky, near which lay Harrison 
with his army. To him Perry sent the 
now memorable dispatch : '"We have 
met the enemy and they are ours." 



This hard-fought i)atile, in which Bar- 
clay lost his life, greatly added to the 
renown of our navy, and revived the 
drooi)ing spirits of .Americans wlu) were 
disgusted with the army. 

But now came one military victory 
to the nation's relief. Harrison had 
raised a considerable army, and began 
to advance on the British under Proc- 
tor, near Detroit. The latter retreated 
to Canada, and liarrison followed. The 
I'.ritish were assisted by Tecumseh with 
a large band of Indians. Coming up 
' with this force on October 5, 181 3, at 
the River Thames, Harrison delivered 
battle, overwhelmingly defeated the 
enemy, drove Proctor east in alarm, 
while Tecumseh was numbered among 
the slain. 

l-'or the first time there were military 
operations in the South, where the 
Creeks had been roused by Tecimiseh 
and the "Prophet." They began the 
usual Indian atrocities, but this time 
the man of the hour was at hand. An- 
drew Jackson, who had already been 
prominent in the W'est, began a cam- 
paign which by March 27, 1814, abso- 
I lutely broke the power of warlike sav- 
ages after a series of conflicts terrible 
in their ferocity. The Indians had set 
the i)ace by murdering, .August 30, 1S13, 
over 400 men, women and children at 
Port Mims. After this there was little 
(|uarter given. Jackson returned from 
this campaign with substantial honors, 
soon to be greatly enhanced. 

The navy again brought credit to the 
country, but the recor<l of successes 
was broken. Indeed, nothing else could 
have been expected. The British had 
over 600 vessels in their navy, while 
the Americans started out with about 
twenty, but these were gradually taken 
or blockaded until, in spite of the new 
ones constructed, there were at the close 
of the war very few of them on the 
ocean — at times not a single frigate on 
tl.e Atlantic. 

On h^bruary 24th Capt. James Law- 
rence, of the llornet, eighteen guns, fell 
in with the I'riti.sh brig Peacink-. of 
about the same size and armament. The 
battle was short and decisive. In fif- 
teen miniUes the Peacock was shcil to 



214 



THE HOME AUXn^TARY AND REFEREXCE 



pieces and soon sank. For this gallant 
action Lawrence was placed in com- 
mand of the Chesapeake, which was be- 
ing refitted in Boston harbor. Out- 
side the bar the British frigate Shan- 
non, Captain Broke, was cruising, anx- 
ious to meet any comer. In a spirit of 
bravado Broke sent a challenge to Law- 
rence, which the latter unfortunately 
accepted. The Chesapeake was not a 
manageable ship, was not yet in good 
condition, and her hastily collected 
crew was not drilled for service. But 
Lawrence would not wait for anything. 
His impetuosity overruled his judg- 
ment. The action was short, sharp and 
decisive. The Chesapeake was early 
crippled with the broadsides that in- 
jured her steering gear. Lawrence was 
mortally wounded, his last words be- 
ing, "Don't give up the ship." Unfor- 
tunately the ship was already lost, and 
was carried to Halifax, where Law- 
rence was buried with the honors of 
war. It was now England's turn to re- 
joice, but it was her only opportunity 
during the war where the contending 
forces were about even. 

The British sloop Pelican captured 
the Ainerican sloop Argus, August 13th, 
but on September 4th the British brig 
Boxer, with her flag nailed to the mast, 
was taken by the Enterprise. The ves- 
sels were of about equal size, carrying 
fourteen guns each. The last naval ex- 
ploit of the war was the cruise of Cap- 
tain Porter in the Essex, who sailed 
around Cape Horn and destroyed Brit- 
ish commerce, particularly whaling ves- 
sels. After a remarkably successful 
cruise he refitted in some Pacific islands 
and sailed for X'alparaiso and there, in 
a neutral port, he was attacked by a 
force twice the size of his own and de- 
feated, March 28, 1814, but not without 
honor. In this cruise young midship- 
man Farragut first showed those qual- 
ities that made him so great a com- 
mander half a century later. 

In the spring of 1814, when the war 
had continued nearly two years, noth- 
ing had been accomplished on land. 
Our victories on the ocean had been 
important, but at great co.st, so that 
we had no longer an effective force at 
sea, because of the blockade of our 



ports. Though we had ravaged 
British commerce, our own had suf- 
fered, and business at home was de- 
moralized. The Government finances 
were in bad condition, and the admin- 
istration of the War Department was 
grossly inefficient. We held not a foot 
of foreign territory, except a little in 
the neighborhood of Detroit. Not only 
had we lost our opportunities, but Na- 
poleon was now in Elba and the 
flower of Wellington's troops were sent 
to .\merica, where resistance seemed 
likely to be feeble. Three expeditions 
were sent from England, one to Can- 
ada to march into New York, one to 
New Orleans to capture Louisiana, and 
one to the Chesapeake to attack Wash- 
ington. There was gloom and despair 
everywhere, while New England was 
in open political revolt. When the State 
troops were desired, some of the Gov- 
ernors in New England wanted to hold 
them for local defense. Insofar as they 
were not placed at the disposal of the 
War Department they were not paid. 
Opposition to the administration and 
the war was so bold and open that a 
threat of secession was made. If, early 
in 1814, New England had taken this 
step, the consequences would have been 
incalculable. Instead of doing so, a 
self-constituted body met at Hartford 
in convention and deliberated on the 
state of the country. Not all the States 
were represented, and the delegates 
were not radical men. The conven- 
tion never came to a definite policy. It 
tentatively ofifered a plan to Congress 
requiring the adoption of a number of 
amendments to the Constitution which, 
if adopted would soon have reduced 
the Nation to anarchy or political im- 
potency. There was an implied threat 
of secession if the terms were not ac- 
cepted, and the Convention adjourned 
to get the answer of Congress, but as 
peace came almost at the moment, the 
propositions were never acted on, the 
convention never recalled, and every- 
one connected with the movement was 
anxious to have the matter forgotten. 
There was treason meditated, but it 
never was undertaken, and the subse- 
quent protests that none was contem- 
plated showed an anxiety for justifica- 



SIXTH PKRl on -MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION 



tion unnecessary in those possessed of 
patriotic motives. 

This was the critical and last year of 
the war. Strangely enough, when mat- 
ters were at their worst they began to 
ir.end, sometimes in quarters least ex- 
pected. The Central invasion was a 
temporary success only. Admiral 
Cockburn arrived in the Chesapeake, 
ravaged and burned defenseless towns 
early in the summer of 1814. In August 
troops under General Ross were 
landed, and a march made overland tn 
Washington. To repel this force. Gen- 
eral Winder collected a force of militia 
at Bladensburg, outside \\"ashington. 
There were men enough, but absolutely 
no discipline, and the arrangements 
made so necessarily involved defeat 
that it was inevitable. On August 24th 
Ross brushed aside the force and 
marched triumphantly into Washing- 
ton, as the President and his Cabinet 
escaped across the Potomac. The 
Capitol, the President's house, the 
Treasury, and practically all the public 
buildings, were ruthlessly burned, to- 
gether with bridges and property, al- 
together amounting to $2,000,000. 
Stopping only a day. General Ross and 
Admiral Cockburn returned to the fleet, 
which sailed u]) the Chesapeake and at- 
tacked Fort IMcIlenry, the fortress de- 
fending Baltimore. Ross made a land 
attack, but the troops were defeated 
and he was slain by a sharpshooter's 
bullet. An American citizen, Francis 
Scott Key, on board a British vessel, 
watched the bombardment all night, 
and in the morning beheld the flag of 
his country still waving over Fort Mc- 
Henry. On the inspiration of this 
moment he wrote the National anthem, 
"The Star Spangled Banner," which 
was set to a well-known tune, and it 
has ever since been closest to the pa- 
triotic American heart. The fleet re- 
tired, and all the military invaders 
could boast of was the sacking of a 
capital in the spirit of the Middle Ages 
and a dead General. 

This ended .Armstrong's administra- 
tion of the War Department. Monroe 
became Secretary of War, and still re- 
mained Secretary of State. Indeed, 



Monroe was not only the last hope of 
the administration, but was about all 
there was of it. 

In the meantime, on the Canadian 
border had taken place the only scien- 
tific campaign of the war. In the 
changes that took place the redoubtable 
Quaker, Jacob Brown, became Com- 
mander on the Niagara frontier. His 
}ouiig brigadiers were Scott, Ripley, 
Gaines, Porter, and Miller, each witha 
small brigade, but the officers and men 
were trained and courageous. .At the 
Chippewa Creek, on the Canadian side, 
? stubborn battle was fought, July 5, 
181 4, in the open field, and the British 
defeated. .A.t Lundy's Lane, near Ni- 
agara Falls, another stubborn fight 
took place July 2Sth, lasting until long 
after dark, and this was a moral and 
material victory, though Brown re- 
treated to Fort Erie opposite Buffalo, 
where, in one of the most brilliant en- 
gagements of the war, the British were 
driven back with great slaughter. The 
main hope of the British was a naval 
demonstration on Lake Champlain, to 
assist the invading army under General 
Prevost. The American army under 
Izard, and the little flotilla under "Mac- 
Donough, prepared to resist though 
largely overmatched. On September 
nth, the British fleet sailed down and 
attacked MacDonough, who was at 
first badly handled. He had taken the 
precaution to so dispose his anchored 
fleet so that he could wear ship and 
turn the guns of the other si les of his 
vessels, which had not been in service, 
against _ the_ enemy. This foresight 
made his victory complete, and Pre- 
vost fled in haste back to Canada. 

The last battle of the war took place 
after the treaty of peace had been 
signed. Jackson was placed in com- 
mand of "the South, where General Sir 
Heni-y Pakenham, one of the ablest 
British Generals, was expected with the 
flower of Wellington's volunteers. The 
expedition arrived late in 1814 and, 
coming to Lake Borgne, started over- 
land to New Orleans. Jackson, who 
for some weeks had apparently failed 
to appreciate the situation, now hastily 
gathered his forces, being principally 



2l6 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENXE 



riflemen, and took a strong position be- 
tween the Mississippi and a swamp. 
Pakenham's advance was delayed by 
our artillery and two small vessels, but 
on January 8, 1815. an assault was 
made on the American breastworks 
Pakenham had some 10.000 men, while 
Jackson had about 6.000. The assault 
was bravely made in the face of a 
withering fire. It was a failure, and 
the casualities were proportionately 
among the greatest in modern warfare. 
Pakenham was killed. General Gibbs 
mortally wounded. General Keane 
badly wounded, and General Lambert 
alone of the P>ritish general officers re- 
mained unhurt, while 2,600 soldiers 
were killed, wounded or captured. 
Jackson lost 8 men killed and 13 
wounded. The victory was one of the 
most complete in history. Lambert re- 
treated and soon learned that the war 
was over. 

The end of the conflict was remark- 
able. When Great r>ritain, as narrated, 
refused the Czar's mediation, there was 
great disappointment in this country. 
Adams also was discouraged, but he 
broached the subject of an arbitration 
once more. Though in the midst of a 
campaign, the Czar made a second offer 
to Great Britain. This greatly em- 
barrassed the British Ministry. They 
dared not offend the Czar, with whom 
they were engaged in crushing Na- 
poleon, but they could not accept his 
offer. As a middle ground they agreed 
to negotiate with the L'nited States di- 
rect, and accordingly commissioners 
met at Ghent to discuss the subject. To 
Adams, Gallatin and Bayard were now 
joined Henry Clay and Jonathan Rus- 
sell, of Connecticut. These were five 
of the ablest men in America, and for 
the purpose employed could not easily 
have been overmatched. The British 
Ministry apparently was not so much 
desirous of peace as of gaining time 
to get the new expeditions off safely 
to the L'nited States. Accordingly, 
they sent three inferior men. Sir Henry 
Goulburn, Lord Gambler and William 
Adams. The latter were soon over- 
matched. They made preposterous de- 



mands fnr territory, which put Great 
Britain in the position of waging a 
war of conquest. This was untenable, 
but after negotiations, lasting from 
August to late in December, wherein 
our own commissioners, though not al- 
together harmonious, completely out- 
witted their opponents, a treaty of 
peace was finally made which left mat- 
ters practically as they were before the 
war on paper, but it was well under- 
stood that impressment should cease, 
while Napoleon's fall left our commerce 
free. Before this was done the Min- 
istry in vain tried to get the Duke of 
Wellington to take command in Amer- 
ica. The treaty was signed December 
24, 1814, by which we gained an hon- 
orable peace. Our victories on land 
and sea insured us respect at home and 
abroad. Theoretically the war seems 
to have been unnecessary and avoid- 
able, but practically it gained for us that 
prestige that has made us ever since 
respected as a sovereign Nation. The 
war was worth all it cost, but it is likely 
that if the British had known into what 
I)olitical demoralization we had fallen, 
how low were our finances, and how 
weak our armies, w-e might not have 
come off so well. 

Peace was received in Great Britain 
and the L'nited States with the wild- 
est enthusiasm. The Hartford con- 
vention proposition was buried, and 
^Madison's administration suddenly 
achieved great reputation just as it 
seemed on the verge of collapse. 

As soon as the war with Great Bri- 
tain was ended, the L^nited States felt 
impelled to engage in another with Al- 
giers. Offended because he had not 
received from the American govern- 
ment, as tribute, precisely the articles 
which h& had demanded, the semi-bar- 
barian Dey of Algiers, in 181 2, uncere- 
moniously dismissed ^Ir. Lear, the 
American consul, and declared war: and 
afterward his corsairs captured an 
American vessel, and the crew were re- 
duced to slavery. Mr. Lear was com- 
pelled to pay the Dey $27,000 for the 
safety of himself and family, and a few 
Americans w-ho were there, to save them 



SIXTH PERIOD— MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION 



all from being made slaves. Believing 
that the United States navy had been 
almost annihiliated by the British in the 
late contest, this North African robber 
renewed depredations upon American 
commerce in violation of treaty obliga- 
tions. Determined to pay tribute no 
longer to this insolent ruler, the Amer- 
ican government accepted his challenge 
for war, and in May, 1815, sent Com- 
modore Decatur to the Mediterranean, 
with a squadron, to humble the Dey. 
\\ hen Decatur passed the straits of 
Gibraltar, he found the Algerine pirate 
fleet cruising in search of American 
vessels. On the 17th of June, Deca- 
tur met the flag-ship of the Algerine 
admiral (a frigate of 44 guns), and 
after a brief engagement captured her, 
also another pirate ship with almost six 
hundred men. With these prizes he im- 
mediately sailed for the bay of Algiers, 
and on the 28th of June, he demanded 
the instant surrender of all the Ameri- 
can prisoners, full indemnification for 
all property destroyed, and absolute re- 
linquishment of all claims to tribute 
from the United States thereafter. 

When the Dey of Algiers heard of 
the fate of a part of his fleet, that ter- 
rified robber hastened to comply with 
Decatur's demands ; and in obedience 
to the commodore's requirements, the 
haughty chief appeared on the quarter- 
deck of the Guerriere (the flag-ship) 
with some of his officers of state and 
acompanied by the captives he was to 
release. There, on the 30th of June, he 
signed a treaty in accordance with the 
demands of Decatur, and departed 
deeply humiliated. From Algiers, after 
this triumph, the commodore sailed for 
Tunis, and demanded and received from 
the Bashaw or ruler of that state $46,- 
000, in payment for American vessels 
which he had allowed the British to 
capture in his harbor. This was in 
July. Then Decatur proceeded to Trip- 
oli, the capital of another of the Bar- 
bary States, and in August demanded 
from the Bey, its ruler, $25,000 for the 
same kind of injury to property and the 
release of prisoners. The treasury of 
the Bey being nearly empty, Decatur 



accepted, in lieu of cash, the release 
from captivity of eight Danish and two 
Neapolitan seamen, who were held as 
slaves. This cruise in the Mediter- 
ranean sea gave full security to Ameri- 
can commerce in these waters, and 
greatly elevated the character of the 
United States in the opinion of Euro- 
peans. During this cruise of about two 
months, in the summer of 1815, the 
navy of the United States accomplished, 
in the way of humbling the .Xorth Af- 
rican robbers, what the combined pow- 
ers of Europe dared not to attempt. 

The eventful administration of Presi- 
dent Madison drew to a close in 1816. 
During that year the efforts of the gov- 
ernment were put forth to complete the 
readjustment of the finances of the 
country after the derangements pro- 
duced by a state of war. The finances 
of the government were then in a 
wretched condition. In this state of 
things the friends of a national bank 
pressed its claims upon Congress, and 
in the spring of 1816 a second bank 
of the United States was chartered for 
twenty years. The creation of this 
bank gave an impetus to general busi- 
ness. The government bank went into 
operation early in 1817, and receiving 
on deposit the funds of the national 
government. 

During Madison's administration- 
Louisiana and Indiana were admitted 
into the Union as States — the former 
in April, 1812, and the latter in De- 
cember, 1816. There had been warm 
discussions on the subject of the admis- 
sion of Louisiana, the Federalists 
strongly opposing the measure. The 
question of boundary between the pos- 
sessions of Spain and the l^iited States, 
in that region, was a serious one. East- 
ward of the vast territory which, under 
the title of Louisiana, had been ceded to 
the United States, and bordering on the 
Gulf of Mexico, was a region in pos- 
session of the Spainiards, known as East 
and West Florida, the dividing line be- 
tween them being the Perdido River, 
now the line between Florida and Ala- 
bama. The western portion was 
claimed by the United States as in- 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



eluded in the cession, while the Spanish 
authorities asserted that their posses- 
sion extended to the ]\Iississippi. With 
the act for the admission of Louisiana 
was passed another act, annexing to that 
State that part of West Florida lying 
between the Mississippi and Pearl Riv- 
ers, and all eastward of that stream to 
the Perdido was annexed to the Terri- 
tory of IMississippi. This measure pro- 
duced unpleasant relations between the 
United States and Spain, which con- 
tinued several years ; and the dispute 
was not settled until after the retire- 
ment of Mr. Madison from the Presi- 
dency. The latter event occurred on 
the 4th of March, 1817. James Mon- 
roe, his Secretary of State, was his suc- 
cessor, having received an almost unani- 
mous vote for the high office in the elec- 
toral colleges. At the same time, Dan- 
iel D. Tompkins, of New York, was 
elected Vice-President by a large ma- 
jority. 

JAMES MONROE'S ADMINIS- 
TRATION. 

Monroe was the fifth President of 
the United States, and he entered upon 
the duties of his office under favorable 
auspices for himself and country. His 
inaugural address was liberal in its tone 
and gave general satisfaction, and the 
beginning of his administration was re- 
garded as the dawning of an era of 
good feeling. The Federal party was 
declining in strength, and from the 
dominant party which had elected him, 
the President chose his cabinet-minis- 
ters, composed of John Ouincy Adams, 
of Massachusetts, Secretary of State; 
William H. Crawford, of Georgia. Sec- 
retary of the Treasury, and John C. 
Calhoun, of South Carolina, Secretary 
of War. These were all aspirants for 
the Presidential chair. B. W. Crown- 
inshield was continued Secretary of the 
Navy, and William Wirt was appointed 
Attorney-General. The President was 
thus surrounded by some of the ablest 
men of the republic as his constitutional 
advisers. 

Mr. Monroe was conservative, judi- 
cious and conciliatory? just such a man 



as was then needed in the place which 
he filled. It was a critical time in the 
history of the republic, for the coun- 
try was in a transition state from that 
of war to one of peace. The demand 
for domestic manufactures and the 
high prices obtained for them during 
the war, had stimulated that particular 
industry, and many manufacturing es- 
tablishments had been nurtured into 
vigorous life. When the war was 
ended and European manufactures 
came like a flood in quantity and at low 
prices, that industry was suddenly over- 
whelmed in disaster. Thousands of 
men and women were compelled to seek 
other employments, and many turned 
their eyes and their hopes to the mil- 
lions of fertile acres beyond the Alle- 
ghany Mountains, and before the close 
of Monroe's administration, the Great 
West had begun its wonderful career. 
That administration was marked by an 
immense expansion in the material 
growth of the United States. Five in- 
dependent States had been created and 
added to the Union — namely, Missis- 
sippi in 1817, Illinois in 1818, Alabama 
in 1819, Maine in 1820, and Missouri 
in 1821. 

Monroe determined to know more 
of the country and the people he was 
called upon to preside o\er, and sixty 
days after he was seated in the chair of 
state he left the capital for an exten- 
sive tour. In the journey the Presi- 
dent became acquainted with leading 
men of all parties, and was cordially 
received everywhere with civic and mil- 
itary escorts and the profound respect 
of the people. The effect of that tour 
was every way beneficial. Partisan as- 
perity was softened, and genuine 
patriotism filled the hearts of tlie peo- 
ple. There was then an almost perfect 
union of sentiment throughout the 
country : but the slave system soon 
awakened the most bitter sectional feel- 
ing that disturbed the repose of the peo- 
ple for about forty years. 

Congress had passed laws, after the 
year 1808, prohibiting the .'\frican slave 
trade in our country ; but after the war, 
the rapid increase in the cultivation of 
cotton made the demand for slave labor 



SIXTH PERIOD— MONROE'S ADMINISTRATION 



greater tlian the supply, and the Afri- 
can slave trade was reopened on the 
southern coasts in violation of law. 
There was also a brisk inter-state slave- 
trade act established, which continued 
initil the breaking out of the late civil 
war. 

Before the Revolution the unpleasant 
situation of free colored people among 
the slaves on account of their social dis- 
al)ilities had attracted the attention of 
benevolent persons, and efforts had been 
made to form a settlement for them in 
Africa. Nothing of great importance 
was accomplished until about the begin- 
ning of Monroe's administration, when 
the American Colonization Society was 
formed for that purpose, and for send- 
ing to such settlements slaves who had 
been unlawfully brought to the United 
States. The society founded the Re- 
public of Liberia on the western coast 
of Africa which, since 1848, has been 
an independent state governed by its 
own people. 

There were several important fea- 
trires of ]\Ionroe's administration that 
deserve especial attention. These were : 

1. The acquisition of Florida. 

2. The territorial compromise on 
slavery. 

3. The Monroe doctrine of our hege- 
mony in this hemisphere. 

4. The tariff of 1824. 

An Indian war arose along the Flor- 
ida border, where it was easy for the 
Indians in Spanish territory to ravage 
the American border and escape. West 
h'lorida (all west of the Perdido) we 
held by power if not by right. Jack- 
son, who commanded the army in the 
South, was so tired of Indian outrages 
and so regardless of international law, 
that he proposed seizing East Florida 
(the present State) without consulting 
Spain. Pursuing Indians into Florida 
in 1818, he seized two Rritish subjects, 
whom he hanged as spies, and drove out 
the Spanish garrison. This the admin- 
istration had to disavow, though Adams 
was disposed to uphold Jackson, while 
Calhoun opposed him — an act that had 
great effect on his political future. 
Jackson's conduct, however, was im- 
mensely popular, and this was increased 



subsequently by a treaty with Spain, by 
which in 1819 we secured Florida on 
the payment of .'?5,ooo,ooo of claims by 
our citizens against Spain. Unfortu- 
nately King Ferdinand long delayed rat- 
ifying this treaty, and we were about to 
seize it forcibly when the ratification 
was effected in 182 1. By this treaty 
our Southwestern border was fixed at 
the Sabine, the present western boun- 
dary of Louisiana. Between this river 
and the Rio Grande lay the territory 
known as Texas, to which we might 
have laid claim, certainly to half of it 
with good reason; but Monroe had 
noted the rising conflict between sla\c 
and free States and chose to cut off 
Texas, which would have afforded ronui 
for slavery extension. This aroused 
opposition in the South, and soon began 
the movement for the "reannexation of 
Texas," which was accomplished some 
twenty-five years later. 

Now began the first earnest debate in 
Congress on the subject of the exten- 
sion of the slave-labijr system in our 
country. The first effort to check that 
extension was, as we have observed, in 
1787, when the Northwestern Territory 
was organized. The subject was only 
briefly considered incidentally, from 
time to time, until 18 19, when the in- 
habitants of the Missouri Territory 
asked for its admission into the Union 
as a State. A bill for that purpose was 
introduced into Congress which con- 
tained a provision forbidding the exist- 
ence of slavery in the new State when 
admitted. This caused one of the most 
violent debates in the House of Repre- 
sentatives on the subject of slavery that 
had ever occurred in the national legis- 
lature. Extreme doctrines and fool- 
ish threats were uttered on both sides ; 
and there was much adroit management 
by the party leaders, who used great 
dexterity in trying to avoid a compro- 
mise which had been agreed to at a 
previous session, when the subject was 
before the House. One party wished to 
have Missouri enter the Union as a 
slave-labor State, and the other party 
desired its admission as a free-labor 
State. 

As compromise seemed to be the only 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



door through which ^Missouri might en- 
ter the Union, at that time, Henry Clay, 
who then first assumed the character of 
a pacificator, moved a joint committee 
to consider whether or not it was ex- 
pedient to admit Missouri into the 
Union, and if not, what provision 
adapted to her actual condition ought to 
be made. This motion was adopted, a 
committee was appointed, but the final 
result, which was a compromise, was 
not reached until early in 1821. Dur- 
ing the session of 1820-21, the discus- 
sions were sometimes very angry. The 
whole country, in the meantime, had be- 
come violently agitated by disputes on 
the subject, and a cry went forth from 
unwise and unpatriotic lips at the North 
and in the South for a dissolution of the 
Union. Then for the first time the peo- 
ple of the Union were vehemently and 
decisively divided on the subject of slav- 
ery. A member of Congress from 
Georgia prophetically said in the course 
of the debate : "A fire has been kindled 
which all the waters of the ocean can- 
not put out, and which only seas of 
blood can extinguish." A compromise 
was effected by the adoption of a pro- 
vision in the bill (February, 1821 ) for 
the admission of Missouri, tliat in all 
territory south of thirty-six degrees and 
thirty minutes north latitude ( the south- 
ern boundary of the State of Missouri ) 
slavery might exist, but was prohibited 
in the region north of that line. This 
agreement, known as the "Missouri 
Compromise" (by which that Territory 
was admitted as a free-labor State ) , 
was respected for more than thirty 
years, when, in 1854, it was violated in 
favor of the slaveholders. Maine was 
admitted in 1820. 

Our foreign concern had now taken 
a new direction. The Spanish States in 
North, Central and South America 
finally revolted against the cruelty and 
maladministration of the home Govern- 
ment. It took years to accomplish all 
this, but by 1821 Spanish control on the 
Western mainland had vanished, and re- 
publics were set up, Brazil still remain- 
ing a Portuguese dependency. All these 
events were of the gravest import to 
our country. Our people generally 



sympathized with the patriots who won 
independence, and chimerical schemes 
of a great federated republic of the 
W'estern Hemisphere were proposed. 
Monroe, during the revolutions, took 
the lead in granting belligerent rights, 
which step was of great value. King 
I'erdinand viewed these losses with 
alarm, but as Spain was reduced almost 
to impotency, he was unable alone to 
reconcjuer them. To get them back he 
implored the aid of the "Holy Alliance," 
which had been organized in 1815 by 
the sovereigns of Russia, Austria and 
I'russia in the general interests of legi- 
timacy to prevent another Napoleon 
gaining power, and to put down all re- 
volts of the people against those "whom 
God has rendered responsible for 
power." Ferdinand considered that his 
case came under the protection of the 
"Holy Alliance" all the more because a 
recent revolution in Spain had imposed 
on him a constitutional form of Gov- 
ernment that restricted his authority in 
a way most e.xasperat-ing to the "Lord's 
Anointed." Ferdinand was rescued by 
a French army, which once more over- 
ran poor, devastated Spain, suppressed 
popular government and restored to 
Ferdinand his "rights." 

The situation was now a delicate one. 
Great Britain had no love for the "Holy 
Alliance." Her war against Napoleon 
had not been so much to restore the 
liourbons as to crush the despotism of a 
man who sought to dominate Europe. 
The British Ministry now showed a 
friendliness to the United States never 
before expressed. Great Britain wanted 
peace and feared another Continental 
war. Her tone of studied indifference 
to our concerns gave way to an earn- 
est friendliness that was as pleasing as 
it was surprising to our .\mbassador, 
Richard Rush. It was not long before 
Rush discovered that if Monroe took a 
strong position in reference to South 
.American affairs, he would receive the 
moral support of Great Britain. This 
may or may not have influenced Mon- 
roe, but certain it is that, in his annual 
message of 1823, Monroe covered the 
whole ground of our position briefly, 
yet forcibly. His position was this; 



SIXTH PERIOJJ— ADAMS' ADMINISTRATION 



The United States will not interfere 
with any existing European govern- 
ments in the Western Hemisphere, but 
it will not permit any interferences with 
the existing Republics nor any further 
European colonization in America what- 
ever. This firm expression, known as 
the Monroe Doctrine, has ever since 
been successfully asserted. It has often 
been stretched to mean more than was 
applicable to the then existing situation, 
but, in general, the doctrine of Amer- 
ica for the Americans with the United 
States, as leader and champion of the 
whole, has become a fixed tenet in our 
political philosophy. The "Holy Alli- 
ance" took the hint, and it was forty 
years before any Nation in Europe 
imdertook to defy the Monroe Doc- 
trine, at a time when we were in tiic 
throes of Civil War. 

The tariff bill of 1824 was the be- 
ginning of the policy which finally pro- 
duced the Whig party. Clay led in 
favor of higher jjrotection than we had 
even attempted in times of peace, while 
Webster appeared in opposition. The 
measure was passed by a narrow mar- 
gin, and became a rallying point in 
politics. 

While the Missouri question was 
pending, an election for President of 
the United States occurred. Never was 
a canvass carried on more quietly than 
this, and Monroe and Tompkins were 
re-elected by an almost unanimous vote, 
the old Federal party as a political or- 
ganization being nearly extinct. Mr. 
Alonroe's second term was not marked 
by any very important public occur- 
rences, but a pleasing incident in our 
history distinguished the last year of his 
administration. It was the visit of Gen- 
eral Lafayette to the United States as 
the "Nation's guest.'' 

The elections held in the autunui ot 
1 1^24 showed conclusively that not one 
of the candidates would be elected by 
the popular vote, and that the choice 
would de\olve upon the House of Rep- 
resentatives. This was determined by 
the \ote of the electoral colleges ; and 
in February, 1825, the House of Repre- 
sentatives chose John Ouincy Adams, 
of Massachusetts, for President, and 



John C. Calhoun, of South Carolina, 
for \'ice-President, by the votes of thir- 
teen States. 

JOHN OUINCY ADAMS' ADMIN- 
ISTRATION. 

John Ouincy Adams, son of the sec- 
ond President of the United States, en- 
tered upon the duties of that high office 
on the 4th of March, 1825. The Senate 
w as in session at the time of his inaugu- 
ration, and that body, by unanimous 
vote, immediately confirmed Mr. 
Adams's nominations for cabinet min- 
isters, excepting Henry Clay, against 
whose confirmation fourteen votes were 
cast. It had been charged that Mr. 
Clay, seeing little chance for his own 
election to the Presidency, had used 
his influence in favor of Adams and 
against Jackson with the understand- 
ing that he was to be appointed Secre- 
tary of State. This alleged "bargain" 
was the cause of opposition to Clay's 
confirmation. He was appointed Secre- 
tary of State : Rich Rush, Secretary of 
Treasury ; James Barbour, Secretary of 
War; Samuel L. Southard, Secretary 
of the Navy, and William Wirt, At- 
torney-General. 

IMr. Adams's administration began 
under the most pleasant auspices. The 
country was at peace with all nations, 
and no serious domestic trouble ap- 
peared, while general prosperity reigned 
in the land and there seemed to be 
nothing that would disturb the serenrty 
of public affairs. This quietude pre- 
vailed, in a degree, during the whole of 
Mr. Adams's administration of four 
years, which were the least conspicuous 
for stirring events in the history of the 
republic. The discords engendered by 
the late exciting election had produced 
healthful agitation, but measures were 
adopted that caused stormy times in 
the administration that followed. 

A threatening cloud appeared in the 
firmament at the beginning of Adams's 
administration. When Georgia relin- 
quished her claim to a considerable por- 
tion of the Mississippi Territory, the 
national government agreed to purchase 
for that State the Indian lands within 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



its borders ''whenever it could be peace- 
able done upon reasonable terms." The 
Creeks and the Cherokees, who were 
practicing the arts of civilized life, re- 
fused to sell their lands and remove 
into an uncultivated wilderness. The 
Georgians were impatient, and their 
governor demanded of the United 
States the instant fulfillment of the 
contract, by a removal of the Indians. 
He ordered a survey of their lands to 
be made, and he prepared to distribute 
their possessions among the citizens of 
Georgia ; and because the national gov- 
ernment seemed tardy, he assumed the 
right to remove the Indians himself. 
Our government took the just position 
of defenders of the Indians, and for 
awhile the matter bore a serious aspect. 
The difficulties were finally settled, and 
in the course of a few years the Creeks 
and Cherokees were settled on lands 
beyond the Mississippi River. 

It was at the beginning of Mr. 
Adams's administration that the great- 
est vv'ork of internal improvement ever 
undertaken in our country, in the in- 
terest of commerce, was completed, ft 
was the Erie Canal, which traverses the 
State of New York in an east and west 
line three hundred and sixty-three miles, 
between Buffalo and Albany, and con- 
nects the water of the upjjer lakes and 
those of the Hudson River by a navi- 
gable stream. 

The veneral)le father of the Presi- 
dent, John .\dams, died at Quincy, 
Massachusetts, on the 4th of July, 1826, 
just fifty years, almost to an hour, after 
the Declaration of Independence was 
adopted. On the same day and almost 
at the same hour, Thomas Jefferson 
expired, at Monticello, in Mrginia. Mr. 
Adams was about ninety-one years of 
age, and Mr. Jefferson about eighty- 
three. They were both members of the 
committee appointed to draft the Dec- 
laration of Independence. Mr. Jeffer- 
son was its literary author, and Mr. 
Adams was its chief supporter in the 
Congress. The death, simultaneouslv. 
of these two of the chief founders of 
the republic, produced a profound sen- 
sation ; and in many places throughout 



the Union, eulogies and funeral orations 
were pronounced. 

The most important movement in the 
foreign policy of Adams's administra- 
tion was the appointment of commis- 
sioners to attend a congress of repre- 
sentatives of the South American Re- 
publics, which assembled at Panama, on 
the Pacific coast, on the 22d of June, 
1826. The result of that congress was 
not very important ; but the policy of 
sending to it representatives of the gov- 
ernment of the United States caused 
much discussion here. 

The American System, as it was 
called (a system of protection and en- 
couragement for American manufac- 
turing establishments, by means of high 
duties imposed on fabrics made abroad 
and imported into the United States), 
was fully developed and assumed the 
form of a national policy late in the 
administration of Mr. Adams. On ac- 
count of the illiberal commercial policy 
of Great Britain, tariff laws were en- 
acted in 1816 as retaliative measures; 
and in 1824 imposts were laid on for- 
eign fabrics imported into our country, 
for the avowed purpose of encouraging 
home manufactures. These movements 
were opposed by the cotton-growers, as 
inimical to their interests : and to a na- 
tional convention assembled at Harris- 
burg, Pennsylvania, in 1826, to discuss 
the general subject of tariffs and manu- 
factures, only four of the slave-labor 
States sent delegates. That conven- 
tion petitioned Congress to increase the 
duties on foreign fabrics that were spec- 
ified, and it was done in the spring of 
1828. The measure pleased the manu- 
facturing interest, and displeased the 
cotton-growing interest. It was de- 
nounced in some of the .Southern States 
as oppressive and unconstitutional, and 
resistance to the law was suggested. 

In the autumn of 1828, John Quincy 
Adams and Andrew Jackson were rival 
candidates for the Presidency of the 
L'nited States. Jackson was elected, 
with John C. Calhoun as Vice-Presi- 
dent, by a very large majority, after 
a most exciting canvass, during which 
a stranger to our institutions, looking 



SIXTH PERIOD— JACKSON'S ADMINISTRATION 



on, would have believed tlie nation to 
be on the verge of civil war. Mr. 
Adams's administration closed on the 
4th of March, 1829. It had been 
marked by great tranquillity and un- 
exampled national prosperity. Peace- 
ful relations with foreign nations ex- 
isted, and the national debt had been 
diminished at the rate of more than 
S-.ooo.ooo a year, it being at the time of 
his retirement about $58,000,000. This 
real prosperity he bequeathed to his suc- 
cessor, and he left the chair of state 
blessed with the grateful benedictions 
of the survivors of two wars and their 
families, to whom had been distributed 
in pensions, during the four years, 
more than .$5,000,000. 

ANDREW TACKSON'S ADMIN- 
ISTRATION. 

Jackson, when a lad, had served as 
a soldier in the old war for independ- 
ence ; and when he proceeded from his 
lodgings, in Washington City, to the 
Capitol to be inaugurated on the 4th 
of March, 1829, he was escorted by 
surviving officers and soldiers of that 
war. His valorous deeds in the sec- 
ond war for independence (1812- 
15) were remembered by the soldiers 
of the second war, and they thronged 
the national capital on that day to wit- 
ness the exaltation of the chief. 

President Jackson was honest, brave 
and true to his moral convictions. He 
began his administration with an au- 
dacity of conduct that amazed his pol- 
itical friends, and alarmed his enemies. 
He swept his political opponents out of 
the various offices ; but in making new 
a])pointments, he aimed to have the in- 
cum!)ent answer the searching queries 
in the affirmative — "Is he capable? Is 
he honest?" I lis foreign policy was 
indicated in his instructions to I.ouis 
McLane, his first minister to England, 
in which he said : "Ask nothing but 
what is right, and submit to nothing 
that is wrong." Jackson was so de- 
cided in his opinions and actions — so 
jjositive in character — that he was 
thoroughly loved or thorouglily hated ; 
and for eight years he braved the fierce 



tempests that arose out of partisan 
strifes, domestic perple.xities and for- 
eign arrogance, with a skill and cour- 
age that challenge our profound admir- 
ation. 

At the beginning of Jackson's admin- 
istration, the government of Georgia re- 
newed its demand for the removal of 
the powerful Cherokee nation from 
that State. The President favored the 
demand, and white people proceeded to 
take possession of Cherokee estates 
which had been assigned to them. 
These Indians were then advanced in 
civilization, many of them being suc- 
cessful agriculturists. They had 
churches and schools, and a printing- 
press ; and as they were disposed to 
defend their rights, civil war appeared 
inevitable for awhile. In 1832, the 
Supreme Court of the United States 
decided against the claim of Georgia, 
when that State, supported by the Pres- 
ident, resisted the decision. An amic- 
able settlement was finally reached ; 
and under the mild coercion of General 
Winfield Scott and several thousand 
troops, the Cherokees left Georgia in 
1838, and went to lands assigned them 
well toward the eastern slopes of the 
Rocky Mountains. 

In his first annual message. Presi- 
dent Jackson took strong ground 
against a renewal of the charter of 
the United States Bank, which would 
expire in 1836. It was occasionally 
varied by some contra-excitement, like 
that of the "Black Hawk War" in 
1832. At that time the region now 
known as the State of Wisconsin was 
an almost unbroken wilderness. Sev- 
eral Indian tribes inhabited it ; and 
these, led by Black Hawk, a fierce Sac 
chief, made war upon the frontier set- 
tlers of Illinois in April, 1832. After 
some skirmishes with United States 
troops and the militia of Illinois, the 
Indians were driven beyond the Mis- 
sissippi, and their leader, made captive, 
was taken to eastern cities, that he 
might be impressed with the folly of 
contending with a nation so numerous 
and strong. 

Now began a conflict which shook 
the republic to its very centre. The 



224 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



doctrine of State sovereignity, or State 
supremacy, formulated in the first con- 
stitution of the republic known as the 
Articles of Confederation, and dis- 
carded in the second constitution, yet 
prevailed, especially in South Caro- 
lina, where John C. Calhoun was its 
most earnest exponent. The discon- 
tents alluded to growing out of the 
tariff acts and crystallized by the al- 
chemy of this doctrine, assumed the 
concrete form of incipient rebellion 
against the national government when, 
in the spring of 1832, an act of Con- 
gress was passed imposing additional 
duties on imported textile fabrics. A 
Slate convention of delegates was held 
in South Carolina in November follow- 
ing, at which it was declared that the 
tariff acts were unconstitutional and 
therefore null and void ; and it was re- 
solved that no duties should be col- 
lected in the port of Charleston by the 
national government. It was also pro- 
claimed that any attempt to enforce the 
law would be resisted by the people 
in arms, and would cause the secession 
of South Carolina from the Union. The 
State Legislature that met soon after- 
ward passed laws in support of this dec- 
laration, and military preparations were 
made for that purpose. Civil war 
seemed to be inevitable, but the Presi- 
dent met the exigency with his usual 
promptness and vigor. On the loth of 
December he issued a proclamation 
(written by Louis McLane, Secretary of 
the Treasury), in which he denied the 
right of any State to nullify an act 
of the national government, and 
warned those engaged in the movement 
in South Carolina that the laws of the 
United States would be enforced by 
military power, if necessary. The "nul- 
lifiers" yielded to necessity for the mo- 
ment, but their zeal and determination 
were not abated. Great anxiety filled 
the public mind for a time, until Henry 
Clay, one of the most earnest promoters 
of the American System, appeared as a 
pacificator, by offering a bill (Febru- 
ary 12, 1833) which provided for a 
■gradual reduction of the obnoxious du- 
ties during the next ten years. This 
compromise was accepted by both par- 



ties, and the bill became a law in March. 
President Jackson had been re-elected 
to the Chief Magistracy in the autumn 
of 1832, with Martin Van Pmren as 
Vice-President. The latter had been 
Secretary of State, and was appointed 
by the President, during the recess of 
Congress, to succeed Mr. McLane as 
minister to England. The Senate after- 
ward refused to ratify the appointment, 
and \'an Buren was recalled. This act 
was regarded as a gratuitous indig- 
nity offered to the administration. Its 
friends made use of it to create sym- 
pathy for the rejected minister, and he 
was elected to preside over the body 
which had declared him to be unfit to 
represent the republic at the British 
court. The result completely alienated 
Calhoun from the administration. 

While the country was agitated by 
the movements of the nullifiers, the 
President himself produced equal ex- 
citement by beginning a series of acts 
in his warfare upon the United States 
Bank which were denounced as high- 
handed and tyrannical. In his annual 
message in December, 1832, the Presi- 
dent recommended Congress to author- 
ize the removal from that institution 
of the government moneys deposited in 
it. and to sell the stock of the bank 
owned by the United States. Congress 
refused to do so. After the adjourn- 
ment of that body, the President took 
the responsibility of ordering "Sir. 
Duane, the Secretary of the Treasury, 
to withdraw the public funds from the 
bank, and deposit them in certain State 
banks. The Secretary refused, when 
the President removed him from office, 
and put in his place R. B. Taney, then 
the Attorney-C^eneral and afterwa-rd 
Chief-Justice, who obeyed his superior. 
The removal of the funds began in Oc- 
tober, 1833. When the functions of the 
bank were paralyzed, all commercial 
operations felt a deadening shock. This 
fact confirmed the opinion of the Pres- 
ident that it was a dangerous institu- 
tion, and he refused to listen favorably 
to all prayers for a modification of his 
measures, or for action for relief made 
by numerous committees of merchants, 
manufacturers and mechanics, who 



SIXTH PERIOD— JACKSON'S ADMINISTRATION 



waited upon him. To all of them he 
said, in substance: "The government 
can give no rehef nor provide a rem- 
edy ; the banks are the occasion of the 
evils which exist, and those who have 
suffered by trading largely on borrowed 
capital ought to break ; you have no 
one to blame but yourselves." The 
State banks received the government 
funds on deposit, and loaned them 
freely. The panic subsided ; confidence 
was gradually restored, and apparent 
general prosperity returned. 

It collapsed at the touch of the 
Ithurial spear of Necessity. A failure 
of the grain crop of England caused a 
large demand for corn to pay for food 
products abroad. The Bank of Eng- 
land, seeing exchanges running high 
and higher against that country, con- 
tracted its loans and admonished 
houses who were giving long and ex- 
tensive credits to the Americans, by the 
use of money borrowed from the bank, 
to curtail that hazardous business. At 
about the same time the famous "Specie 
Circular" went out from our Treasury 
Department (July, 1836), directing all 
collectors of the public revenue to re- 
ceive nothing but coin. From the par- 
lor of the Bank of England and from 
the Treasury of the United States went 
forth the unwelcome fiat. Pay up! 
/\merican houses in London failed for 
many millions ; and every bank in the 
United States suspended specie pay- 
ments in 1837, but resumed in 1839. 
Then the United States Bank, char- 
tered by the legislature of Pennsylvania, 
fell into hopeless ruin, and with it went 
down a very large number of the State 
banks of the country. A general bank- 
rupt law, passed in 1841, relieved of 
debt almost forty thousand persons, 
whose liabilities amounted in the ag- 
gregate to about $441,000,000. 

These financial troubles were pre- 
ceded by the breaking out of war with 
the Seminole Indians in East Florida, 
a consequence of an attempt to re- 
move them, by force, to the wilderness 
west of the Mississippi River. Led by 
Micanopy, their principal sachem and 
chief, they began a most distressing 
warfare u]3on the frontier settlements 



of Florida, in which Osceola, a chief 
superior in ability to Micanopy (for he 
possessed the cunning of Tecumtha and 
the heroism of a Metacomet), was an 
active leader for awhile, for he had 
private wrongs to revenge. 

In the spring of 1832, some of the 
Seminole chiefs, in council, agreed to 
lea\ e Florida, and made a treaty to that 
effect. Other chiefs (among whom 
was Osceola) and the great body of the 
nation resolved to stay, declaring that 
the treaty was not binding upon them. 
At length, in 1834, General Wiley 
Thompson was sent to Florida with 
troops to prepare for a forcible re- 
moval of the Indians. Osceola stirred 
up the nation to resistance. One day 
his insolent bearing and offensive words 
in the presence of Thompson caused 
that general to put the chief in irons 
and in a prison for a day. Osceola's 
wounded pride called for vengeance, 
and it was fearfully wrought during a 
war that lasted about seven years. By 
bravery, skill, strategies and treachery, 
he overmatched the L'nited States 
troops sent against him and commanded 
by some of the best officers in the ser- 
vice. 

At last the treacherous chief became 
a prisoner in the hands of General 
Jesup. That officer received Osceola 
and other chiefs, with a train of seventy 
warriors, under a fiag of truce, in a 
grove of magnolias in the dark swamp. 
As the chief arose to speak, Jesup gave 
a signal, when two or three of his sol- 
diers rushed forward and seized and 
bound Osceola with strong cords. He 
made no resistance ; but several of his 
excited followers drew their gleammg 
hatchets from their belts. The muskets 
and bayonets of Jesup's troops re- 
strained them, and they were dismissed 
without their leader, who was sent to 
Charleston and confined in Fort Moul- 
trie. There he died of a fever, and a 
small monument was erected over his 
grave near the main entrance to the 
fort. The Seniinoles, under other 
leaders, continued to resist, notwith- 
standing almost nine thousand LTnited 
.States troojis were in their territory at 
the close of 1837. For more than two 



326 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



years afterward Taylor and his men 
endured great hardships in trying to 
bring the war to a close. A treaty for 
that purpose was made in May, 1839, 
but so lightly did its obligations bind 
the Indians that they continued thetr 
depredations. It was not until 1842 
that a permanent peace was secured, 
when scores of valuable lives and mil- 
lions of treasure had been wasted in 
a war that had its origin in the injus- 
tice of the white man toward his dusky 
neighbor. 

In the intercourse of President Jack- 
son's administration with foreign gov- 
ernments, his instructions given to 
Minister jMcLane, already alluded to, 
formed the basis of action. He de- 
manded what was right with vigor, and 
refused to submit to what was wrong 
on all occasions; and by this course he 
secured to our republic the profound 
respect of the nations of the globe. At 
the end of his first term, the foreign 
relations of our government were very 
satisfactory, excepting with France. 
That government, by a treaty which he 
had vigorously pressed to a conclusion, 
had agreed to pay to the United States 
$5,000,000, by instalments, as indemnity 
for injury to American commerce, 
which the operations of the various de- 
crees of Napoleon from 1806 until 181 1 
had inflicted. The legislative branch of 
the French government did not 
promptly comply with the provisions 
of the treaty, and the President as- 
sumed a hostile attitude. The affair 
was finally settled in 1836, before 
Jackson left the chair of state. Similar 
claims were made against Portugal, and 
payment obtained ; and for similar rea- 
sons the king of Naples agreed to pay 
to the United States $1,720,000. Com- 
mercial treaties were made with sev- 
eral Furopean states and with the Sul- 
tan of Turkey; and when Jackson re- 
tired from ofifice in the spring of 1837, 
our republic, with its national debt ex- 
tinguished, was more respected than 
ever by the ])0wers of the earth. 

During the administration of Presi- 
dent Jackson, of eight years, two new 
States were admitted into the Union, 
making the whole number twenty-six. 



These were Arkansas and Michigan. 
The former was admitted in June, 1836, 
and the latter in January, 1837. At 
that time Jackson's administration was 
drawing to a close. Martin Van Buren, 
who had been nominated for the Pres- 
idency, with the understanding that if 
elected he would continue the general 
policy of Jackson, was chosen to that 
office by a very large majority of the 
popular vote. The people failed to elect 
a \'ice-President, when the Senate chose 
Richard M. Johnson of Kentucky, for 
that office. 

^.lARTIN VAN BUREN'S ADMIN- 
ISTRATION. 

It seemed to be the opening of a new 
era in the history of our Republic, 
when, on the 4th of March, 1837, Mar- 
tin Van Buren, of New York, of Dutch 
descent, was inaugurated the eighth 
President of the , United States. His 
predecessors in that office were all of 
British stock, and had been personally 
engaged in the events of the old war for 
independence ; he was born at near the 
close of that war, and was in the fifty- 
fifth year of his age when he entered 
the chair of state. 

Mr. \'an Buren's administration be- 
gan at an inauspicious time, for the 
fearful commercial revulsion, already 
alluded to, had just begun. During 
March and April, 1837, there were mer- 
cantile failures in the city of New York 
to the amount of more than one hun- 
dred million dollars. Only fifteen 
months before, property to the amount 
of more than twenty million dollars had 
l5een consumed by a great fire, which 
iiccurred in December, 1835, when 
more than five hundred buildings were 
destroyed. The effects of these losses 
and failures at the commercial em- 
porium were felt in every part of the 
Union, and business confidence received 
a paralyzing shock. A deputation of 
merchants and bankers of New York 
waited upon the President in May with 
a petition praying him to defer the col- 
lection of duties,\ rescind the "Specie 
Circular," and call an extraordinary ses- 
sion of Congress. Their prayer was 



SIXTH PKRIOD— VAN RUREN'S ADAEINISTRATION 



rejected, and when tlie fact became 
known, nearly all the banks in the coun- 
try suspended specie payment. This 
movement embarrassed the government, 
for it was unable to obtain coin where- 
with to discharge its own financial ob- 
ligations. So situated, the public good 
demanded legislative relief, and the 
President called an extraordinary ses- 
sion of Congress on the 4th of Septem- 
ber. In his message to that body, he 
proposed the establishment of an inde- 
pendent treasury for the public funds, 
totally disconnected with all banking 
institutions; but during a session of 
forty-three days. Congress did very lit- 
tle for the general relief, excepting the 
authorizing of an issue of treasvury 
notes, in amount not exceeding ten mil- 
lion dollars. The indejiendent treasury 
scheme met with violent opposition, but 
a bill to that effect became a law in 
July, 1840, and the "Sub-Treasury 
System" was put into operation. 

Peaceful relations between the United 
States and Great Britain, which had 
then existed many years, were some- 
what disturbed in 1837 and 1838 by 
events connected with a revolutionary 
movement that broke out in Canada, 
the avowed object being to achieve the 
independence of the jjrovinces of Brit- 
ish rule. In this effort our people sym- 
pathized, and gave the insurgents all 
possible aid and comfort. Individuals 
and organized companies went across 
the border and joined the insurgents ; 
and refugees from Canada were pro- 
tected here. The agitation and the out- 
break occurred simultaneously in Upper 
and Lower Canada, but local jealousies 
prevented a unity of action, and the 
scheme failed. The active sympathy of 
the people of the "States," and espe- 
cially along the northern frontier, irri- 
tated the British government. The 
President issued a proclamation, warn- 
ing Americans not to violate neutrality 
and international laws ; and he sent 
General Winfield Scott to the northern 
frontier to preserve order. It was not 
permanently effected until at the end 
of about four years. 

Many stirring incidents occurred on 
the frontier during that outbreak in the 



Canadas, the most conspicuous of which 
was on the bosom of the Niagara River. 
A party of Americans, seven hundred in 
luimber, with twenty cannon, took pos- 
session of Navy Island, in that stream, 
two miles above the Great Falls. They 
liad a small steamboat named Caroline, 
that plied between the Island and 
Scholosser, on the New York shore. 
One dark night in December, 1837, a 
party of royalists crossed the river from 
Canada, set the Caroline on fire, cut her 
loose from her moorings, and allowed 
her to go blazing down the fearful 
rapids and over the crown of the mightv 
cataract into the seething gulf below. 
It was believed that some persons were 
on board the Caroline, and perished 
with her. 

Another cause for unpleasant feeling 
between the governments of the United 
States and Great Britain was a long- 
standing dispute concerning the true 
boundary between the State of Maine 
and the British province of New Bruns- 
wick. The inhabitants of each frontier 
had become so exasperated that at the 
close of 1838 they were preparing for 
actual war. General Scott was sent to 
the scene of strife as a pacificator in the 
winter of 1839, and the dispute was 
settled by a treaty negotiated by Daniel 
W ebster and Lord Ashburton, the same 
year. Provision was made in the same 
treaty for the co-operation of the two 
governments in the suppression of the 
African slave trade; also for the giv- 
ing up of fugitives from justice, in cer- 
tain cases. This is known in history as 
the Ashburton Treaty. 

Mr. ^'an Buren was a candidate for 
the Presidency a second time, and was 
nominated for that office by the unan- 
imous vote of the Democratic conven- 
tion assembled at Baltimore in 1840. 
In December. 1839, a national Whig 
convention, held at Harrisburg in Penn- 
sylvania, nominated General William 
Henry Harrison of Ohio for President 
and John Tyler of \'irginia for \^ice- 
President. The canvass was a very ex- 
citing one, and the method of carrying 
it on by one party was exceedingly de- 
moralizing. Because Harrison lived in 
the West and his residence was for- 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



ivcrly a log cabin, such a structure be- 
came the symbol of his party ; and be- 
cause of his proverbial hospitality, that 
quality was symbolized by a barrel of 
cider. Log cabins were erected all over 
the country as places for political gath- 
erings, and seas of cider were drank in 
them. Young and old partook freely 
of the beverage, and the meetings were 
often mere drunken carousals that were 
injurious to all, and especially to youth. 
Many a drunkard afterward sadly 
charged his departure from the path of 
sobriety to the "Hard Cider" campaign 
of 1840. Demagogues, as usual, had 
made the people believe that a change 
in administration would restore pros- 
perity to the country, and they adroitly 
held the administration of \'an Buren 
responsible for nearly all the woes the 
country was suffering. The conse- 
quence was that Harrison and Tyler 
were elected by overwhelming majori- 
ties ; and in the spring of 1841 Mr. Van 
Buren surrendered the Presidential 
chair to the popular soldier of the West. 

HARRISON'S AND TYLER'S AD- 
MINISTRATIONS. 

General Harrison was an old man — 
sixty-eight years of age — when he en- 
tered upon the duties of chief magis- 
trate of the nation. He seemed vigor- 
ous in mind and body when he de- 
livered his inaugural address from the 
eastern portico of the Capitol. It was 
received with favor by all parties, for 
it was full of wisdom ; and confidence 
was half restored in the commercial 
world, when it was known that he had 
chosen Daniel Webster for Secretary 
of State : Thomas Ewing, Secretary of 
the Treasury : John Bell, Secretary of 
War : George E. Badger, Secretary nf 
the Navy : Francis Granger, Post- 
master-General and John J. Crittenden, 
Attorney-General. This beginning gave 
omen of the dawn of a day of pros- 
perity for the land, and there were glad 
hearts everywhere. But the anthems 
of the inaugural day were speedily 
changed into solemn dirges. The hopes 
centered in the new President were ex- 
tinguished ; for precisely one month 



after he took the oath of oflice ironi 
Chief-Justice Taney, he died. He had 
performed only one official act of great 
importance during his brief administra- 
tion, and that was the issuing of a proc- 
lamation on the 17th of March, calling 
an extraordinary session of Congress 
in May to consider the subjects of fi- 
nance and revenue. 

John Tyler, the Vice-President, be- 
came the constitutional successor of 
President Harrison. He was called to 
Washington from ^Villiamsburg in \'ir- 
ginia, by a message sent by Harrison's 
cabinet-ministers on the 4th of April 
(the day on which the President died)- 
and he was in the national capital at 
four o'clock on the morning of the 
6th. At noon the cabinet-ministers 
called upon him in a body, and he took 
the oath of office, administered by 
Judge Cranch. To the gentlemen pres- 
ent, after alluding to the deceased 
President, Mr. Tyler said, "You have 
only exchanged one Whig for another." 
He had been a Democrat of the school 
of strict constructionists of the Con- 
stitution, but when he was a candidate 
for the \ice-Presidency, he had avowed 
himself to be a firm and decided Whig. 
It seems proper here, in order to better 
understand the brief record of events 
that follow, to give an outline sketch 
of political parties in the United States 
at that time. 

We have seen that the Federal party 
was cast into a minority on the election 
of Mr. Jefiferson in 1800, and continued 
in opposition until the close of Madi- 
son's administration in 1817, when they 
soon afterward became extinct as a 
national party ; the administration of 
I\Ir. Monroe being so generally satis- 
factory, that opposition practically 
ceased. When, in 1824. .Adams and 
Jackson. Crawford and Clay, became 
rival candidates for the Presidency, sep- 
arate political organizations of a per- 
sonal nature were formed, composed of 
Federalists and Democrats intermin- 
gled ; but when Jackson was elected to 
the chief magistracy in 1828, his sup- 
porters claimed the name of Democrats. 
His opponents took the name of Na- 
tional Republicans, but when in 1833 



'YTII PERIOD— HARRISON'S AND TYLER'S ADMINISTRATION 22y 



and 1834 they were joined by seceders 
of tlie Democratic party, they took the 
title of Whigs. At the accession of Mr. 
Van Buren in 1837, the great national 
parties into which the people were di- 
vided were known respectively as 
Democrats and \Miigs. Several minor 
parties (some of them local in their or- 
ganization), such as the Anti-Masons 
in the Eastern States ; the State-Rights 
men in the South, who were opposed to 
the removal of the deposits from the 
I'nited States Bank ; and the supporters 
of Jackson in Georgia, Tennessee, and 
other States, who were opposed to \'an 
Buren, generally acted witli the Whig 
party. 

Even before the elevation of Mr. \'an 
Buren to the Presidency, the Demo- 
cratic party had been (li\ided in the 
Northern and Middle States. There 
arose in its ranks, in 1835, in the city 
of New York, a combination opposed 
to all moneyed institutions and mon- 
opolies of every sort. They were the 
successor of the defunct Workingmen's 
party, formed in 1829, and called tiiem- 
selves the "Equal Rights Party." They 
acted with much caution and secrecy in 
their opposition to the powerful Na- 
tional Democratic party. They never 
rose above the dignity of a faction, 
and their first decided demonstration 
was made in Tammany I Tail, one even- 
ing at the close of October, 1835, when 
the "Equal Rights" men objected to 
some names on the ticket to be put be- 
fore the people. There was a struggle 
for the chair, which the "regulars" ob- 
tained, declared their ticket and resolu- 
tion adopted, and then attempted to ad- 
journ the meeting and put out the 
lights. The opposition were prepared 
for this emergency by having "loco- 
foco" or friction matches in their 
pockets, with which they immediatelv 
restored light to the room, placed their 
leader in the chair, adopted an "Equal 
Rights" Democratic ticket, and passed 
strong resolutions against all monop- 
olies. The faction was ever afterward 
known as the Poco-Focos, and the name 
was finally applied by the Whigs to the 
whole Democratic party. This faction 
became formidable, and the regulars 



endeavored to conciliate the irregulars 
by nominating Richard M. Johnson of 
Kentucky, their favorite candidate for 
the Presidency, for Vice-President, 
with Mr. Van Buren. The advocacy 
of an extensive specie currency by the 
latter, and his proposition for a sub- 
treasury, alienated another portion of 
the Democratic party, and they formed 
a powerful faction known as "Conser- 
vatives." This faction finally joined 
the Whigs, and in 1840 aided in the 
election of Harrison and Tyler. 

The first extraordinary session of the 
Twenty-seventh Congress began on the 
31st of May, 1841, and continued until 
tlie 13th of September following. Sub- 
jects of grave importance to the nation 
were presented to that body, chief of 
which was that of the finances of the 
country. The Secretary of the Treas- 
ury (Air. Ewing) strongly urged the 
necessity of a national bank, and recom- 
mended Congress to charter one with 
a capital of thirty million dollars. At 
the request of Congress (whose action 
was suggested by the President ) . the 
Secretary reported a plan of a "Fiscal 
Bank of the United States," with a bill 
for its incorporation. He endeavored 
to free the ]ilan from the constitutional 
objections to preceding institutions of a 
similar nature. It was known that the 
President had decided constitutional ob- 
jection to the old bank and had assisted 
Jackson in his warfare upon it : and a 
bill was finally framed, partly upon the 
plan proposed by the Secretary, and 
partly by one proposed in the Senate 
by Mr. Clay, which the President, it 
was said, had declared met his views. 
It was passed on the 6th of August, as 
eminently the great Whig measure of 
the session, and one which was to re- 
store confidence to the business com- 
munity and inaugurate a day of na- 
tional prosperity. It was sent to the 
President for his signature, when, to 
the great disappointment of his political 
friends, he returned it with his objec- 
tions ten days after its passage. The 
Whigs in Congress were bewildered, 
and great anxiety was felt throughout 
the country. There was not a sufficient 
number of its supporters in Congress 



230 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



to enable them to carry the measure 
over the President's veto, and they has- 
tened to construct a new bill that would 
meet his views. He was visited by 
two members deputed for the purpose, 
and a bill in accordance with his wishes 
was drawn up and submitted to Mr. 
Webster, the Secretary of State, who 
laid it before Mr. Tyler. The latter 
approved it, and it was sent to the 
House of Representatives and passed 
by that body. In conformity to his 
wishes the name of "Bank" was omitted 
in the latter. 

While the second bill was pending in 
Congress, a private letter written by the 
late John j\l. Botts of Virginia, con- 
cerning the veto, was made public. He 
charged the President with infidelity to 
the party in power, saying: "One Cap- 
tain Tyler is making a desperate effort 
to set himself up with the Loco-Focos, 
but he'll be headed yet, and, I regret to 
say, it will end badly for him. He will 
be an object of execration with both 

parties He has refused to 

listen to the admonitions of his best 
friends, and looked only to the whisper- 
ings of ambitious and designing mis- 
chief-makers who have collected around 
him." This letter so irritated the Presi- 
dent that, allowing his personal feelings 
to control his public action, he resolved 
to oppose any bank bill that might be 
offered at that session. The second 
bill, which the President had approved, 
was passed without alteration on the 
3d of September. He had expressed 
a strong desire, at the beginning of the 
session, to have the matter postponed 
until the regular session, but the friends 
of the measure in Congress and 
throughout the country demanded im- 
mediate action. The bill was submitted 
to the President for his signature, and 
pursuant to his resolve, he vetoed it 
on the 9th — six days after its adoption. 
In consequence of this act the Whigs, 
who had elevated Mr. Tyler to his high 
dignity, were greatly exasperated, and 
he was denounced as unfaithful to 
solemn pledges and as a secret enemy, 
who was playing into the hands of his 
late associates, the Democrats. All of 
Mr. Tyler's cabinet-ministers resigned 



excepting !Mr. Webster, who patrioti- 
cally remained at his post because grave 
public interests connected with his de- 
partment required it. In fact, Mr. 
Webster felt that the bank matter had 
been pushed with too much haste and 
persistency, considering the state of the 
President's mind, "since there was rea- 
son to believe that the President would 
be glad of time for information and 
reflection before being called on to form 
an opinion on another plan for a bank — 
a plan somewhat new to the country." 
Mr. Webster wrote, "I thought his 
known wishes ought to be complied 
with. I think so still. I think this is 
a course just to the President and wise 
in behalf of the Whig party." But 
such counsels did not prevail, and there 
was a decided alienation between the 
I'resident and the ^^ hig party from the 
time of the resignation of his cabinet. 
During that e.xtraordinary session of 
Congress, other important measures 
were adopted. The wants of the 
treasury were supplied, provision was 
made for fortifications, the sub-treas- 
ury act was repealed, and a bankrupt 
act, which Mr. Webster spoke of as "a 
great measure of justice and benevo- 
lence," was passed. By the latter act, 
thousands of honest and industrious 
men who had been prostrated by the 
tempest of business disaster which had 
swept over the land, and were hope- 
lessly in debt, were enabled to stand on 
their feet again and give their ener- 
gies to the promotion of the various in- 
dustries of the country. It bore hard 
upon the creditor class ; and when 
rogues sought its shelter while cheating 
honest men, the law was repealed. 

The second year of Mr. Tyler's ad- 
m.inistration (1842) was distinguished 
by the return of an expedition which 
the government sent out late in the 
summer of 1838, under the command 
of Lieutenant Charles Wilkes, to ex- 
plore the great Southern Ocean. That 
expedition cruised along what was 
supposed to be the shores of a South- 
ern continent, seventeen hundred miles 
in the vicinity of latitude 66 degrees. 
■Much valuable scientific information 
was obtained, for able scientists and 



SIXTH PERIOD— HARRISOX'S AXD TVLF.RS ADMIXISTRATIOX 231 



artists accompanied the expedition ; but 
owing to the imperfect methods of the 
publications of the results, that knowl- 
edge has not been properly diffused 
among the people. At the end of a 
voyage of about ninety thousand miles, 
the expedition presented to the nation 
a large collection of specimens of the 
natural history and curiosities of the 
islands of the South Atlantic and Pa- 
cific Oceans. A greater portion of 
these are preserved in the custody of 
the National Institute, in the building 
of the Smithsonian Institution at 
Washington city. The last-named in- 
stitution was founded with funds be- 
queathed to the United States govern- 
ment by James Smithson, of England, 
in trust, to be used for "the increase 
and diffusion of knowledge among 
men." The sum bequeathed, when re- 
ceived in 1838, was more than half a 
million dollars in gold, and in 1865, a 
residuary legacy of over $26,000 was 
received. That institution is carrying 
out the benevolent views of Mr. Smith- 
son in an admirable manner. 

During President Tyler's administra- 
tion, a spark of civil war appeared in 
Rhode Island, which seemed to de- 
mand the interference of the national 
government. The constitution of 
Rhode Island was the old charter 
granted by Charles the Second, and 
under it the people had prospered until 
1842, when it was proposed to abandon 
it and make a new constitution. There 
was a wide dilTerence of opinion as to 
the method to be pursued in making the 
change. A "Suffrage," or Radical 
party, and a "Law and Order." or 
Conservative party were formed. 
Each adopted a constitution and elected 
a governor and legislature under it : 
and in May and June. 1843, both parties 
were armed in support of their respec- 
tive claims. The State was on the 
verge of civil war, when the interfer- 
ence of national troops was invoked. 
The constitution of the "Law and Or- 
der" party was sustained, and no fur- 
ther trouble ensued. 

This local agitation was followed by 
a national one. On the Southwestern 
borders of our Republic was a sover- 



eign State called Texas, a part of the 
domain of ancient Mexico that was 
conquered by the Spaniards. The 
Mexicans revolted and set up an in- 
dependent government, which became 
a Republic under a constitution similar 
to that of the United States, and was 
divided into nineteen States and five 
Territories ; Te.xas was one of the for- 
mer. The ^lexican government en- 
couraged emigration into that State, 
and in 1833, full ten thousand Ameri- 
cans were settled there. Santa Anna, 
a restless, unscrupulous and selfish m- 
triguer and revolutionist, had made 
himself military dictator of Mexico. 
The people of Texas, unwilling to sub- 
mit to his arbitrary rule, revolted, and 
in 1836, that State was declared to be 
independent. Santa Anna was then in 
that country with a heavy military 
force : but at a battle near the San 
Jacinto River, late in April, he was de- 
feated by General Houston and made a 
prisoner. This ended the war for 
Texan independence, and that indepen- 
dence was acknowledged by the United 
States in the spring of 1837. But the 
people of Texas were continually har- 
assed by Mexican marauders ; and 
when, in 1843, President Tyler made a 
proposition to the President of that Re- 
public for its annexation to the United 
States, it was gladly accepted. A 
treaty to that eft"ect was negotiated, and 
it was signed in April, 1844, by the 
Texan commissioner and John C. Cal- 
houn, who was then Secretary of 
State: but the Senate rejected it. 

The country was soon afterward 
violently agitated by discussions on the 
subject of annexation. The chief 
point of antagonism lay in the slavery 
question, the friends of that institution 
being all in favor of the measure, 
while its opponents were firmly op- 
posed to it, for they regarded it as a 
plan for strengthening the political 
power of the slave-labor States ; also 
because it would surely lead to a war 
with Mexico, for that government had 
never given up its claim to Texas as 
one of the States of the Republic. 
This question entered largely into the 
canvass for the Presidency in 1844. 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



For that high office James K. Polk, of 
Tennessee, who was warmly in favor of 
the annexation of Texas, was nomi- 
nated by the Democrats, and George 
M. Dallas, of Pennsylvania, was named 
for \'ice-President. They were elected 
over the opposing Whig candidates, 
Henry Clay, of Kentucky, and Theo- 
dore Frelinghuysen. of New Jersey. 

The region known as Oregon had 
been a matter of dispute at an early 
day, between the United States and 
Great Britain. In the year 1792, Cap- 
tain Gray, of Boston, in the ship Col- 
umbia, entered the mouth of the great 
river of that region and gave the name 
of his vessel to the stream. \Mien a 
report of this fact was pressed upon the 
attention of President Jefiferson, he 
sent Captains Lewis and Clark on an 
overland expedition to the Pacific 
Coast at the mouth of that river. The 
exploration was accomplished in 1804- 
1806; and this transaction, with the dis- 
covery by Captain Gray, gave to the 
United States a title to the region 
watered by the Columbia River, accord- 
ing to the British interpretation of the 
law of nations. The region so watered 
extended to the parallel of 54° 
40' north latitude. By the pur- 
chase of Louisiana, in 1803, the United 
States acquired whatever title to that 
domain France had possessed. But 
the British government, instigated by 
the Hudson's Bay Company, claimed 
Oregon. Finally, by a treaty made in 
1818, it was agreed that citizens of 
both nations should jointly occupy it for 
ten years. This was renewed for an 
indefinite period, each party having the 
right to end the agreement at any time 
by giving twelve months' notice to the 
other. Such notice was given by the 
United States in 1839, and prepara- 
tions were made for the occupation of 
the territory by American citizens. 
Great Britain then claimed the whole 
of Oregon. The LTnited States ofi'ered 
to compromise by drawing the northern 
line of its possessions there, along the 
parallel of 49° 40'. The British per- 
sisted in their claim, and during the 
political canvass of 1844, "Texas" and 
"Oregon" became a part of the battle- 



cry of the Democrats. At their con- 
vention in Baltimore they had declared 
by resolution "that our title to the whole 
of the territory of Oregon is clear and 
unquestionable ; that no portion of the 
same ought to be ceded to England or 
any other power ; and that the reoccu- 
pation of Oregon and the reannexation 
of Texas (it had been claimed as a 
part of Louisiana, purchased of 
France) at the earliest practicable 
period, are great American measures 
which this convention recommends to 
the cordial support of the democracy 
of the L^nion." The former proposi- 
tion was popular in the North, and the 
latter was popular in the South and 
secured the election of Polk and Dallas. 
The war-cry of "Fifty-four forty, or 
fight !" was often heard during the can- 
vass. A compromise was finally ef- 
fected with Great Britain. The north- 
ern boundary of our Republic in that 
region was fixed at the parallel of 49° ; 
and in 1848 the Territory of Oregon 
was organized. In February, 1859, it 
was admitted into the Union as a 
State. 

The closing act of Mr. Tyler's ad- 
ministration was an imitation of Presi- 
dent Jackson's "pocket veto." A bill 
making appropriations for certain har- 
bors and rivers had passed both houses 
at near the close of the session, and was 
sent to the President for his signature. 
He retained it until the session had 
closed ; and so, without formally veto- 
ing it, he prevented its becoming a law. 

At the close of his administration, 
on the 4th of March, 1845, Mr. Tyler, 
the tenth President of the LTnited 
States, and then fifty-five years of age, 
retired to private life, where he re- 
mained a greatly respected "private 
citizen" until the civil war broke out, 
when he took an active part with the 
enemies of the Republic. He died at 
Richmond, Virginia, in January, 1862. 

POLK'S ADMINISTRATION. 

The administration of Polk is one of 
the most successful in our history, 
viewed from a material standard. He 
entered office with a definite purpose in 



SIXTH PERIOD— POLK'S ADMINISTRATION 



233 



view and accomplished it. In spite of 
all attempts at sophistry, the real is- 
sue in 1844 was the annexation of 
Texas. If it had been a question of the 
extension of slavery within our own 
border, Clay would have won. But the 
annexation of Texas seemed in itself 
so desirable that the slavery question 
was put in the backg'round and the 
issue a', best was a mixed one. Clay 
was evasive on the issue for Southern 
consiimption, which not only did him 
no good, but lost to him support in the 
North. The issue of slavery exten- 
sion had been rising for years. The 
handful of men and women who fol- 
lowed Garrison and Birney had no 
strength in politics, but they created 
an issue which ripened rapidh- in later 
vears. John Ouincy Adams was no 
doctrinaire, but he stood by his guns 
and fought for the right of petition 
until he won. The Old Man Eloquent 
reached his highest fame when he com- 
pelled by logic, by invective, and by an 
aroused moral sentiment an unwilling 
Congress to obey the Constitution. The 
tactics of the opposition were bad from 
the start. The slavery propaganda 
made one continuous series of errors, 
which finally caused the overthrow of 
their domestic institution. 

\'an Buren's administration failed, 
because it inherited all the ills arising 
out of Jackson's bad policy. Tyler's 
failed because he turned apostate, and 
yet the failure is, in a political sense 
only, for Tyler's was a good administra- 
tion, and the country prospered, while 
National finances were carefully looked 
after. Tyler never was a \Miig at 
heart, and made a mistake in enlisting 
under that party's banner if he did not 
subscribe to its doctrine. But Polk was 
a thorough disciple of Jeffersonian 
Democracy, who had learned his les- 
sons well. He entered the Presidency 
resolved to secure the annexation of 
Texas at any cost, and he succeeded. 
The country had a successful foreign 
war, greatly increased its territory, and 
added to its prestige abroad. For his 
advisers Polk choose : James Bu- 
chanan, of Pennsylvania, Secretary of 
State; Robert J. Walker, of Missis- 



sippi, Secretary of the Treasury ; Wil- 
liam L. Marcy, of New York, Secre- 
tary of War; George Bancroft, of 
Alassachusetts, Secretary of the Navy; 
Cave Johnson, of Tennessee, Post- 
master-General, and John Y. Mason, of 
\irginia, Attorney-General. 

Victorious as the party has been, it 
was by no means harmonious, particu- 
larly in the great pivotal State of New 
York, there were differences on public 
questions which required delicate ad- 
justment to keep in line. Th.ere a clear 
issue on the slavery extension question 
wou'd have defeated Polk, and there in 
1848 it did defeat his party's successor. 

Aside from the Texas issue, which 
was complicated by the fear that both 
France and Great Britain were coquet- 
ting for control, the Oregon question 
was an important one. We laid claim 
to the Oregon country from the forty- 
second parallel of latitude to 54 degrees 
40 minutes, under various claims of 
discovery, exploration and purchase. 
The issue had been long neglected, but 
had recently risen into importance, and 
the time had now come for a decision. 
Taking a false cue, the Democrats 
raised the cry of "Fifty-four forty or 
fight," but that was a blind. Polk was 
willing to cede something in the wil- 
derness of the Northwest for the sake 
of being let alone in the Texas matter, 
and a treaty with Great Britain finally 
fixed the Forty-ninth parallel to Pu- 
get's Sound as our boundary after ne- 
gotiations had been suspended and a 
rupture was feared. 

Tyler's messenger, despatched in 
haste to deal with the subject, found 
Texas waiting. The Lone Star Re- 
public declared for annexation with 
boundaries of her own choosing, and 
in December, 1846, the resolution of 
annexation passed Congress, and was 
duly signed. 

The high-tarifif men who had been 
convinced that Polk and his party were 
protectionists equally with Whigs soon 
had a rude awakening. Walker was a 
shrewd financier, and no mean politic- 
ian. He prepared a tarifif measure 
which was not only a purely revenue 
producer, but had the original idea of 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



levying duties on the value of the im- 
portations and not the mass. The ad 
valorem idea was correct in theory, 
but opened the door to innumerable 
frauds. The Walker tariff was driven 
through Congress by whip and spur. 
In the Senate it prevailed solely by the 
casting vote of Dallas, who was 
from the greatest protection State in 
the Union. Terrible was the wrath of 
the Whigs, but they sufTered from their 
own lack of moral convictions. Their 
shifty position had cost them dear. 
' Nevertheless the Walker tariff was a 
good revenue producer and remained 
unchanged, except in a few particulars, 
up to the outbreak of the civil war. 

The annexation of Texas meant war 
with Mexico. The desire of the admin- 
istration was to throw the burden of 
beginning it on Mexico, and this was 
shrewdly accomplished. Colonel and 
Brevet Brigadier-General Zachary 
Taylor was sent to Corpus Christi, 
Texas, with a small army "to observe"' 
and was finally ordered to the east 
bank of the Rio Grande with Point 
Isabel as his base. Texas had gener- 
ously voted itself territory to the Rio 
Grande, and immense tracts in the 
Northwest. This was presumptuous 
as under Mexican dominion she had 
less territory than the present State 
contains. Beyond the Colorado, or at 
most, the Nueces, the territory cer- 
tainly was in dispute. Across this lat- 
ter territory Taylor, according to or- 
ders, marched to a point opposite 
Matamoras and erected a fort. Leav- 
ing a small garrison in Fort Brown, he 
marched to his base. Hearing that the 
fort was attacked, he started to relieve 
it, and on the way fought the battles 
of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, 
May 8 and 9. 1846, defeating superior 
forces after sharp contests. Compared 
with later battles, the casualities were 
not large, but reports of them created 
the greatest excitement in the llnited 
States. As we had annexed the soil 
on which the battles were fought, Polk 
sent a message to Congress announcing 
that a state of war existed by the act 
of Mexico in shedding American blood 
on American soil. It is true that many 



people denied that the soil was iucon- 
testably American, but the war fever 
rose high and Congress promptly re- 
sponded. Fifty thousand volunteers 
were called for, and money voted for 
the war without stint. Taylor was or- 
dered to move forward into Mexico, 
and the war began in earnest. 

Mexico, which had recently suffered 
severely from revolutions and internal 
disorders, resolved on making a brave 
resistance, and, considering her re- 
sources, she did well. It was not along 
the Rio Grande alone that she had her 
fears. California was even in these 
days, before gold was thought of, 
looked upon as desirable territory, and 
several "exploring" expeditions had 
been sent thither. John C. Fremont, 
son-in-law of Senator Benton, had 
gained the title of "Pathfinder" in 1842 
and 1843 by crossing the Rocky 
i\ fountains into California, and explor- 
ing most of the country west of the 
range. In August, 1846, General 
Kearney marched on Santa Fe, New 
Mexico, and captured it, and there a 
part of his forces marched across to 
meet Taylor. Fremont led a small 
force to California, and in connection 
with the navy, easily seized the whole 
of the Pacific Coast almost without loss. 

Thus stood the situation when Con- 
gress met in December, 1846. In 
truth, the people were by no means 
unanimously satisfied with the way the 
war had been brought on. Polk was 
blamed for unnecessarily precipitating 
it at a time when he had asked for an 
appropriation to negotiate with Mex- 
ico for a purchase and settlement of the 
issue. In the summer of 1846, Con- 
gress was ready to give $2,000,000 for 
the purpose, but an amendment was 
ofifered to the appropriation which 
killed it. This amendment, known in 
history as the Wilmot Proviso, from 
David Wilmot, of Pennsylvania, who 
ofifered it, provided that no part of the 
territory to be purchased with the 
money should be open to slavery. As 
it was desired to gain territory in Cali- 
fornia for the sole purpose of making 
slave States, the Southern people would 
not have it, and so the bill fell. This 



SIXTTI PERIOD— POLK'S ADMINISTRATION 



Proviso was offered at each session for 
several years, became the new rallying 
cry in politics, and at last furnished the 
Whigs with a moral issue which they 
did not wholly adopt. 

Congress could not refuse war bills, 
and the conquest of Mexico went on. 
Troops were rushed to the Rio Grande. 
Taylor moved across the river, took 
Matamoras, and then moved westward 
to Monterey, which was naturally a 
strong position, and defended by a 
laige garrison. After careful invest- 
ment the place was assaulted and fell 
in September, after heavy losses on 
both sides. This victory still further 
aroused enthusiasm in the United 
States, and Taylor was the hero of the 
hour. The administration was greatly 
embarrassed by the praise of Taylor, 
who was a Southern man and a Whig, 
tliough he was absolutely no politician. 
'J"he commander of the army was Win- 
field Scott, also a Wliig, but with de- 
cided ambitions. There was no Demo- 
cratic General in the army to rank 
either of these, and the administratioii 
was by no means inclined to make 
Whig heroes. Polk thought at one 
time of making Benton a Lieutenant- 
General, but this fell through. Scott, 
naturally, wanted to go to ^lexico, and 
lead the army to victory, and prepared 
a plan for landnig at Vera Cruz, and 
marching to the capital over the route 
followed by Cortez. After long hesi- 
tr.tion, and when no other course was 
open. Polk consented, and Scott started 
for the front. Calling at Point Isabel, 
he took most of Taylor's regulars there 
without seeing him, and sailed for 
Yen Cruz. After a bombardment by 
the navy that city fell March 20, 1847, 
and Scott prepared to march his little 
army to the interior. 

Tii the meantime. Taylor had marched 
westward, and nothing had been heard 
from him for a long time. Santa 
Anna, once more in power, had raised 
a large armv and prepared to destroy 
him. On February 23, 1847, Taylor 
took UD a strone position at Buena 
"Vista, and defeated Santa Anna in the 
hardest fought battle of the war, 
against terriljle odds, for most of his 



small force was composed of raw 
troops. Santa Anna then withdrew 
and marched overland to meet Scott. 
The victory of Buena \'ista was the 
most brilliant of the war, and made the 
modest Taylor a Presidential candidate 
in spite of himself. Scott moved his 
small army with order and precision 
toward the capital. His force was far 
less than he had been promised, but he 
moved ahead ttntil he came to the pass 
of Cerro Gordo, where the read enters 
a ravine, flanked on each side by high 
mountains. By almost superhuman ex- 
ertions, Santa Anna had raised another 
army to oppose the invaders. It ap- 
])eared at first sight that the Mexican 
position was impregnable, but Scott, 
who was an able General, in spite of 
some personal eccentricities, detected 
one weak spot, sent a detachment to 
take it, and finally drove Santa Anna's 
army in wild flight to the rear, April 
17, 1847, after a most brilliantly 
planned and executed battle. March- 
ing on leisurely, no resistance was en- 
countered until in the neighborhood of 
the City of Mexico. At Contreras, 
Santa Anna was again defeated ^ Au- 
gust 20, while other victories were at 
Churubusco and San Antonio on the 
same day. The Americans were out- 
numbered, but they fought desperately, 
and won against great odds. Scott 
now was almost at the gates of the 
capital, when Nicholas Trist. of the 
State Department, arrived to negotiate 
a treaty, much to the disgtist of Gen- 
eral Scott. An armstice was concluded, 
but the negotiations came to nothing, 
and early in September, fighting was 
renewed. The high castle of Chapulte- 
pec was assaulted, and Molino del Rev 
captured, September 7-8, after hard 
fighting. The castle was finally taken 
by assault on the 13th, and the city fell. 
This practically ended the war, in which 
our arms were ever victorious, and 
which proved a training school for 
young officers, who fought on both 
sides in the Civil ^^'^ar. 

The treaty of peace was agreed on 
early in 1848, and ratified by both na- 
tions, by which Mexico yielded all the 
territory then known as New Mexico 



236 



THE HOME AUXH.IARY AND REFERENCE 



and California, hut including also the 
present State of Nevada, part of Colo- 
rado, and all of Arizona. To salve 
National conscience a large sum was 
paid for this territory. 

The Congress which met in 1847 was 
in no friendly mood toward the ad- 
ministration. The Whigs elected 
Rohert C. Winthrop, of Massachusetts, 
S]jeaker, and gave the administration 
Hioney for the war, but no political sup- 
port. In this Congress appeared Abra- 
ham Lincoln, who, as a Whig, sup- 
ported the war bills, but invariably 
voted for the Wilmot Proviso, which 
struck at the root of the administration 
policy. Indeed the Whigs had been 
gaining ground in State elections, so 
that they hoped to carry the next Na- 
tional election, and were disposed to do 
as little for Polk as possible. He was 
allowed to conquer Mexico, but his 
party was deprived of the fruits of 
victory. While this Congress was in 
session and the slavery question was 
being agitated, John Quincy Adams 
fell over his seat unconscious, and died 
sixty hours later, February 23, in the 
Speaker's room. 

There was no doubt that Taylor was 
the Whig favorite for the Presidential 
nomination. "Old Rough and Ready," 
who had served nearly all his life in 
the army, was no politician, and had no 
ambitions until his victories created a 
sentiment he could not ignore. He did 
not seek the ofifice, and doubted his fit- 
ness, but the jropular demand was for 
him. Clay was again a candidate, and 
so was Webster. Naturally neither 
looked with favor on a candidate with- 
out political experience, who had never 
been heard of until a few months be- 
fore. The Whig convention met in 
Philadelphia, Jnne 7, 1848, and nomi- 
nated Taylor on the fourth ballot. The 
second honor was offered to Webster, 
who refu.sed, and it went to Millard 
Fillmore, of New York. Taylor had 
written a letter to a friend before the 
convention expressing modestly his 
views on public questions, which so 
pleased the convention that they did 



not even ado]jt a platform. The Whigs 
were generally pleased with the ticket 
outside of party leaders, who could 
not believe it possible a mere military 
chieftain could be preferred before the 
wheel horses. Both Webster and Clay 
were bitter in denunciation of the 
ticket, though at last they gave a 
grudging consent to it. Clay had been 
out of the Senate for some time, and 
now felt that his public career was 
ended. 

And now appeared that split in the 
Democracy long foreseen, but which up 
to this time had not been fatal. While 
there were Whigs with moral ideas, 
the party program was almost exclu- 
sively a commercial one. Moral ideas 
now split the Democracy in twain. The 
war was over, and we had gained an 
immense territory in the West. The 
Southern people earnestly desired that 
this be divided up into slave States to 
offset the rapidly increasing number of 
free States in the Northwest. But 
there was a sentiment opposed to this 
that was not confined to party lines. 
Slavery was becoming recognized as 
a moral evil, and while no one in au- 
thority was disposed to interfere with 
slavery where it existed, there was a 
rapidly growing feeling that the Wil- 
mot Proviso was the proper stand, and 
so many Northern Democrats had no 
desire to see California and New Mex- 
icii cut up into slave States. 

The Democrats had nominated Gen- 
eral Lewis Cass, of Michigan, for 
President, and William O. Butler, of 
Kentucky, for Vice-President, at a con- 
vention lield in Baltimore. 

\'an Buren was nominated by the 
Free Soil Democracy for the Presi- 
dency, with Charles Francis Adams as 
running mate. This third jiarty move- 
ment did not carry a single State, but 
it elected Taylor. The electoral vote 
stood: Taylor, 163; Cass, 127; New 
York once more turning the scale, giv- 
ing more votes to Van Buren than to 
Cass. The popular vote stood : Van 
Buren, 291,263; Cass, 1,220,544; Tay- 
lor, 1,360,101. 



SIXTH PERIOD-TAYLOR'S AND FILLMORE'S ADMINISTRATION 237 



ADMINISTRATIONS OF TAYLOR 
AND FILLMORE. 

General Taylor was eminently a 
"])lain, blunt man," with no ]iretensions 
ti) polished manners, hut with every 
characteristic of a true gentleman. He 
cliose for his constitutional advisers 
John M. Clayton for Secretary of 
State; William M. Meredith, Secretary 
of the Treasury ; George N. Crawford, 
Secretary of War ; William li. Preston, 
Secretary of the Navy ; Thomas Ewing, 
.Secretary of the Interior, a department 
which had just been created ; Jacob Col- 
lamer, Postmaster-General, and Rev- 
erdy Johnson, Attorney-General. 

President Taylor's administration 
was marked by events which led to very 
important results. In .August, 1849, 
tk>neral Riley, then military governor 
of California, summoned a convention 
of delegates to meet at Monterey, on 
tlie Pacific coast, to form a State con- 
stitution. California had not yet been 
organized as a Territory; but it was so 
rapidly filling u]i with the elements of 
a new and powerful State, that its 
speedy admission into the L^nion as 
such seemed probable. These elements 
were then principallv goldscekers, who 
were mostly enterprising young men. 
The convention met, and on the first of 
September (1849) they adopted a 
State constitution, an article of which 
excluded slavery from that Territory 
forever. This action — the actual for- 
mation of a State by the voice of the 
jieople — was accomplished twenty 
months after gold was first found at 
Sutter's Mill. It produced warm de- 
bates in and out of Congress, and ex- 
cited a violent controversy throughout 
the republic on the subject of slavery, 
which ended only when that institution 
was utterly destroyed. 

Tender their State constitution, the 
Califnrnians elected Edward Gilbert 
and G. H. Wright, delegates to the Na- 
tional House of Representatives; and 
the State Legislature, at its first session, 
appointed Tohn Charles Fremont and 
William M. Gwinn, Ignited States 
Senators. The latter carried the State 



constitution with tiiem lo Washington 
city, and in hebruary they presented a 
l)etition to Congress, praying for the 
admission of California into the Union 
of States. It was perceived that a 
compromise on the subject of slavery 
must be effected to avoil serious difti- 
culty, for the supporters of the system 
of slave-labor declared their intention 
to dismember the republic, if California 
should be admitted into the I'nion with 
its constitution forbidding the existence 
of slavery in that domain. .A joint 
resolution was ofiered for the appoint- 
ment of a committee of thirteen to 
consider the subject of territorial gov- 
ernment for California, New Mexico 
Deseret ( the latter settled chiefly by a 
Mormon community), with instructions 
to report a ])lan of comiiromise embrac- 
ing all the ([uestions then arising out 
of the institution of slavery. The reso- 
lution was adopted in April, and Mr. 
Clay was made chairman of the com- 
mittee. He had already submitted a 
])lan of comi)romise to the Senate, and 
s])oke elo(|uently in favor of it ; and on 
the 8th of May he, in behalf of the 
committee of thirteen, reported a bill 
intended as a pacificator. It provided 
for the admission of California as a 
State ; for a territorial go\'ernment for 
New Mexico and Deseret or L' tali ; for 
a law which would compel the return, 
to their masters, of all fugitive slaves ; 
for the suppression of the slave-trade 
in the District of Columbia, and for a 
settlement of the boundary of Texas. 
This bill, containing such a variety of 
important propositions, was called the 
"Omnibus Bill," but as a whole it was 
known as the Compromise Act. It was 
not satisfactory to the slaveholders, 
nothwithstanding its large concessions 
to their interests; and in June they held 
a convention at Nashville, in Tennessee, 
and by resolutions presented to the 
country alternatives for the settlement 
of the controversy, namely, the security, 
by an enactment of Congress, of protec- 
tion to their property in slaves, for 
those who should choose to emigrate 
into anv of the Territories, or a parti- 
tion of the Territories between the free 



238 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



and slave labor sections of the Union, 
on the basis of the Missouri Com- 
promise. 

For four months a discussion and a 
controversy, which shook the republic 
to its very foundations, was carried on 
in Congress and among the people — a 
controversy on the slavery question 
more violent than any which had yet 
occurred. The Compromise Act was 
violently opposed in both sections of the 
Union, but. of course, on opposite 
grounds. The extreme pro-slavery 
men regarded it as a surrender of their 
most vital claims, to the political sen- 
timentality of the North ; and they re- 
solved not to submit to it. Threats of 
disunion were loud, violent and numer- 
ous : and opposition to the Compromise 
took the shape of a political party first 
in Mississippi, with Jefferson Davis as 
leader. It spread into other slave-hold- 
ing States, and appeared formidable. 
The opposition to the measure in the 
Northern States was comparatively 
feeble ; but there was a powerful min- 
ority in these free-labor States who 
were strenuously opposed to the Fugi- 
tive Slave law, which formed a part of 
the Compromise, as unworthy of the 
sanction of a civilized nation. Yet the 
majority of the northern people acqui- 
esced in the measure because it prom- 
ised peace and the maintenance of the 
commercial prosperity which then pre- 
vailed. 

In the midst of the excitement oc- 
casioned by this controversy, the coun- 
try was startled by the death of the 
President, caused by bilious fever, 
which occurred on the 9th of July, 1850, 
when he was in the sixty-fifth year 
of his age. There was much real 
mourning on account of his death, for 
the reflecting men of all parties relied 
upon his justice, integrity and firmness 
in the right, in that hour of apparent 
peril to the republic. Millard Fillmore, 
the \'ice-President, became the consti- 
tutional successor of President Taylor, 
and on the day after the death of the 
latter, Mr. Fillmore took the prescribed 
oath of office as President of the United 
States. On the following day, William 
R. King, of Alabama, was elected presi- 



dent pro tempore of the Senate, and 
became acting \'ice-I'resident. 

The several members of the cabinet 
of President Taylor tendered their 
resignations to Mr. Fillmore, who ac- 
cepted them and immediately nominated 
others for his constitutional advisers. 
These were Daniel Webster, Secretary 
of State; Thomas Corwin, Secretary of 
the Treasury ; Charles M. Conrad, Sec- 
retary of War; William A. Graham, 
Secretary of the Navy; Alexander H. 
H. Stuart, Secretary of the Interior; 
Nathan K. Hall, Postmaster-General, 
and John J. Crittenden, Attorney-Gen- 
eral. These names impressed the peo- 
ple with confidence in the administra- 
tion of Mr. Fillmore. 

The most important measures of the 
government that were pending at the 
death of President Taylor, and which 
claimed the early attention of President 
Fillmore, were the several bills included 
in the Compromise Act. These were all 
adopted, with slight modifications, and 
became laws in the nionth of September 
by receixing the signature of the Presi- 
dent. Mr. Seward offered an amend- 
ment to the act for the suppression of 
the slave trade in the District of Col- 
umbia, which provided "That slaverv in 
the District be entirely abrogated ; that 
its abolition depend on the vote of the 
inhabitants : and that in case, on such 
\ote being taken, it should be in favor 
of emancipation, the sum of two hun- 
dred thousand dollars be appropriated 
to pay the owners of the slaves for 
whatever loss they may suffer." This 
amendment, after a brief discussion, 
was rejected by five yeas to forty-five 
nays. 

During Ta\dor's administration, some 
unpleasant feeling had been engenderetl 
between the governments of the United 
States and Spain, by an invasion of 
Cuba by a military force organized in 
this country. It will be observed here- 
after that the men and measures con- 
nected with these movements, were in- 
timately associated with the actors in, 
and the preliminary events of the late 
Civil War. General Lopez, a native of 
Cuba, who led an expedition to that 
island from the United States, was 



SIXTH PERIOD— TAYLOR'S AND FILLMORE'S ADMINISTRATION 



backed by many men wbo were con- 
spicuous in the secession movements 
ten years later. The avowed object of 
the invasion was to stir up the Creoles, 
or native Cubans, to a revolt for the 
purpose of overthrowing the local 
government, casting off the Spanish 
yoke, and forming an independent 
State. No doubt this was the principal 
and perhaps the only design of Lopez, 
but not of the politicians at his back. 
Their chief object undoubtedly was to 
seize Cuba, and make it a part of a 
great slave empire of the Smith — a 
pro])osition shamelessly set forth in the 
discreditable "Ostend ^lanifesto" of a 
later day. Lopez and his followers 
landed at Cardenas, in Cuba, at the 
middle of April, 1850, where he ex- 
pected to be joined by some of the 
Spanish troops and a host of native 
Cubans and with them overthrow the 
government of the island. He was dis- 
appointed. The troops and people did 
not appear to co-operate with him, and 
he returned to the LTnited States to 
]irepare for a more formidable invasion. 

The introduction of the Compromise 
Act. the invasion of Cuba and the ad- 
mission of one State and three Terri- 
tories into the LTnion, were the most 
prominent features of President Tay- 
lor's administration. That State was 
California; the Territories were New 
Mexico, Utah and Minnesota. The 
name of the latter is the Indian title of 
the River St. Peter, a large tributary 
of the LTpper Mississippi, and means 
sky-colored water. 

Allusion has been made to the Mor- 
mons in Utah. Their history is a most 
remarkable one. About fifty years ago, 
a young man named Joseph Smith, a 
native of Vermont, pretended to have 
revelations from heaven. In one of 
these he was directed to go to a hill 
near Palmyra. New York, where he 
woulfl find a record of the ancient in- 
habitants of America and a new gospel 
for mankind, written centuries before 
on plates of gold, in unknown char- 
acters and languages. From these 
plates (it was alleged) Smith, sitting 
behind a blanket to prevent their be- 
ing seen by profane eyes, read the in- 



scriptions which were written down by 
a scribe who was not permitted to see 
the ''leaves of gold." This copy was 
published under the name of "The Book 
of Mormon." The true story, as ascer- 
tained by investigation, appears to be, 
that the Rev. Solomon Spaulding, many 
years before, wrote a work of fiction, 
founded upon the theory that our con- 
tinent was peopled by the "lost tribes 
of Israel ;" that the manuscript came, 
by accident, into the hands of Smith, 
and that he read to his scribe from the 
manuscrijJt, and not from any plates 
containing mysterious characters. 

Smith found dupes and followers, 
and in 1830 he established a "church" 
with thirty members. He was assisted 
in his work by Sidney Rigdon, who, it 
was said, had become possessed of 
Spaulding's manuscript and placed it 
in the hands of Smith. The latter pre- 
tended to be governed by continual rev- 
elations from heaven ; and in accord- 
ance with one of them, he led his de- 
luded followers to Kirtland, Ohio, 
where they built a temple and remained 
several years, until the conduct of the 
leaders became so obno.xious that they 
were compelled to leave. Thev estab- 
lished themselves in Hancock county, 
Illinois, where they founded the city of 
Xauvoo, and built a temple. Mean- 
while they had attempted to plant them- 
selves in Missouri, but they were ex- 
pelled by the exasperated people, who 
were assisted by the civil and military 
[)cvvers. At Kirtland, they were joined 
by a shrewd young man named Brig- 
ham Young, a native of Vermont, who 
was president of the Mormon church 
more than thirty years. It was at Xau- 
voo that the system of polygamy was 
first practiced among them, and Young 
has ever been foremost among its de- 
fenders. That system was established 
in consef|uence of the jealousy of 
Smith's wife because of his intimacies 
with other women. In justification of 
his immoral conduct. Smith had a spe- 
cial revelation from heaven, authoriz- 
ing polygamy, and declaring that the 
greater number of wives a man pos- 
sessed the greater would be his future 
reward ; also that the women who con- 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AXD REFERENCE 



sciited to share the honors of wifcliood 
with others would thereby be assured 
of eternal happiness. 

This "revelation" led to events which 
resulted in the imprisonment of Smith 
and some of his intimate associates. 
The "prophet" and his brother were 
shot dead by a mob at the prison : and 
their followers, in 1845, prepared for 
an exodus, led by Brigham Young, who 
had succeeded to the presidency of the 
Mormon church, on the death of 
Smith. They finally crossed the Missis- 
sippi and penetrated to the valley of 
the Great Salt Lake, where, in 1848, 
they seated themselves in a most pic- 
turesque region, founded a city and 
built a temple. In 1849 President Fill- 
more appointed Young governor of that 
territory named Utah. The Mormons 
now number, in our own and other 
countries, probably, more than two 
hundred thousand souls. They have, 
from time to time, given our govern- 
ment considerable trouble, by their de- 
fiance of its laws. 

It was believed by superficial thinkers 
and observers that the Compromise Act 
of 1850 had quieted forever all con- 
troversy on the subject of slavery; and 
during his entire administration Presi- 
dent Fillmore gave his support to all 
the measures embraced in that act. 
When his administration closed in the 
.srpring of 1853, there seemed to be very 
little uneasiness in the public mind on 
the subject of slavery. But it was only 
the ominous calm that precedes the 
bursting of a tempest. The moral sense 
of the people in the free-labor States 
(and of thousands in the slave-labor 
States) had been shocked by the pas- 
sage of the Fugitive-Slave Law, which 
compelled every person to become a 
slave-catcher, under certain circum- 
stances, willing or not willing. 

In 185 1, General Lopez renewed his 
attempt to cause an insurrectionary 
movement in Cuba, by landing a strong 
military force, organized in this coun- 
try, upon its shores. Again Lopez 
found the Cubans unwilling to revolt. 
He became a fugitive and at near the 
close of August, he and six of his fol- 



lowers were arrested, taken to Havana, 
and executed. 

At the same time our government 
was making peaceful acquisitions of ter- 
ritory in the northwest by the purchase 
from the Sioux Indians of millions of 
acres of fertile lands beyond the Missis- 
sip]ii, in the newdy organized Territory 
of Minnesota. 

Toward the close of the same year, 
our government reaffirmed its policy of 
non-interference with the domestic af- 
fairs of European nations, under pe- 
culiar circumstances. In December, 
Louis Kossuth, the exiled governor of 
Hungary, arrived in the LTnited States 
to plead the cause of his country-men, 
who were struggling for their inde- 
pendence of the rule of Austria, and 
to ask for material aid from our gov- 
ernment. The President, however, at 
his first interview with Kossuth, told 
liim frankly that our policy of non-in- 
terference would not allow our gov- 
ernment to give him any material aid. 
This was aiTorded, to a considerable ex- 
tent, by private subscriptions. 

There was a little ruffling of tiic 
good feeling between the governments 
of the L'nited States and Great Britain, 
in 1852, in consequence of the alleged 
\iolation by American fishers off the 
coast of British America. The dispute 
was amicably settled by mutual conces- 
sions. 

Owing to our increasing intercourse 
with Asia across the Pacific Ocean, 
friendly relations with the Japanese was 
desirable. To establish such amity, our 
government sent a squadron of seven 
vessels, commanded by Commodore M. 
C. Perry, in the summer of 1853, to 
convey a letter from the President of 
the LTnited States to the Emperor of 
Japan, asking him to consent to the ne- 
gotiation of a treaty of friendship and 
commerce between the two govern- 
ments. The mission was successful, 
and friendly relations were then estab- 
lished between the two countries. 

The sympathy manifested by a large 
portion of the people of the LTnited 
States in the efforts of Lopez in Cuba, 
gave rise to suspicions in Europe that 
it was the policy of our government to 



SIXTH TERIOD— PIERCF;S ADMIXISTRATION 



ultimately possess that island and as- 
sume control over the Gulf of Mexico 
( the open door to California) and the 
West India Islands, which were owned 
chiefly by France and England. To 
prevent such a result, the governments 
(if these two countries asked that of 
the United States to enter into a treaty 
with them, which should secure Cuba 
to Spain, b}^ agreeing to disclaim "now 
and fore\er hereafter, all intention to 
obtain possession of the Island of 
Cuba," and "to discountenance all such 
attempts, to that effect, on the part of 
any individual or power whatever." To 
this invitation our Secretary of State 
( Edward Everett ) replied, in the 
spirit of the "Monroe Doctrine," that 
the question was an American and not 
an European one, and not properly 
within the scope of the interference of 
European cabinets : that the United 
States did not intend to violate any ex- 
isting neutrality laws; that the govern- 
ment claimed the right to act in rela- 
tion to Cuba independent of any other 
power, and that it could not see with in- 
diiference "the island of Cuba fall into 
the hands of any other power than 
Spain." 

When Mr. Fillmore's administration 
w as drawing to a close, nominations for 
his successor were made. .\ Demo- 
cratic national convention assembled at 
I'.altiniore in June. 1852, nominated 
General Franklin Pierce of New Hamp- 
shire, for F'resident, and William R. 
King of Alabama for Vice-President. 
A Whig national convention assembled 
at the same place in the same month, 
and nominated General Winfield Scott 
for President and Willian.i A. Graham 
iif North Carolina for \'ice-President. 
The Democratic nominees were elected, 
and on the 4th of March, 1853. Presi- 
dent iMllmore retired to private life. 
( .'ne of the most important of the clos- 
ing events of his administration was the 
creation, by act of Congress, of a new 
Territory called Washington, which 
was carved out of the northern part 
of Oregon. The bill for this purpose 
became a law on the 2d of March, 1853. 



IRANKLIN PIERCE'S ADMINIS- 
TRATION. 

General Pierce took the oath of office 
as President of tlie United States upon 
a platform of New Hampshire pine, 
which had been erected at the eastern 
portico of the Capitol. It was admin- 
istered in the prcscence of thousands of 
people, who stood in a storm of driving 
sleet as witnesses of the august cere- 
mony. President Pierce chose for his 
cabinet William L. Marcy, Secretary of 
State : James Guthrie, Secretary of the 
Treasury : Jefferson Davis. Secretary of 
Vv'ar; James C. Dobbin, Secretary of 
the Navy: Robert :\IcClelland, Secre- 
tary of the Interior; James Campbell, 
Postmaster-General, and Caleb Gush- 
ing, Attorney-General. 

Important American explorations by 
sea and land, in the interests of com- 
merce, marked the earlier portion ot 
Pierce's administration. The acquisi- 
tion of California opened the way for 
an immense commercial interest on our 
Pacific coast ; and in the sprins: of 1853, 
Congress sent four armed vessels to the 
eastern shores of Asia, by way of Cape 
Horn, to explore the region of the 
Pacific Ocean, which, it was evident, 
would soon be traversed by American 
steamships plying between the ports of 
our western frontier and Japan and 
China. At the same time plans were 
maturing for the construction of a rail- 
way across the continent from the At- 
lantic to the Pacific Ocean. Congress. 
in the summer of 1853, sent out four 
surveying expeditions to explore as 
many routes along the general course of 
four degrees of latitude. One of these 
lines of railway, known as the Union 
Pacific, was completed in the spring of 
1869. 

At that time the government of the 
Sandwich Islands was making over- 
tures for the annexation of that ocean- 
empire to our republic. This aroused 
the jealousy of France and England, 
v.ho felt disposed to interfere in the 
matter. A change of rulers in the 
islands, put an end to the matter. A 



THE HOME AUXllJARV AND REFERENCE 



dispute in relation to the boundary line 
between New Mexico and the Province 
of Chihuahua, in old Mexico, threat- 
ened to produce war, but it was hap- 
pily diverted by diplomacy. With the 
government of Austria there were 
some unpleasant relations about that 
time, growing out of the protecting 
power of our government in the case 
of a naturalized citizen. A Hungarian 
exile, named Kozta, had become 
naturalized here. While engaged in 
business in Smyrna, he was seized by 
order of the Austrian consul-general 
and placed on board a brig to be sent 
to Trieste as a refugee. The St. Louis, 
one of our naval vessels, was then in 
the harbor of Smyrna, and her com- 
mander (Captain Ingraham) claimed 
Kozta as a citizen of the United States 
and demanded his release. It was re- 
fused, and Ingraham cleared his ship 
for action. This argument was effec- 
tual, and Kozta was delivered up on 
board the St. Louis. Congress showed 
their approval of the conduct of their 
servant by voting Ingraham a sword. 
Austria was oiTended, but no serious 
difficulty ensued. This protection of 
an humble citizen of the United States, 
in a foreign land, increased the respect 
for our government and flag abroad. 
An unexpected movement now 
aroused a vehement discussion of the 
slavery question. In January, 1854, 
Senator Stephen A. Douglas presented 
a bill in the Senate for the erection of 
two vast Territories in mid-continent, 
to be called, respectively, Kansas and 
Nebraska. The bill provided for giv- 
ing permission to the inhabitants of 
those Territories to decide for them- 
selves whether slavery should or should 
not exist within their domain. This 
proposed nullification of the Missouri 
Compromise produced rancorous con- 
troversies in and out of Congress, and 
the people of the free-labor States be- 
came violently excited. After long 
and bitter discussions in both Houses 
of Congress, the bill became a law in 
May following. The people of the 
North thought they perceived in this 
measure a determination to make 
slavery national; and the boast of 



Robert Toombs, of Georgia, that he 
would yet ''call the roll of his slaves 
on Bunker Hill," seemed likely not to 
be an idle one. While this irritating 
subject was under discussion, fresh 
difficulties with Spain appeared. The 
Spanish authorities in Cuba seized the 
American steamship Black Warrior 
and confiscated her cargo, under some 
)iretence of her violating the neutrality 
hiws. Our government, satisfied of 
the flagrancy of the act, was disposed 
to suspend those laws. A special mes- 
senger was sent to the Spanish govern- 
nent at Madrid to lay the case before 
the imperial authorities. The Cuban 
officials, becoming alarmed, proposed 
to deliver up the vessel and cargo on 
the payment of a fine, by her owners, 
of six thousand dollars. It was paid 
mider protest, and the afifair was amic- 
ably settled by the governments. 

In the light of historic events, it is 
clear to-day, that men who afterward 
appeared as leaders in the war against 
our government, were then concocting 
and executing schemes for the exten- 
sion of the domains of the slave sys- 
tem. It must expand or suffocate. 
They contrived and put in motion ex- 
peditions for conquering neighboring 
jirovinces, in the southwest, under var- 
ious pretexts, and their acts were re- 
buked by our government. They 
formed a design to conquer parts of 
Mexico, and also Central America ; and 
the theatre of their first practically 
successful endeavors was on the north- 
ern portion of the great isthmus, be- 
tween North and South America. The 
first movement was an armed "emi- 
gration" into Nicaragua, with peace- 
ful professions, led by Colonel H. L. 
Kinney. This was followed by an 
armed invasion by Californians, led by 
William Walker, first, of provinces in 
Mexico, and then of the State of Nica- 
ragua. Walker also made peaceful 
professions on landing, but the next 
day he cast off the mask and attempted 
to capture a town. He was soon 
driven out by Nicaraguan troops, and 
escaped in a schooner. He soon re- 
appeared with a stronger force (Sep- 
tember, 1855), when the country was 



SIXTH PERIOD— PIERCE'S ADMINISTRATION 



in a state of revolution, and pushed his 
scheme of conquest so vigorously that 
lie seized the capital of the State 
( Grenada ) , in October, and placed one 
of his followers (a Nicaraguan) in the 
])residential chair. He also strength- 
ened his power by armed "emigrants" 
who came from the slave-labor States. 
The other governments on the isthmus 
were alarmetl for their own safety, and 
in the winter of 1856 they formed an 
alliance for expelling the invaders. 
Troops from Costa Rica marched into 
Nicaragua, but were soon driven out 
I-y ^\'alker's forces. So firm was his 
grasp that he caused himself to be 
elected President of Nicaragua ; and 
the government at Washington has- 
tened to acknowledge the new "nation," 
by cordially receiving \\'alker's embas- 
sador in the person of a Roman 
Catholic priest, named Vigil. For two 
years this ursurper ruled that State 
with a high hand, and offended com- 
mercial nations by his interference 
with trade. At length the combined 
]iowers on the isthmus crushed him. 
In May, 1857, he was compelled to sur- 
render the remnant of his army, but 
escaped himself through the inter- 
Ijositiori of Commodore Davis of our 
navy. Late in the same year he reap- 
]ieared in Central .Amercia, when he 
was seized, with his followers, by 
Commodore Paulding, and sent to 
New York as an offender against 
neutrality laws. The President (Bu- 
chanan) privately commended Pauld- 
ing for his action, but for "prudential 
reasons," as he said, he publicly con- 
demned the commander in a message 
to Congress, for "thus violating the 
sovereignty of a foreign country." 
W^alker was allowed to go free, when 
he fitted out another expedition and 
sailed from Mobile. He was arrested 
only for leaving port without a clear-, 
ance, and was tried and acquitted by 
tlic supreme court at New Orleans. 
Then he went again to Nicaragua, 
where he made much mischief, and 
was finallv captured and shot at Trux- 
illo. 

Settlers in the Territories of Oregon 
and Washington, on the Pacific coast, 



h:id trouble with the Indians there in 
1.S55, who went out in parties to plun- 
der and murder. General Wool, then 
.stationed at San Francisco, went up 
to Portland, in Oregon, to arrange a 
campaign against them. The savages 
were so well organized in both Terri- 
tories that, at one time, it appeared as 
if the white settlers would be com- 
jielled to abandon the country. The 
Indians were subdued in 1856, but for 
a long time restlessness appeared 
among the tribes of the Rocky Moun- 
tains. It was generally believed that 
they were incited to hostilities by the 
employes of the Hudson's Bay Com- 
[lany, in British Columbia. At the 
same time the friendly relations be- 
tween Great Britain and the Ignited 
States were somewhat disturbed by the 
enlistment, in our country, of recruits 
for the British Army, then operating 
against Russia in the Crimean Penin- 
sula. This violation of neutrality laws 
had been done with the sanction of 
British officials here, among whom was 
tiie liritish minister at \\'ashingtoii. 
The minister and the British consuls 
at New York, Philadelphia and Cin- 
cinnati, were dismissed by our govern- 
ment. There was much irritation felt 
by the British cabinet for some time ; 
but as our government was clearly in 
the right, a new minister and new con- 
suls were soon sent hither. 

Our country, at this juncture, was 
approaching that great crisis which ap- 
peared in the dreadful aspect of civil 
war — a tremendous conflict between 
Freedom and Slavery for supremacy 
in the republic. With the enactment 
and enforcement of the Fugitive-Slave 
Law and the virtual repeal of the Mi.s- 
-souri Compromise Act, in the case of 
Kansas and Nebraska, the important 
question was forced upon the attention 
of the whole people of the land, ".Shall 
the domain of our republic be the 
theatre of all free or all slave labor, 
with the corresponding civilization of 
each as a consequence ?" The time had 
come when one or the other of these 
social systems must prevail in all parts 
of the land. Part free and part slave 
was a condition no longer to he toler- 



THE HO^IE AUXILIARY AXD REFEREXCE 



ated, for it meant perpetual war. The 
supporters of the slave-system, en- 
couraged by their recent triumphs, had 
full faith in their ability to win other 
and more decisive victories, and did 
not permit themselves to doubt their 
ultimate possession of the field, so they 
sounded the trumpet for their hosts to 
rally and prepare for the struggle. 
Kansas was the chosen field for the 
preliminary skirmishing. It lay nearest 
10 the settled States ; it was bordered 
on the east by a slave-labor State, and 
it was easy of access from the South. 
On the surface of society they saw only 
insignificant ripples of opposition. 
They began to colonize the Territory ; 
and, flushed with what seemed to be 
well-assured success, they cast down 
the gauntlet of defiance at the feet of 
the friends of free-labor in the nation. 
That gauntlet was quickly taken up 
by their opponents, and champions of 
freedom seemed to spring from the 
ground like the harvest from the seed- 
sowing of dragons' teeth. Enterpris- 
ing men and women swarmed out of 
New England to people the virgin .soil 
of Kansas with the hardy children of 
toil. They were joined by those of 
other free-labor States in the North 
and West. The then dominant party 
in the Union were astonished at the 
sudden uprising, and clearly perceived 
that the opponents of slavery would 
speedily outvote its supporters. Com- 
binations were formed under various 
names, such as "Blue Lodges,"' 
"Friends' Society," "Social Band," 
"Sons of the South," etc., to counteract 
the efforts of the "Emigrant Aid So- 
ciety,"' of Massachusetts, to gain nu- 
merical supremacy in Kansas — a 
society which had been organized im- 
mediately after the passage of tlie 
Kansas-Nebraska bill. The supporters 
of slavery, conscious that their votes 
could not secure supremacy in Kansas, 
where the question of .slavery or no 
slavery was to be decided at the ballot- 
bo.x, organized physical force in Mis- 
souri to oppose this moral force. .As- 
sociations were formed in Missouri, 
whose members were pledged to be 
ready, at all times, to assist, when 



called upon by the friends of slavery in 
Kansas, in removing from that Terri- 
tory, by force, every person who 
should attempt to settle there "under 
the auspices of the Northern Emigrant 
Aid Society." 

In the autunm of 1854, A. H. Reeder 
v.as sent to govern the Territory of 
Kansas. He immediately ordered an 
election of a Territorial legislature, and 
with that election the struggle for 
supremacy there was finally begun. 
Missourians went into Kansas to as- 
sist the supporters of slavery there to 
carry the election. They went with 
tents, artillery and other weapons. 
There were then eight hundred and 
thirty-one legal voters in the Territory, 
but there were more than six thousand 
votes polled. The members of the 
Legislature were all supporters of 
slavery ; and when they met at Shaw- 
nee, on the borders of Missouri, they 
proceeded to enact laws for upholding 
slavery in Kansas. These laws were 
regularly vetoed by Governor Reeder, 
who became so obnoxious that presi- 
dent Pierce was asked to recall him. 
The President did so, and sent Wilson 
Shannon, of Ohio, who was an avowed 
supporter of slavery, to fill Reeder"s 
place. 

The actual settlers in Kansas, who 
were chiefly from the free-labor States, 
met in mass convention in September, 
1855, and resolved not to recognize the 
laws passed by the illegally elected 
legislature, as binding upon them. 
They called a delegate convention to 
assemble at Topeka on the 19th of 
October, at which time and place the 
convention framed a State constitution 
which was approved by the legal voters 
of the Territory, and which contained 
an article making provision for consti- 
tuting Kansas a free-labor State. Un- 
der this constitution they asked Con- 
gress to admit that Territory into the 
Union as a State. By this action the 
contest between Freedom and Slavery 
was transferred from Kansas to 
Washington, for awhile. The prospect 
of success for the opponents of slavery, 
in Kansas, was beginning to appear 
bright, when President Pierce gave the 



SIXTH PERIOD— BUCHANAN'S ADMINISTRATION 



>upporters of the institution much com- 
fort by a message to Congress in Janu- 
ary, 1856, in which he declared the 
action of the legal voters, in adopting 
a State constitution, to be open rebel- 
lion. 

Throughout the spring and summer 
of 1856, armed men from other States 
roamed over Kansas, committing many 
excesses under pretext of compelling 
obedience to the laws of the illegal 
legislature. There was much violence 
and bloodshed ; but during the autumn, 
the Presidential election absorbed so 
much of the public attention, that Kan- 
sas was allowed a season of rest. At 
that election there were three parties in 
the field, each of which had a candi- 
date for the Presidency. One was a 
party composed of men of all political 
creeds, who were opposed to slavery. 
It was called the Republican party, and 
it assumed powerful proportions at the 
outset. Another powerful political or- 
ganization was known as the American 
or Know-Nothing party, whose chief 
bond of union was opposition to for- 
eign influence and Roman Catholicism. 
The Democratic party, dating its or- 
ganization at the period of the election 
of President Jackson, in 1828, was then 
the dominant party in the Union. The 
Democratic candidate for the Presi- 
dency was James Buchanan, of Penn- 
sylvania ; of the Republican party, John 
C. Fremont, of California, and of the 
American party. Ex-President Fill- 
more. After an exciting canvass, 
James Buchanan was elected President, 
with John C. Breckenbridge, of Ken- 
tucky, as Vice-President. 

ADMINISTRATIONS OF BU- 
CHANAN, LINCOLN AND 
JOHNSON. 

Buchanan had long been in public 
life, was a man of upright character 
and conservative views. He com- 
manded the support of many people, 
personally opposed to slavery extension, 
who believed that his experience and 
wisdom were needed at this time to 
prevent sectional animosity from 
spreading. The short session of Con- 



gress was partly occupied with Kansas 
matters, but nothing was done. A 
new tariff bill was passed, which raised 
some rates and lowered others. 

In spite of the fact that Buchanan 
was a Northern man, and of conserva- 
tive views, his election did not satisfy 
either the slavery or the anti-slavery 
element. The friends of slavery exten- 
sion felt that their victory was a bar- 
ren one, as Buchanan was, in a large 
minority, on the popular vote. Min- 
nesota had been admitted as a free 
State and Oregon was soon to follow, 
Init there were no slave territories to 
offset these. It was a firm conviction 
of the pro-slavery men that there must 
be an equal number of free and slave 
States. 

That slavery must sooner or later 
have been eradicated is certain, but that 
it required a Civil War to do it is dis- 
puted by many. Certain it is that 
slavery leaders, no matter how intense 
their feelings or how honest their con- 
victions, were unfortunate in leader- 
ship. These leaders constantly forced 
issues, which made matters worse for 
their own contention. From the day 
the Compromises of 1850 were signed 
there was a continuous series of false 
moves. This may by some be ac- 
counted for by the fact that their whole 
basis was wrong. The slave propa- 
gandists thought the North wanted to 
free all the slaves. L'p to 1864 such 
an issue would probably not have car- 
ried a single State. 

Almost coincident with Buchanan's 
inauguration came the famous Dred 
Scott descision. It is impossible in 
this day to appreciate the excitement 
which this caused. Buchanan had re- 
ferred incidentally, in his inaugural ad- 
dress, to the fact that the decision was 
coming, which led many wrongfully to 
suppose he was aware of its nature. 
Dred Scott and family were slaves of 
an army officer in the South, who was 
detailed to posts in Illinois and Minne- 
sota, which were free-soil under their 
constitutions. Coming back to Mis- 
souri, Dred Scott claimed to be a free 
man, as he had been li\ing on free 
soil. This involved a great principle, 



246 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



and there were found men ready to 
sustain Scott and pay the expense of a 
long law suit. Finally, on an appeal 
from the District Court, this reached 
the Supreme Court of the United 
States on a technicality, which was 
called upon to decide simply the ques- 
tion whether Dred Scott was an Ameri- 
can citizen and entitled to appear in a 
Federal court at all. This question 
was settled in the negative. If it had 
done no more the decision would have 
attracted little attention. But the court 
did a great deal more. It undertook 
to discuss the whole slavery question 
and settle its status forever. At that 
time the Supreme Court stood higher 
in public respect than it ever has since. 
Chief Justice Taney was a man of 
high legal attainments and unques- 
tioned integrity. It is reported that he 
was anxious to do his country a ser- 
vice by settling questions concerning 
which the Legislature and administra- 
tive branches of Government had 
failed. It is also said that he was 
stimulated to do this by the fact that 
one of his colleagues was to write a 
dissenting opinion. At any rate, the 
Dred Scott decision, outside of the 
single point at issue, was really a 
political document. It contained these 
three principal contentions : 

1. The Missouri Compromise was 
unconstitutional, as slavery is by the 
Constitution a National institution not 
to be limited in Federal territory. 

2. Once a slave always a slave, un- 
less freed by the master. 

3. The inferiority of the negro race 
was such that ]:)0]3ularity so far back as 
1788, the negro had "no rights which 
the white man was bound to respect." 

This was a bitter pill for the anti- 
slavery people to swallow. The dis- 
senting opinion of Justice McLean 
pointed out that these contentions were 
not true in fact or in law. This de- 
cision became a powerful issue in 
politics. As for Scott and his family, 
they eventually gained freedom. 

Buchanan's Cabinet was as follows : 
Lewis Cass, of IMichigan, Secretary of 
State; Howell Cobb, of Georgia. Sec- 
retary of the Treasury ; John B. Floyd, 
of Virginia, Secretary of War; Isaac 



Toucey, of Connecticut, Secretary of 
the Navy ; Jacob Thompson, of Missis- 
sippi, Secretary of the Interior; Aaron 
\ . Brown, of Tennessee, Postmaster- 
General ; Jeremiah S. Black, of Penn- 
sylvania, Attorney-General. 

This was one of the weakest Cabi- 
nets on record. Cass was in his dotage 
and Black was the only strong man of 
the lot. An important appointment 
was that of Robert J. \Valker, to be 
Governor of Kansas. Walker had 
been Polk's Secretary of the Treasury, 
and his selection for Kansas showed 
how serious was the issue. He guar- 
anteed a fair election for the Legisla- 
ture, and the Free State men won, as 
the "Border Ruffians" were kept out. 
In the meantime, a pro-slavery consti- 
tutional convention had met at Le- 
compton and drew up a remarkable 
constitution, providing for slavery and 
a good many other things obnoxious to 
the Free State men. The administra- 
tion was committed to permit the peo- 
ple to vote on the constitution, but the 
convention avoided this by a trick. 
Knowing that it could not be adopted 
as a whole, it only allowed the people 
to vote on whether they would accept 
the Constitution "with slavery" or 
"without slavery," no opportunity be- 
ing given to vote against it as a whole. 
The Free State men refused to vote at 
all and the Constitution was adopted 
"with slavery." 

The fall of 1857 is ever memorable 
for the financial crisis that took place. 
This was the result of a bad currency 
system, wild speculation and over con- 
struction of railways. .'\t this time 
each State regulated its banking sys- 
tem, and in some the laws were imper- 
fect or improperly executed. The 
notes of most of these banks declined 
in value as they got away from the 
place of issue. In general. Eastern 
banks were sounder than those in the 
West and South, but there were poor 
ones in the East. This caused great 
inconvenience in business, for mer- 
chants were often paid in inferior cur- 
rency, while travelers had great diffi- 
culty in getting the various bills ac- 
cepted. Every merchant had a 
counterfeit detector and a table show- 



SIXTH rERIOD-EUCHANAN'S ADMINISTRATION 



247 



iiig the value of the notes of most of 
the banks, and business was conducted 
accordingly. The impetus caused by 
the discovery of gold in California 
stimulated trade and also speculation. 
L'nfortunately, most of the gold went 
to Europe. There was a craze for 
building railways. Some were built ex- 
travagantly ; some were built which 
manifestly could not pay expenses; but 
railroads were considered a sort of 
.Vladdin's lamp, that would bring im- 
mediate prosperity to every community 
that was on the route. This stimulated 
speculation in land and prices rose 
rapidly, but the lands and town lots 
were usually covered with mortgages. 
The crisis came in the fall of 1857, and 
the bricks fell fast. Hundreds of 
banks went to the wall, merchants 
failed, railroads went into bankruptcy, 
and the ruin of the country seemed 
complete. It was a hard winter for the 
poorer classes, as many were thrown 
out of employment, but the enormous 
resources of the country soon improved 
conditions, so that the recovery was far 
more rapid than seemed possible at 
first, and much more rapidly than in 
3ears before. 

The whole of Buchanan's adminis- 
tration was taken up with the struggle 
over slavery. The President was de- 
termined that Kansas should be ad- 
mitted as a slave State under the Le- 
compton constitution. The Senate 
passed the bill, though Douglas vigor- 
ously opposed it, because the people of 
Kansas had not liad a chance to vote on 
the Constitution as a whole. The 
House rejected this bill and passed one 
of its own. Finally as a compromise, 
a bill known as Lecompton, Jr., was 
passed, allowing Kansas to come in 
under the Lecompton constitution if 
the voters so decided, and offering the 
State large grants of land. But the 
Kansas people refused the terms by a 
large majority. Eventually a new 
Constitution was adopted at Wyan- 
dotte, but the State was not admitted 
until just before the Civil War. 

Southern men were anxious to se- 
cure Cuba, Nicaraugua, and all or a 
part of Mexico, so that the balance be- 



tween free and slave States could be 
kept up. There was also a desire to 
reopen the slave trade on the ground 
that the natural increase in this country 
was not sufficient. The main theoreti- 
cal question was whether slavery was 
a National or local institution. Ac- 
cording to the Dred Scott descision it 
was National, but many refused to 
abide by that decision. All efforts at 
getting territory failed. Walker was 
killed in Nicaraugua after he had set 
up a Government, Spain would not 
listen to any offer for Cuba, while an 
effort to take advantage of the revolu- 
tionary state of affairs in Alexico failed, 
because the Senate, in i860, would not 
ratify the treaty. There was no legis- 
lation possible on the slavery question, 
as the Senate and House were opposed 
to each other on the subject. 

One event caused much excitement 
for a time. Fillmore had commis- 
sioned Brigham Young as Governor of 
Utah, and Buchanan appointed a new 
man from the East. Young refused to 
give up office and threatened resistance. 
Force was actually used, but General 
Johnston was sent with an army, which 
made resistance impossible, and a com- 
promise was effected by which the new 
Governor was recognized, and the army 
withdrew from Salt Lake City. There 
existed great prejudice in the East 
against the Mormons both on account 
of polygamy and the alleged outrages 
committed by some of them on emi- 
grants. At Mountain Meadow a large 
number of emigrants to California 
were foully murdered, and it was years 
before the offenders were brought to 
justice. 

The elections in 1858 showed that 
political sectionalism was rising and 
driving North and South sharply. 
There were Democratic gains in the 
South and Republican gains in the 
North. The Native Americans, who 
called themselves "Southern Ameri- 
cans," formed the remnant of the 
Whig party in the South, but they were 
losing ground. 

An interesting contest this year, be- 
cause of its personnel, was that be- 
tween Senator Douelas and Abraham 



248 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



Lincoln for the Senatorship in Illinois. 
According to the custom in this State, 
party conventions named candidates 
for the Senate, to which the Legislators 
of each party adhered. Douglas had 
the advantage of occupying the seat 
and was backed by powerful influences. 
]\Ioreover, his stand on the Lecompton 
constitution question had made him 
many friends among anti-slavery peo- 
ple. He had a further advantage in 
the fact that the holding-over State 
Senators were largely of his own faith. 
Abraham Lincoln was practicing law 
and had become a leader at the bar. 
He was ambitious for Senatorship, 
which he wanted in 1854, when Trum- 
bull was elected. By arrangement a 
series of joint debates was held, at 
which questions at issue were discussed. 
Douglas was the better stump speaker. 
He could appeal to an audience with 
great tact and keep them in good 
humor. Much of his speeches were de- 
voted to ridicule, while he attempted to 
brush the slavery issue aside, saying he 
did not care whether slavery was voted 
up or down in a territory so long as 
the people had a chance to vote on it. 
Lincoln, on the othec hand, was always 
serious, often melancholy, and discus- 
sed the whole slavery issue in detail, 
claiming that slavery was WTong and 
must not be extended, and that Douglas 
ought to care whether it was voted up 
or down. It was agreed that each of 
the candidates should prepare ques- 
tions which his opponent must publicly 
answer. Lincoln answered those put to 
him frankly. He was not in favor of 
sumptuary legislation against slavery, 
but he was opposed to its extension. In 
return he asked Douglas a question, the 
answer to which was the turning point 
in the latter's career. Douglas had 
posed as the champion of popular sov- 
ereignty, holding that slavery was a 
local and not a National issue. Lin- 
coln asked Douglas a question which 
was to put him on record as to whether 
or not lie agreed with the Dred Scott 
decision, that slavery was a National 
institution, and by right existed in all 
the National territory, and must be 
upheld in spite of local views, though 



this was not its exact form. This put 
Douglas in a corner. He could not 
say "yes," for his record was on the 
other side. If he said "no" it would in- 
jure his political future. Therefore he 
made the ingenious reply that the 
theory was not worth discussing be- 
cause as a matter of fact slavery could 
only be maintained by police regula- 
tions, and if the local Legislature in 
any territory was opposed to slavery it 
could b)' "unfriendly legislation" pre- 
vent its introduction. This is what is 
known as the "Freeport Doctrine," 
from the name of the town in which he 
announced it. The answer pleased the 
audience and no doubt contributed 
materially to Douglas' success, for he 
was reelected. The Republicans car- 
ried the State on the popular vote, but, 
owing to the way the districts were 
formed, lost even the lower House ot 
the Legislature. The fall elections 
showed that the administration was not 
being supported, even Pennsylvania go- 
ing Republican. 

During 1859 the people were busy re- 
covering from the effects of the panic, 
while the politicians were discussing 
not only slavery and the Presidency, 
but the state of the Union. The ad- 
mission of Oregon as a State had still 
further disturbed the equilibrium be- 
tween free and slave States. New 
Mexico, it was evident, had not popu- 
lation enough for a State, and there 
was nothing there for slaves to do 
with profit, so that about twenty per- 
sonal servants constituted the whole 
slave population. Kansas was deter- 
mined not to have slavery, and no for- 
eign territory was available. Indeed 
but a handful of slaves were ever held 
there in spite of the efforts of the pro- 
slavery men. 

It is easy to imagine that when 
every one in the countrv was more or 
less wrought up over the slavery issue, 
the John Brown raid made a sensation 
almost unparalled. John Brown was a 
crack-brained, albeit shrewd, man, who 
felt himself called to be the instrument 
that was to destroy slavery. He went to 
Kansas, and with some followers foully 
murdered inoffensive pro-slavery men 



SIXTH PERIOD— BUCHANAN'S ADMINISTRATION 



in the Pottawatamie \'alley. Escaping, 
he went East and tried, with some suc- 
cess, to interest anti-slavery people in a 
scheme to raise a revolt among the 
slaves, and by arms destroy the insti- 
tution he hated. There never was a 
wilder sclieme proposed bj' man, but 
Brown proceeded to carry it out. On 
the night of October i6, 1859, with 
some twenty-two men. he descended 
from the Pennsylvania hills upon Har- 
per's Ferry, captured the town, took 
some of the leading men prisoners, and 
raised the standard of revolt among the 
slaves. By daylight the town was 
aroused and help sent for, and Brown 
retreated to the Baltimore and Ohio 
roundhouse, where, on the night of the 
17th, with his little band, he fought 
desperately for hours, finally to be 
overpowered by Colonel Robert E. Lee 
with a detatchment of marines, after 
losing two sons and several others of 
his followers, besides being wounded 
himself. Brown's movement failed 
completely as a military enterprise. 
The slaves would not rise and never 
intended to do so. If the negroes had 
been of that nature they would never 
have been kept in slavery. The feeble 
attempt of a man who, while not crazy, 
was little less, alarmed the South. It 
was feared that Brown had many ac- 
complices, and that the Harper's Ferry 
raid was but an incident in a vast con- 
spiracy that was to upset slavery and 
destroy the South. These fears were 
not unnatural, but they were ground- 
less. Brown's only confidants were a 
few men who had listened to him, al- 
most none of whom approved his plans, 
but who were now greatly alarmed for 
fear of being accused of complicity. 
Gerrit Smith, the famous anti-slavery 
man, a friend of Brown, temporarily 
lost his reason from alarm. 
i Brown was tried and convicted of 
I treason. He met his death calmly, as a 
; l)hilo>opher. During his confinement in 
jail he seemed to regain his mental bal- 
ance. He openly avowed his deed and 
spoke of it in such a way that Senator 
Mason, of Virginia, was moved at his 
sincerity. 

This raid became injected into poli- 



tics, and made matters worse. There 
were conservative men everywhere wno 
were praying for national harmony and 
party union, but as the months passed 
away there were found to be irreconcil- 
able difficulties. The Democratic party, 
which had so long been in power, was 
split in twain over the question as to 
whether slavery was a national or local 
institution. It is worthy of note that 
the division on this question was al- 
most entirely sectional, indicating the 
honest)' of convictions on both sides, 
which were dominated largely by local 
surroundings. It would be unjust to 
suppose that men in either section were 
not equally as honest in their convic- 
tions as to slavery as they were years 
later on the silver question. Among 
those who were foremost in the cause 
of abolition, aside from those already 
m.entioned, were Whittier, the poet; 
Emerson, the philosopher, and Beecher, 
the orator and clerg\-man. 

\\'hen Congress met in December, 
1859, another long contest for the 
Speakership took place. There were 
109 Republicans, loi Democrats, and 
27 Americans, principally former 
\Vhigs from the South. John Sherman 
was the Republican candidate, and 
failed of election because he had in- 
dorsed, though without reading, a book 
entitled ''The Impending Crisis." by 
Ilinton Rowan Helper, a Southern 
man, who attacked slavery not only on 
moral, but economic grounds, holding 
that the South would never prosper so 
long as slavery existed. Some- of his 
language was abusive, and the book was 
detested in the South more than "Uncle 
Tom's Cabin," because it was by a 
Southerner, and because it could not be 
answered. Pennington, of Xew Jersey, 
was finally chosen. He was a conser- 
vative Republican. The contest lasted 
until January 30, and was full of ran- 
cor. Many members went armed, and 
personal combats were often imminent. 

The Democratic Convention met in 
Charleston in April, i860. It was com- 
posed of leading men of the party, and 
there was the most sincere desire to 
effect a compromise which would save 
the party and prevent any steps of dis- 



2SO 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



union. The most radical men from the 
South were as anxious as the men from 
New England to reconcile differences, 
but it was impossible. The two-thirds 
rule made it necessary for the winning 
candidate to get many votes from both 
sections, but the sections were nearly 
solidly opposed to each other on the 
issue. The Committee on Resolutions 
reported a platform embodying the 
views of the radical Southern men, but 
the Convention, instead, adopted a 
minority report, which was drawn in 
the Douglas interest, which referred 
all questions of protecting slavery, to 
the Supreme Court. This split the 
party. Southern men who had known 
and loved Douglas could not accept his 
views nor follow his leadership. That 
one expression, "unfriendly legisla- 
tion," at Freeport, had alienated from 
him the support of most Southern men. 
A large portion of the Southern dele- 
gates to the Convention withdrew, not 
without a feeling of sadness, and, in 
cases of great emotion. The Conven- 
tion proceeded to ballot, and, while 
Douglas had a majority of the votes, 
he could not command the necessary 
two-thirds. The Convention finally ad- 
journed to meet at Baltimore in June, 
where, after more withdrawals, Doug- 
las was finally nominated, with Her- 
schel V. Johnson, of Georgia, for Vice- 
President. 

The Democrats who left the two 
conventions nominated John C. Breck- 
enbridge, of Kentucky, with Joseph 
Lane, of Oregon, for second place. 
The platform was substantially that re- 
jected at Charleston. Slavery was de- 
clared a National institution. 

Some conservative men of the 
country, who feared the Union was en- 
dangered, formed the Constitutional 
Union party, whose only platform was 
the preservation of the Union and exe- 
cution of the laws, and nominated 
John Bell, of Tennessee, for President, 
and Edward Everett, of Massachu- 
setts, for Vice-President. This party 
drew its principal strength from the 
border .slave States, where slavery was 
practiced and defended, but not con- 
sidered as the vital issue in politics. 



The large vote for Bell in the border 
States was a strong factor in keeping 
all but Eastern \'irginia from joining 
the Confederacy. 

The Republican party, at Chicago, 
Alay 16-18, i860, nominated Abraham 
Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin on a plat- 
form declaring against slavery exten- 
sion. Lincoln's nomination was a sur- 
prise, as Seward had been considered 
the most likely candidate. But Lin- 
coln had many personal friends in 
politics, and his debates with Douglas 
had a profound effect on the country. 
The nomination at first was not warmly 
received in the East, but Seward threw 
himself into the breach, and harmony, 
v.ith enthusiasm, was restored. The 
early State elections foreshadowed 
Lincoln's election, which was confirmed 
in November. The electoral vote 
stood: Lincoln, 180; Breckenbridge, 
72; Bell, 39; Douglas, 12. The popu- 
lar vote was: Lincoln, 1,866,352; 
Breckenbridge, 845,763 ; Bell, 589,581 : 
Douglas, 1,375.157- Total, 4,676,853. 

Thus Lincoln was in a large minor- 
ity on the popular vote, but, on the 
other hand, Breckenbridge, the candi- 
date of the radical Southern wing, was 
a very bad third in the race, with Bell 
a much better fourth. The people who 
declared that equilibrium of slave and 
free States was essential to the per- 
petuity of the Republic, turned out to 
be only one-sixth of the whole, while 
exactly one-third of the States gave 
Lincoln their electoral vote. Congress 
was, however, divided again, the 
Senate still being Democratic, and no 
radical legislation was possible so long 
as this condition existed. 

No sooner was the result known than 
South Carolina decided on secession, 
and a convention passed an ordinance 
r December 20. i860 'I repealing the act. 
by which the Federal Constitution had 
been ratified, declared its independence 
to each other on the slaverv question, 
and sent commissioners to Washington 
to negotiate a convention as to public 
l)roi)erty and the like, and asked seven 
other States to join in the movement, 
while preparations were made for war. 

When Congress met, the ardor of 



SIXTH PERIOD— BUCHANAN'S ADMINISTRATION 



the Republicans was cooled by the news 
that secession had been undertaken, 
and was likely to spread. Joy over the 
election of Lincoln was greatly tem- 
pered by anxiety as to the future, and 
the President's message was awaited 
with great eagerness, in the hope that 
he could either give some plan of ad- 
justment or at least outline a policy 
that would save the Nation's territorial 
integrity. On the contrary, the mes- 
sage was the most disappointing that 
this country has ever received. It was 
a scolding message, practically rebuk- 
ing the people for electing Lincoln, 
and, while theoretically declaring 
against the right of secession, declared 
also that there was no way to coerce a 
State that wanted to withdraw. This 
suited nobody, and there went up a 
cry from the North, "Oh! for one 
hour of Andrew Jackson." Is it not 
strange that the two most determined 
foes of secession were Jackson and 
Taylor, Southern men and slave- 
holders? Is it not strange that the 
acts of Northern men like Fillmore 
and Buchanan gave aid and comfort 
to pro-slavery men, though both were 
personally loyal to the Union? As the 
President offered no remedy. Congress 
started to see what it could do. Many 
speeches were made. There was a 
peculiar mixture of sober earnestness 
and anger on both sides. The mem- 
bers kept dropping out as their States 
]iassed ordinances of secession. But 
one final eflfort at compromise was 
made by the successor of Clay — John 
J. Crittenden, of Kentucky, one of the 
best of the old-school, L''nion-loving 
statesmen. A committee of thirteen, 
reiircscnting all factions in the Senate, 
was appointed to see if a remedy could 
be found. None was found, and the 
committee so reported, though Seward 
and Davis worked diligently for a com- 
promise. Crittenden's plan was to have 
a Constitutional amendment passed, 
prohibiting Congress from ever abol- 
ishing slavery, restoring the Missouri 
Compromise line, with an eye to future 
accessions of territory, payment for es- 
caped slaves not returned, and the like. 
It was too late — the day of compro- 



mise had passed. Patriotic men called 
a Peace Convention at Washington. 
Delegates appeared from most of the 
States, and ex-President Tyler pre- 
sided. It could do no more than Crit- 
tenden did. The movement was a fail- 
ure, and war was certain. In January, 
Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Geor- 
gia, and Louisiana passed ordinances 
of secession, while Texas made ar- 
rangements to do so in March. All 
prepared for war. Members of Con- 
gress from these States generally re- 
tired as the ordinances were passed, 
and soon the Republicans and Douglas 
Democrats were in a large majority. 
Kansas was admitted, and legislation 
looking toward war was passed, includ- 
ing the Morrill Tariff Bill. An 
amendment to the Constitution was 
passed by this Congress, providing 
that Congress should never abolish 
slavery, but, the war coming on, it was 
not acted on by enough States to de- 
cide its fate. 

Meanwhile, the Cabinet had been re- 
organized. Cass could not stand Bu- 
canan's logic, and resigned. Cobb, 
who had been an unsuccessful admin- 
istrator of the public funds, had al- 
ready gone, leaving an empty treasury. 
The next to go was Floyd, who was 
?;870,ooo short in his accounts, due to 
improper favoritism to contractors, 
though he resigned in feigned high 
dudgeon because Sumter was to be 
reinforced without notice to South 
Carolina. Black became Secretary of 
State : Joseph Holt, of Kentucky, Sec- 
retary of War; Edwin M. Stanton, of 
Penns\lvania. Attorney-General : while 
Philip F. Thomas, of Maryland, be- 
came Secretary of the Treasury. Af- 
ter this reorganization, Buchanan was 
better advised, and acted with more 
firmness. Buchanan had given the 
South Carolina Commissioners a purelv 
unofficial recejition. They demanded 
the evacuation of all the forts held by 
the Federal army. While they were in 
Washington news came that Major 
Anderson, in command of the Charles- 
ton harbor, had grown unea.sy over the 
military operations of the South Caro- 
lina army, removed his men to Fort 



252 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REEERENCE 



Sumter, on an island in the harbor, 
commanding the entire city. In anger 
the Commissioners at Washington de- 
manded that Anderson be ordered back 
Ic Fort Moultrie, but the President re- 
fused, and the Commissioners, becom- 
ing excitable, and using undignified 
language, were dismissed. Anderson 
\vas in sore straits, and it was soon a 
question of whether he should be rein- 
forced or ordered away. In January, 
an expedition was sent with men, mu- 
nitions and provisions, on "The Star 
of the West," but Secretary Thompson 
had given the South Carolina authori- 
ties notice, and the vessel was fired on 
and prevented from reaching Fort 
Sumter. Finally a truce was patched 
up for a time, and Sumter was not mo- 
lested, while Anderson bought pro- 
visions in the open market. Secretary 
Thomas, not proving a success, was 
succeeded at the Treasury by John A. 
Dix, of New York, a determined foe 
of secession, who gained undying fame 
by his letter to a subordinate, in which 
he said: "If any man attempts to haul 
down the American flag, shoot him on 
the spot." This was the first strong 
note the North had heard, and it was 
joyfully received. 

Many people in the South believed 
that secession would be peacefully ac- 
complished. Many more believed that 
there would be a brief and glorious 
war. Jefferson Davis was not one of 
these. He anticipated a long and 
bloody war. He retired from the 
Senate in January, after a most affect- 
ing farewell speech, for personally he 
was very popular. He went to his 
home, expecting to take up arms in 
favor of his dogtna. A convention rep- 
resenting the six States that claimed 
to have seceded met at Montgomery, 
Alabama, drew up a temporary Con- 
stitution and elected Davis President, 
and Stephens, of Georgia, \^ice-Presi- 
dent. Stephens was one of the last to 
give in to secession. He argued that 
it was not yet time for such a step, but 
he went with his State. Davis at once 
accepted. The Constitution was largely 
a copy of the Federal Constitution, ex- 
cept upon the questions of slavery 



and State Rights. Later a more perfect 
Constitution was adopted, and Rich- 
mond, Virginia, was made the capital. 
The States of North Carolina. Arkan- 
sas, Texas, Tennessee and \'irginia fi- 
nally joined the Confederacy, the ( )ld 
Dominion being the last to take action, 
after long hesitation. 

Jefferson Davis' first Cabinet was as 
follows: Robert M. T. Hunter, of 
\'irginia. Secretary of State ; Charles 
Y. Memminger, of South Carolina, 
Secretary of the Treasury ; Judah P. 
Benjamin, of Louisiana, Secretary of 
^\'ar: Stephen R. Mallory, of Florida, 
Secretary of the Navy; John H. Rea- 
gan, of Texas, Postmaster-General : 
Thomas H. Watts, of Alabama, At- 
torney-General. Benjamin soon suc- 
ceeded Hunter, and his place as Sec- 
retary o* War was filled by James A. 
Seddon, of Virginia. The Confederate 
Congress soon became an unimportant 
body, because exigencies of the war 
made legislation sometimes impossible, 
and often Mr. Davis was obliged to act 
almost as a dictator. Most of the lead- 
ing men went into the army instead of 
Congress, which had far less power 
than that of the L^nited States, owing 
to so many rights being reserved to the 
States. 

Practically nothing was done at 
Washington to meet this coming storm. 
General Scott got a few troops into the 
capital, but the army was being rapidly 
demoralized by the resignations of 
Southern officers, and often by com- 
panies and regiments following them 
into the Confederacy. When Lincoln 
was inaugurated, the only Southern 
forts held by the Government were Fort 
Sumter, at Charleston, and Fort Pick- 
ens, at Penascola. It was a trying time 
in the North. Many still hoped for a 
compromise. Many believed that it was 
best to let "the erring sisters go in 
peace," as Horace Greeley expressed it. 
Even in the seceding States opinion was 
far from unanimous ; the border States 
for a time were as one for the Union, 
and only Virginia, in part, went over 
to the Confederacy, after long hesita- 
tion. In some States the vote was 
close, and Stephens claimed that 



SIXTH PERIOD— LINCOLN'S ADMINISTRATION 



253 



Georgia was really opposed to seces- 
sion. Many leaders claimed that their 
States only went out in order to get 
back into the Union on better terms, 
but war soon put this notion to sleep. 

Abraham Lincoln remained quietly at 
home in Springfield during all the ex- 
citing times, doing all he could to allay 
Southern excitement. He wrote to 
Stephens to try and convince him that 
the South had nothing to fear from him 
so long as it obeyed the laws. It was 
too late. In consequence much time 
was taken up in preparing his Cabinet 
with a view to anticipated emergencies. 
Seward was early offered the position 
of Secretary of State, which he ac- 
cepted. The rest of the Cabinet was 
composed of men little known in Na- 
tional politics, with the exception of 
Salmon P. Chase, of Ohio, who took 
the Treasury. It was a coalition Cab- 
inet, about equally divided between Re- 
jHiblicans and former Democrats, and 
included several of the President's 
rivals for the nomination. Indiana was 
given the Interior portfolio in the per- 
son of Caleb Smith, which smacked of 
a convention deal. Edward Bates be- 
came Attorney-General'; Montgomery 
Blair, Postmaster-General ; Gideon 
Welles, Secretary of the Navy, and 
Simon Cameron, Secretary of War. At 
the last minute the slate was nearly 
smashed. Lincoln, having been asked 
to change the last name on it, remarked 
that if broken at all it would be broken 
at the top. Seward learned of this, and 
wrote, declining to serve, but Lincoln 
held him to his promise. Many thought 
that Seward would be the whole ad- 
ministration, and Lincoln had learned 
enough to make him hesitate a moment. 
This Cabinet was not settled until the 
last minute. In the meantime Lincoln 
had made an extended tour, from 
Springfield to Washington, speaking in 
many cities. Some things he said 
failed to meet popular favor. It 
seemed as if he were jesting in the face 
of an awful crisis, and some of his 
speeches seemed to indicate that there 
was no crisis at all. No man read the 
signs of the times more correctly than 
Lincoln. What he meant was that there 



was no reason for a crisis ; that insofar 
as it existed or should grow, it was on 
a false basis, and that the i)erpetuity of 
the Union was not in the least affected 
by the election of a Republican Presi- 
dent, insofar as the party intended the 
invasion of the rights of any persons, 
party or section. Reports gaining cur- 
rency that there would be an attempt 
to assassinate him, his tour was cut 
short, and he reached Washington un- 
announced and unexpected. Inaugura- 
tion day passed off without incident. 
The President spoke earnestly in favor 
of the Union, and denied that secession 
was possible, or that any cause for it 
existed, closing with a glowing appeal 
for the LTnion. 

Commissioners purporting to repre- 
sent the Confederacy now appeared to 
take up again the Fort Sumter issue. 
Secretary Seward saw them unofficially, 
and once informed them that he be- 
lieved the fort would soon be evac- 
uated. Indeed, the Cabinet had prac- 
tically agreed to this, when the Presi- 
dent changed his mind. Justice of the 
Supreme Court Campbell, who was 
about to resign, but waited around to 
get news, acted as an intermediary, and 
a dispute arose between him and Se- 
ward when the fort was not evacuated. 
Campbell claimed that Seward made a 
promise, but the latter said he only ex- 
pressed an opinion based on the Cab- 
inet decision, which was afterward 
changed. 

The President's greatest anxiety was 
to save the border States of Missouri, 
Kentucky, Virginia, Maryland and 
Delaware. In this he succeeded after 
great difficulties and many discourage- 
ments, except that \"irginia. after once 
declaring overwhelmingly for the 
Union, reversed the decision. Only a 
portion of the State accepted the ver- 
dict, and West Virginia was born, and 
admitted to the LTnion in 1863. It was 
at one time believed that North Caro- 
lina and Tennessee would refuse to se- 
cede, but they finally joined the others, 
so that eleven States were admitted to 
the Confederacy. In theory Missouri 
and Kentucky also belonged, and their 
representatives sat in the Congress at 



254 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



Richmond, but this was a mere farce. 
The cliaotic condition of the army and 
navy, due to resignation, desertions and 
surrenders, made important miHtary 
preparations impossible, yet General 
Scott did his best. In order that \'ir- 
ginia might not feel offended, no troops 
were placed on her soil until after she 
had joined the Confederacy, and thus 
strategic points were lost. The little 
navy was at that time scattered all over 
the world, with only about lialf a dozen 
vessels near aJ; hand available for tise. 
As the days passed on, and Ander- 
son did not evacuate Fort Sumter, the 
South Carolina forces became angry, 
charged bad faith, and, on April 12, 
1861, opened fire on the fort, just as 
the relieving ships appeared off the bar. 
Anderson responded, and for two days a 
hot fire was kept up, during which no 
one was hurt on either side. Fort Sum- 
ter, being only partially completed, suf- 
fered severely, the barracks were 
burned, and salt pork alone left for ra- 
tions. Under these circumstances Ma- 
jor Anderson surrendered on the 14th, 
hauled down his flag, and by agreement 
went North with his command. The 
effect of this was electrical. It sol- 
idified the sections. The North became 
unanimous, the South likewise, while 
the border States strove to maintain 
neutrality, but were really divided in 
sentiment. Lincoln at once issued a call 
for 75,000 volunteers, to serve three 
months. The first troops to respond 
were five independent companies from 
Central Pennsylvania, who rushed to 
the Capital, and were received by the 
President with joy. They were placed 
in the Capitol, for there were many ru- 
mors of sudden attack. Next came the 
Sixth Massachusetts, which was as- 
saulted by a mob in Baltimore. There 
were four soldiers killed and thirty 
wounded, while the mob suffered much 
more heavily. The excitement was in- 
tense. The railway bridges near Balti- 
more were burned, so that for a time 
there was no direct communication be- 
tween Washington and the North. 
General Butler, with Massachusetts 
troops, sailed to Annapolis, and, in 
spite of the Governor's protest, landed 



and marched to the railway between 
Baltimore and Washington ; then, in the 
night, he captured Baltimore, and the 
railway was reopened to the North. 

The military history of the Civil War 
has filled many volumes, and the out- 
lines only can be given here. Kentucky 
having declared neutrality, no troops 
for a time were sent to that State, but 
immediate steps were taken in Mis- 
souri, where an army was raised and 
Federal authority maintained, after the 
Governor had declared for the Con- 
federacy. General Fremont was in 
command, but he issued an order eman- 
cipating the slaves of those who had 
taken the side of the Confederacy, and 
in consequence was soon relieved. In 
the center considerable bodies of troops 
were located in Western Virginia un- 
der General George B. McClellan, 
where the first conflicts of the war took 
place, and near Harper's Ferry, under 
General Patterson. The Army of the 
Potomac was organized at Washington 
under the command of General Mc- 
Dowell. 

It took only a few days to enlist the 
75.000 men. but it took time to equip 
them, and fe\v of them saw any ac- 
tive service until they re-enlisted under 
the next call for 300,000 men for three 
years. To tell the story of the dif- 
ficulties in getting guns and powder, 
tents and clothing, and rations, the dif- 
ficulties in organizing and drilling regi- 
ments, would be simply to repeat what 
has happened in every one of our wars. 
The South was little better off, except 
that it began earlier to make prepara- 
tions, but in equipment it was worse 
off" than the North. The smooth-bore 
musket of the Mexican War period was 
the principal arm, and many of these 
were converted flint-locks. Floyd made 
a great virtue of what he had done 
for the South in selling condemned 
arms and the like, but it appears he was 
more an.xious to get a good job under 
the Confederacy than to tell the exact 
truth. The guns he sold to the South 
were of little tise. and Floyd's boasts 
were principally bombast, though they 
were at one time generally believed. He 
had been a professed Union man almost 



SIXTH PERIOD— LINCOLN'S ADMINISTRATION 



to the last, and never rose to import- 
ance imder the Confederacy. 

The contest over West \'irginia was 
brief and decisive. Compared with 
other battles they appear insignificant, 
but at the time they were thought im- 
portant. McClellan and Rosecrans, by 
a series of brilliant maneuvers and 
sharp attacks, defeated the Con- 
federates at Rich Mountain and Car- 
rick's P'ord, took many prisoners, and 
later on drove them from the State. 
This made McClellan a hero, and 
brought him into prominence. In the 
West, General Lyon, by active v^^ork, 
kept Missouri in the Union and drove 
the Confederates toward the Southern 
border. In the center General Patter- 
son lay with a large army, confronting 
the Confederates, under General Joseph 
Johnston. Patterson was to prevent 
Johnston from joining Beauregard at 
Manassas, about twenty miles from 
Washington, where lay the principal 
part of the Confederate army, under 
General Beauregard. In the meantime, 
all was excitement at Washington. 
There was a ceaseless cry of "On to 
Richmond," and the pressure from the 
politicians ; the press and the public to 
begin offensive operations was so strong 
that the Administration gave in against 
the opinion of the army officers, who 
feared the raw troops would not stand 
fire. A forward movement was or- 
dered on Manassas, and Patterson was 
finally informed that the attack would 
be made on the i'8th, and to look out 
for Johnston. The attack was delayed 
until the 2ist, and the battle took place 
along a stream called Bull Run. Gen- 
eral Sherman says it was the best 
planned and worst fought battle of the 
war. The earlier part of the battle was 
favorable to the Federals, but the Con- 
federate General, Thomas J. Jackson, 
made a stout defense, that gained him 
the name of "Stonewall." Johnston 
eluded Patterson, and reached the field 
in time to turn the tide. The Federal 
troops were repulsed, but it was not a 
serious defeat, as the reserves could 
have been brought up and the attack re- 
newed. Instead, a senseless jianic fol- 
lowed, and the whole Federal army fled 



in terror to Washington, leaving its 
impediments along the route. The Con- 
federates had suffered heavily, and 
not until they heard of the flight of the 
h'ederals did they understand the e.xtent 
of their victory. However, they made 
no attack on Washington. 

McClellan was now placed in com- 
mand of all the armies of the United 
States and in direct command of the 
Army of the Potomac, and he set about 
organizing an efficient army, but it did 
not have a battle of importance for 
nine months. During this interval Mc- 
Clellan was actively engaged in drill- 
ing and disciplining, seeking to make 
soldiers of the untrained recruits. 

During the rest of this year the Con- 
federates were driven out of West- 
Virginia and pushed further South in 
Missouri, though the gallant General 
Lyon fell at the battle of Wilson's 
Creek. Fremont was succeeded, in gen- 
eral command of the West by General 
Halleck. In command under him, at 
Cairo, was General U. S. Grant, who 
had early in the war been appointed 
Colonel of an Illinois regiment, and by 
rapid promotion was now a Brigadier- 
General. He took-possession of Padu- 
cah, Kentucky, attacked a Confederate 
camp at Belmont, Missouri, and cap- 
tured it, but, being attacked in turn, re- 
crossed the river to Cairo, as the move- 
ment was only a diversion to keep re- 
inforcements being sent to the interior 
to aid General Price, who commanded 
the Confederates in Missouri. In Vir- 
ginia the Federals were sharply re- 
pulsed in a small engagement at Ball's 
Bluff. Colonel Baker, a Senator from 
Oregon, the intimate friend of Lincoln, 
was killed. 

The whole year may be said to have 
been one of preparation on both sides. 
Neither side was equipped for war, as 
the battle of Bull Run showed. After 
this the cry of "On to Richmond !" 
died out, and both parties prepared for 
the struggle. The contest was more 
equal than would seem at first sight. 
While the eleven States of the Con- 
federacy had a less population than 
those which remained in the l7nion. 
Missouri, Kentucky, and ^Maryland 



256 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



were practically divided in furnishing 
troops, so far as individuals were con- 
cerned. The North also had the dis- 
advantage of having to invade the 
South and maintain its line of transpor- 
tation, which took many men. The 
North, however, was rich in factories 
and shops that could turn out muskets 
and cannon, while in a short time rifles 
were made in large quantities. The 
North had resources in men and money 
far beyond the South, but the cotton 
industry furnished the latter with an 
asset which would have offset these ad- 
vantages if it could have been realized 
on. In April, 1861, President Lincoln 
declared a blockade of the whole Con- 
federate coast. This was at first a 
"paper" blockade, as we had few ves- 
sels for such a task. New ones were 
undertaken, and many merchant vessels 
were bought and fitted up as well as 
possible. The first sea capture of the 
war was a remodeled Hudson River 
ferry boat. The Confederate privateers 
did some damage early in the war, but 
later they retired from active service. 
Congress met in special session July 
4, 1861, and for a short time was su- 
pine. After Bull Run, the seriousness 
of the situation was discovered, and 
large supplies of men were granted. 
For a time specie payments were main- 
tained, but before long this was impos- 
sible, and the war was fought with 
paper money, as will be described else- 
where. The Confederacy was in a 
hopeful mood at this time. Cotton was 
believed to hold the key to the situation. 
It was believed that neither France nor 
England would consent to have such 
articles of necessity cut ofif, and more 
active help was looked for. Commis- 
sioners were sent to London and Paris, 
with no result, and a more formidable 
mission was later sent, v^diich will be 
treated upon fully in another place. 
One of ^Ir. Davis' Southern critics 
complains that his Cabinet was com- 
posed of figureheads, and that he 
wanted to control everything. He is 
blamed for not seizing all the cotton 
in the South, fixing a certain price for 
it, and then rushing it abroad before 
the blockade was established. A fleet 



of iron merchantmen was off'ered the 
Confederacy by a foreign firm on easy 
terms, but was not accepted until it 
was too late to make the transfer. The 
Confederacy issued bonds, which for 
a time sold at a good figure, but finally 
recourse was had to paper money, 
which depreciated constantly as the war 
went on. It is impossible here to give 
the details of Confederate legislation. 
As the war went on, Air. Davis became 
practical dictator, and he, as also the 
Confederate Congress, was as roundly 
abused by many men in the South for 
acts of usurpation, as was the North 
before the war began. This is the case 
in all wars of this kind. States' Rights, 
on which the Confederacy was con- 
structed, proved as bad a condition in 
this war as it had during the Revolu- 
tion. If the Confederacy had suc- 
ceeded it could not have been main- 
tained on the original basis. Central- 
ized control is essential to any large 
nation. 

Before the blockade became eflfective 
supplies and munitions of war were 
rushed in. The blockade was never 
complete, for blockade runners from 
Nassau and the Bermudas got in and 
out during the war, bringing in guns 
and powder in exchange for cotton. 
The contraband trade was risky and 
often disastrous, but where one voy- 
age paid the cost of a ship, the tempta- 
tion was greater than the risk. 

The grand strategy of the war de- 
veloped slowly, and many mistakes 
were made on both sides. The Con- 
federates' plan was to hold the Missis- 
sippi, stretch a chain of forts and camps 
from the Mississippi to the Alleghanies, 
along the south central section of Ken- 
tucky, while the Army of ^^irginia was 
to complete the chain to the Atlantic. 
The Federal plan was not so well con- 
ceived at first. The original idea was 
to save the border States. Then came 
the ill-advised method of advance on 
Richmond. Kentucky, claiming to be 
neutral, was left alone for a short 
time, for policy's sake, but she soon 
declared for the Union, and Grant was 
ordered to attack Fort Henry, on the 
Tennessee River, and break the chain 



SIXTH PERIOD— LINCOLN'S ADMINISTRATION 



of forts that connected tlie great river 
and the mountain cliain. A flotilla of 
gunboats, made out of river steamers, 
and others constructed on new plans, 
were put in command of Commodore 
Porter to co-operate with the army. 
The Confederates had a small flotilla 
at and below Memphis. The first 
break in the Confederate line was made 
by General Thomas, in January, 1862, 
who defeated and killed General Zolli- 
kofTer, at Mill Spring, Kentucky. The 
Confederates were obliged to retreat 
into Tennessee. General Grant then 
advanced on Fort Henry, Commodore 
Foote sailed up the river with his 
flotilla, and the garrison either sur- 
rendered or fled to Fort Donelson, a 
few miles away on the Cumberland 
River. This was in February, 1862, 
when the roads were bad and it was 
difficult to move supplies for the army. 
Fort Donelson was invested by the 
army and navy. There were three days 
of fighting, due to an attempt of the 
garrison to escape. It was the hardest 
fighting of the war, up to this time, 
and the men on both sides showed the 
results of discipline and training. The 
fort was now imtenable. General Pil- 
low turned the fort over to General 
Floyd, who in turn handed it over to 
liuckner, who asked for terms. This 
brought forth the now historic reply of 
Grant: "No terms e.xcept unconditional 
and immediate surrender can be ac- 
cepted. I propose to move immediately 
upon your works." It is of interest to 
note that General Grant, then a captain 
who had just resigned, a few years 
previous, had landed penniless in New 
York, and General P.uckner, then a 
subaltern and an old comrade, loaned 
him money to get to his family. Buck- 
ner was obliged to surrender, and the 
line of defenses from the river to the 
mountains was smashed. Grant moved 
his army up the Tennessee River to 
Pittsburgh Landing to await the arrival 
of General Don Carlos Buell, who was 
coming with an army from Central 
Kentucky. He did not expect an at- 
tack and made no adequate earth works 
for defense, so little was the art of 
war then appreciated. On April 6, 



1862, General Albert S. Johnston, with 
a well-trained army, fell on the Fed- 
erals at daybreak. It was at least a 
partial surprise, and the Federals were 
driven back some distance before a firm 
defense could be made. General Grant 
ordered up a division under General 
Lew Wallace, from down the river, but 
it arrived too late for active work that 
day. Many of the raw soldiers fled to 
the river bank, but the main body of 
the army contested the battle firmly, 
General Wm. T. Sheridan's division be- 
ing especially efl^ective. The Con- 
federacy met with a serious loss. Gen- 
eral Johnston being mortally wounded. 
That night Buell arrived, and Grant was 
enabled to take the ofi^ensive next day, 
the battle ending in the defeat of the 
Confederates. Though Grant's victory 
was complete, his losses were so great 
that there was an outcry against him, 
and from being the popular hero of 
Donelson he was unjustly maligned and 
even accused, though falsely, of drunk- 
enness on the day of battle. General 
Halleck immediately arrived on the 
scene and took command. He seemed 
to have an antipathy for Grant, which 
made the latter's position very uncom- 
fortable. There was no reason why the 
army should not have been in front of 
Corinth in a few days, but Halleck oc- 
cupied a month in going thirty miles, 
only to find that the enemy had fled. 
Then he fortified Corinth as if it were 
the greatest strategic point in the South. 
Soon he was called East, and Grant 
was left in command, but by this time 
the Confederates had gotten two armies 
together, and the opportunity was lost 
to pierce "the hollow shell of the Con- 
federacy." In the meantime General 
Pope and the navy, under Porter, had 
moved down the Mississippi, captured 
Island No. 10, Fort Pillow, and Mem- 
]:)his. The Confederate line had now 
been moved to the southern border of 
Tennessee, except in the eastern part 
of that State. 

It is time to return to Eastern af- 
fairs. McCIellan was in charge of all 
the arnu'es, and spent many months in 
preparation, during which many thou- 
sands of his soldiers died of camp dis- 



258 



THE HOME AUKTLIARY AND REFERENCE 



ease. There were never frank relations 
between him and Lincohi. liy his own 
admission, afterward made pubhc, Mc- 
Clellan had a small opinion of Lincoln, 
and was restive under his orders. The 
distrust of Lincoln was for a time wide- 
spread. Even Seward, in the early part 
of his secretaryship, was ambitious to 
control the Administration and reduce 
Lincoln to a mere figurehead, but he 
soon found that he had a strong man 
to deal with. McClellan had an exag- 
gerated idea of the strength of John- 
ston's army, and would not move on 
Manassas until late in the winter of 
1861-62, even when ordered to do so 
by Lincoln. When he did move he 
found the place abandoned. He now 
proposed to take 100,000 men by sea to 
the Yorktown Peninsula, go up the 
York River and capture Richmond. 
The plan was agreed to, provided he 
left an army under McDowell between 
Washington and Richmond to protect 
the Capital. This army was to march 
overland to meet McClellan if its ser- 
vices were not needed to defend Wash- 
ington. 

The army landed near Yorktown, 
and met strong opposition. Instead of 
pushing on to Richmond, McClellan 
stopped to besiege Yorktown and Wil- 
liamsburg, which gave the Confeder- 
ates time to collect an army before 
Richmond, under General Joseph John- 
ston. When McClellan reached Rich- 
mond he met a fierce resistance. The 
stream Chickahominy, small in itself, 
but bordered by impassable swamps, 
flows eastward just north of Rich- 
mond. Expecting McDowell, McClel- 
lan put part of his army north of the 
Chickahominy, to connect with the ex- 
pected Northern army. Here they 
were attacked by General Joseph John- 
ston and narrowlv escaped a disastrous 
defeat in the battle of Fair Oaks, or 
Seven Pines. General Johnston was 
seriously wounded in this engagement, 
and General Robert E. Lee succeeded 
him in command of the army of North- 
ern \^irginia. The new commander 
prepared for vigorous action. Stone- 
wall Jackson, one of the ablest Con- 
federate leaders, had drawn the Fed- 



erals from the Shenandoah Valley, and 
was now recalled to join Lee before 
Richmond. On June 26, 1862, a sud- 
den attack was made on McClellan's 
army at Mechanicsville. A stubborn 
contest ensued, battle after battle being 
fought for seven days. It ended in the 
repulse of McClellan, who felt obliged 
to abandon the siege of Richmond and 
intrench himself at Harrison's Land- 
ing, on the James River. He had de- 
feated Lee at Malvern Hill on July i, 
but failed to take advantage of his vic- 
tory. From his new headquarters he 
sent angry telegrams to Lincoln, claim- 
ing that his army had been victimized 
by the holding back of McDowell's 
forces. 

McClellan's defeat led to new deals 
in Washington. On July 11, General 
ITalleck was made commander-in-chief 
of the LTnion armies, and in August 
McClellan was ordered back to Wash- 
ington to aid in repelling threatening 
Confederate movements. General Lee, 
taking advantage of McClellan's in- 
action, had dispatched Jackson to the 
north to operate against Pope, and it 
was the success of these operations that 
led to McClellan's recall. As soon as 
Lee learned of the embarkation of the 
Federal army, he marched rapidly to 
Jackson's aid and joined him near the 
old Bull Run battlefield, where the 
combined forces administered a crush- 
ing defeat to General Pope. Finding 
that McClellan's troops held Washing- 
ton and secured it against attack, Lee 
now marched up the Potomac and in- 
vaded Maryland, with the hope of gain- 
ing recruits and aid from that State. 
McClellan was at once put in com- 
mand of Pope's army and sent in hasty 
pursuit, overtaking Lee's rear at South 
^fountain, where a sharp fight took 
place. Meanwhile Stonewall Jackson 
had captured Harper's Ferry and its 
garrison, and on September 17, 1862, 
the two armies met at Antietam Creek. 
Here a fierce two days' battle took 
place, ending in a night retreat of Lee 
across the Potomac, unpursued by 
McClellan. Both armies had met with 
heavv losses. 

General ATcClellan's delay in pursu- 



SIXTH PERIOD— LIXXOLX'S ADMINISTRATION 



iiig the retreating enemy gave mucli 
dissatisfaction to the Administration. 
and on Octoher 6th he was ordered to 
cross the Potomac and give battle to 
Lee, or drive him south. His delay in 
doing this increased the annoyance of 
the President and on the 7th of Xo- 
\cmber, he was removed from his com- 
mand. General Burnside being ap- 
pointed to replace him. The new com- 
mander had distinguished himself in 
the earlier part of the war and given 
\aluable service at Antietam, but was 
not well fitted, as the event proved, for 
tlie new position given him. After some 
manouvering. he led his army to the 
banks of the Rappahannock River, op- 
posite the city of Fredericksburg. An- 
ticipating an attack on this city, Gen- 
eral Lee made all haste to station his 
army on the hills in its rear. 

Meanwhile, Commodore Farragut, 
with a strong fleet, had destroyed the 
Confederate fleet defending the Missis- 
sippi, and captured the forts. General 
Butler took possession of New Or- 
leans, which he ruled with a vigorous 
hand. Its loss was a severe blow to 
the Confederacy. Farragut sailed up 
past \'icksburg and met Foote, who 
was co-operating with Grant to take 
Mcksburg, and aided in driving the 
Confederates from the Upper Missis- 
sippi. 

\\'e must go back a little. In the 
summer of 1862, General Bragg, with 
a Confederate army, made a dash from 
Chattanooga for Louisville. Buell 
started to intercept him, and gained the 
city by one day. Then Bragg retreated 
and Buell followed. The armies met 
at Perryville, Ky., October 8th, and a 
hea\'y battle was fought, but only a 
portion of either army was engaged. 
Bragg was beaten back, but the defeat 
was not so decisive as might have been 
the case had the Federal army been con- 
centrated. Grant had sent troops with 
Buell, and the Confederates again took 
the initiative. Generals Price and \'an 
Dorn attempting to defeat the Federal 
army in detail. There were unimpor- 
tant battles at luka and Holly Springs. 
and then the two Confederate armies 
united. Rosecrans met them at Cor- 



inth and gave them a severe defeat, 
driving them forty miles in a complete 
rout. There was dissatisfaction with 
Buell for his failure to destroy Bragg, 
probably unfounded, and Rosecrans 
was given command of Buell's army. 
Bragg now attempted another North- 
ern raid, but was met by Rosecrans at 
Stone River, near Murfreesboro. The 
battle lasted two days (December 31 
and January 2, 1862-3), with one day's 
intermission. The losses on both sides 
were among the severest of the war. 
Bragg was defeated, and moved South 
in good order. 

In the meantime. Grant had sent 
Sherman, in December, 1862, to attack 
Mcksburg, the chief stronghold of the 
Confederates on the Mississippi. He 
failed in this elTort, largely from the 
difficult character of the country. 
Early in 1863, the Confederates were 
driven out of Missouri. General Cur- 
tis was sent with a large army to meet 
Price and Van Dorn. He met them at 
Pea Ridge, Arkansas, March 6th to 8th, 
and, after a hard battle, defeated them 
decisively. After one more movement 
north, the Confederates were entirely 
driven out of Missouri, and got no 
foothold again during the war. 

The last battle of the year, in the 
East, was at Fredericksburg. Burn- 
side threw his arm}' across the river 
(December 13, 1862) to attack the 
Confederates. A portion of the army 
succeeded, but, owing either to poor 
plans, lack of concert or failure to get 
orders in time, the army again failed 
to act in concert. The main attack on 
IMarye's Heights, behind the town, was 
repulsed by the Confederates with ter- 
rible slaughter, and the movement came 
to an end. Burnside was relieved and 
General Joseph Hooker placed in com- 
mand. 

The war had now lasted nearly two 
years. In the East there had been no 
advantages gained, and the Federal 
armies had been defeated, except in 
West A^irginia and Maryland. In the 
West, the Federal forces held most of 
Western Tennessee and the northern 
portion of i\lississippi : and in the 
South, New Orleans and vicinity. This 



26o 



THE HOME Al'XTLIARY AXD REFERENCE 



was not very encouraging to the North, 
and the elections went against the Re- 
publicans. The Democrats elected a 
majority of the House of Representa- 
tives, but a majority of the whole was 
favorable to a vigorous prosecution of 
the war. On January i, 1863, Lin- 
coln, after ninety day's notice, issued 
a proclamation declaring free all slaves 
in that portion of the Confederacy not 
occupied by Federal arms. He had de- 
termined to do this if Lee should fail 
in his Northern raid. The proclama- 
tion was not received with unanimous 
favor, as many felt that the question 
at issue was the Union and not slavery, 
not understanding how the two were 
connected. 

Let us look back at foreign affairs 
for a moment. That arch-intermed- 
dler. Napoleon III, Emperor of the 
French, was ready to interfere on be- 
half of the South, if he were backed 
by Great Britain. At this time the 
British Cabinet was not particularly 
friendly to the North. Cotton was 
needed for the factories, and to out- 
siders it seemed as if the Confederacy 
might win. The so-called Trent Af- 
fair nearly won over Great Britain at 
first, but eventually ranged her on the 
side of the Federal Government. The 
first commissioners sent abroad had ac- 
complished nothing, not even an emis- 
sary to the Pope, who declined to in- 
terfere so long as slavery was recog- 
nized by the Confederacy. Late in 
1861. President Davis sent James M. 
Mason and John Slidell as Ministers to 
Great Britain and France, to negotiate 
for a recognition of independence, 
claiming that cotton was a world staple 
obtainable only from the Confederacy, 
and must not be blockaded, and claim- 
ing that the blockade was not effective, 
and, therefore, under the laws of Na- 
tions, not valid. L^nfortunately for 
this last contention, the Ministers or 
Commissioners and their families had 
hard work in running the blockade and 
reaching Havana. In the latter city 
they were received with great demon- 
strations of joy. They took passage 
on the Britisli Steamer Trent for St. 
Thomas, intending to proceed thence 



to England. Captain Wilkes, of the 
U. S. Steamship San Jacinto, heard of 
this and resolved to capture them. On 
November 8, 1861, he stopped tne 
Trent, took off the Commissioners and 
Secretaries, and let the steamer pro- 
ceed. Great was the joy in the North 
over this, and great the anger in Great 
Britain. The latter took the initiative, 
and sent an ultimatum to the United 
States. Yet it was not intended to 
force an issue. The dying Prince Con- 
sort Albert toned down the dispatches, 
and the British Minister at Washington, 
Lord Lyons, was instructed to allow a 
reasonable time for a reply. Secretary 
Seward spent a week on the subject, 
which was an important one, as a fail- 
ure to give up the captured Commis- 
sioners meant a foreign war. His re- 
])ly was that the seizure of the Trent 
was legal, but that ^Vilkes should have 
brought her into a prize court for ad- 
judication and, because he did not, the 
Commissioners were entitled to be re- 
turned to Great Britain. This was 
done, and though it was a bitter bill, 
it saved Great Britain from ensuring 
the success of the Confederacy. When 
Messrs. Mason and Slidell reached 
Europe they got no encouragement. 
Foreign intervention was never se- 
cured, and no aid except from block- 
ade runners for private account and 
the laxity of British officials in allow- 
ing the Confederate cruisers Florida. 
Alabama and Shenandoah to be built 
in British ports and to go forth to prey 
on the commerce of the Lhiited States. 
Another cruiser was built, but was 
ncAcr let out of the dock because an 
Englishman gave a $5,000,000 bond in 
favor of the British Ministry for a few 
days. To cover this, an equal amount 
of United States bonds were issued and 
hurried to England. It took Mr. Chit- 
tenden, Register of the Treasury, many 
hours of continuous labor to sign these 
bonds, and he never recovered from a 
partial paralysis due to the labor in- 
volved. For many years it was cus- 
tomary to speak of these vessels as 
privateers, but the best American 
writers now concede that they were 
full-fledged Confederate cruisers, un- 



SIXTH PERIOD— LINCOLN'S ADMINISTRATION 



dcr the laws of nations, and entitled to 
do their work when once in commis- 
sion. There were some Confederate 
privateers which did some damage to 
American commerce, bnt they were 
comparatively a small factor. The 
Florida, after an exciting career, was 
captured in violation of neutrality laws, 
but sank before Brazil, the offended 
nation, could secure her return. It is 
believed that her loss was not acci- 
dental. The Alabama destroyed many 
vessels, and swept American commerce 
from the seas. She was finally de- 
stroyed June 19, 1864, by the U. S. 
Steamship Kearsarge, off Cherbourg. 
The Shenandoah went to sea late and 
cruised principally in the South seas, 
where she did great damage, even after 
the war was over. Learning of the end 
she steamed into Liverpool and hauled 
down her flag. 

The principal event of 1862 was the 
appearance of the [Monitor as a new 
factor in warfare. In 1861 the chief 
navy yard in the country was near Nor- 
folk, Va. Every effort was made to 
protect this, but a series of accidents, 
misconstruction of orders and fear of 
capture led to its loss. The principal 
vessels could have been saved, but this 
v.-as in April, 1861, when the adminis- 
tration was coquetting with \'irginia— 
all to no purpose. Too late the order 
was issued to sail away, the Confed- 
erates were coming : the vessels were 
blown up, and the principal buildings 
burned, but a great mass of valuable 
war material, principally cannon, fell 
into the hands of the Confederates. 

The destruction at this time was not 
so great as was supposed. Subsequent 
events showed that the Federals could 
have preserved most all of the equip- 
ment, but, in the haste to destroy after 
evacuation had proved a failure, the 
work was not complete. When Vir- 
ginia joined the Confederacy it was 
found that great stores of cannon and 
ammunition had been saved, while the 
vessels supposedly destroyed were not 
beyond redemption. One of the war 
vessels, tht Merrimac, was raised and 
rebuilt as an ironclad. She was cut 
down to the hull, a slanting roof pro- 



tected by iron was placed on her deck, 
and she was altered as far as possible 
to be the most complete fighting ma- 
chine afloat. In IMarch, 1862, sha 
steamed down to Hampton Roads, near 
Fortress Monroe, to do all the damage 
she could, and to sail up the Potomac, 
if possible. On both sides the situation 
was overestimated. The Confederates 
knew that the vessel was vulnerable, 
while the Federals overestimated her 
powers. If the Merrimac could destroy 
the fleet in Hampton Roads, what might 
she not accomplish ? The frigate Cum- 
berland was destroyed easily March 8, 
1862, and the Minnesota grounded, but 
the Merrimac retired to Norfolk with- 
out completing the destruction of the 
latter. That night the Monitor arrived 
to protect the Federal fleet. She was 
the invention of John Ericsson, and 
from this vessel all modern navies have 
in some respects been modeled. Her 
hull was almost entirely below water, 
and on her flat deck an iron turret was 
placed, which revolved on an axis. In 
the turret were two large guns. For 
that day she was invulnerable, but she 
was far from being perfect. A hot duel 
ensued next day with the Merrimac, in 
which neither vessel was seriously in- 
jured, but the Merrimac withdrew to 
Norfolk and was blown up when that 
city was evacuated soon afterwards. 
The Monitor was subsequently lost at 
sea. It marked a decisive era in the 
history of the war, though it is doubtful 
if the Merrimac could really have 
threatened Washington very seriously, 
as was supposed, if the Alonitor had 
not arrived. 

The year 1863 is generally looked 
upon as the decisive year of the war, 
though fighting continued until the 
spring of 1865. The campaign may be 
said to have been begun in December, 
1862, by General Burnside, who was in 
command of the Army of the Potomac, 
and fought on fhe 13th and 14th, a 
desperate and fruitless conflict at Fred- 
ericksburg. He was succeeded in com- 
mand by General Joseph Hooker. At 
the center General Rosecrans fought 
the desperate and successful battle at 
Stone River, near Murfreesboro, and 



262 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



advanced to Central Tennessee. In the 
West General Grant began to draw in 
on Vicksburg, which controlled the 
Mississippi. The plan of campaign in- 
volved forward movements of the three 
armies, which should have been simul- 
taneous, but were not. 

Hooker, in j\Iay, evolved a plan to 
drive Lee out of Fredericksburg, and 
defeat him in open battle. The plans 
were well laid, and up to a certain point 
well executed. The Federal army 
-.crossed the Rappahannock, and one 
corps made an attack on Fredericks- 
burg, while the main part of the army 
engaged General Lee. The battle took 
place in the Wilderness (May 1-4, 
1863), while Hooker's headquarters 
were at the Chancellor House, which 
gives the name of Chancellorsville to 
the battle. Leaving a sufficient force 
to defend Fredericksburg, Lee marched 
against Hooker and one of the great 
battles of the war ensued. The strik- 
ing feature of it was a flank movement 
made by Stonewall Jackson by a long 
detour through the wooded country. 
He was very successful in this move- 
ment, driving the Federal flank back 
in utter disorder, but Jackson was 
severely wounded by a mistaken volley 
from his own men, and died soon after. 
The battle ended in the defeat of 
Flooker. Ko further movement was 
made until June, when Lee resolved on 
another raid to the North, in the hope 
that victory would lead foreign nations 
to interfere on behalf of the Confed- 
eracy. His army was divided into three 
infantry corps under Hill, Ewell and 
Longstreet, and a cavalry corps com- 
manded by J. E. B. Stuart. The move- 
ment was so quiet that some days 
elapsed before Hooker discovered it and 
started in pursuit. Lee's main army 
crossed the Potomac not far from Har- 
per's Ferry, and invaded Pennsylvania, 
the cavalry crossing near XA^ashington 
and reaching the Susquehanna. Hooker 
pushed hard after, but on the road was 
superseded by one of his corps com- 
manders. General Meade. The two 
armies were spread over a large terri- 
tory, but the first conflict came July i, 
1863, near the village of Gettysburg, 



Pennsylvania. Early in the fight the 
Federal General Reynolds was killed, 
but General Howard, who soon arrived 
with his corps, took command. The 
Confederates concentrated more rapidly 
than the Federals, and the first day 
went hard against the latter, who finally 
retired to a ridge several miles long, 
extending from Cemetery Flill to Big 
Round Top, though the ridge was badly 
broken through in one place by a ravine 
not far from Little Round Top. On 
July 2d Lee took the ofi^ensive, and 
made heavy onslaughts at both ends of 
the Federal line. He gained some suc- 
cess with heavy loss, but could not 
break the lines. On July 3d he tried 
to smash the center. The divisions of 
Pickett and Pettigrew, with some addi- 
tional troops, about 15,000 in all, were 
marched a mile across the valley to 
pierce the center on Cemetery Ridge. 
It was one of the most magnificent at- 
tempts in history, but it failed. The 
Confederates were decimated by an 
enfilading fire before they reached the 
Federal line, and were driven back in 
confusion with heavy loss. At the same 
time Stuart's effort to break through 
the rear was prevented. The campaign 
was a failure. After sustaining terrible 
losses, Lee was compelled to retreat. 
This he did in a masterly way, and 
reached Virginia almost without moles- 
tation. The rest of the year there was 
a series of maneuvers on both sides 
to get into desirable position, but there 
was little fighting, and both armies went 
into winter quarters, leaving matters 
much as they were when the year 
opened. 

In the West there was a difi'erent 
state of affairs. After tremendous 
labor. General Grant succeeded in cross- 
ing the Mississippi, getting his army 
below Vicksburg, and besieged the city 
from the rear. The Confederates were 
defeated in several important battles, 
and Jackson was taken. A final assault 
on the earthworks of Vicksburg was 
repelled with heavy loss, but the city, 
under General Pemberton, capitulated 
July 4, 1863. Shortly after the Con- 
federates at Port Hudson, where alone 
on the river they w^ere in force, sur- 



SIXTH PERIOD— LINCOLN'S ADMINISTRATION 



263 



rendered, and the ^lississippi ran un- 
vexed to the sea. An expedition was 
sent up the Red River on a raid, but it 
had no strategic value. The expedition 
was unsuccessful, and got back again 
with great difficulty, as the river had 
fallen rapidly. 

The next move was made at the cen- 
ter. Rosecrans moved his army south 
and invaded Georgia. The success of 
Grant at \'icksburg led Rosecrans into 
fancied security, for his army was 
stretched over a wide section when he 
was confronted, in September, by a 
strong Confederate force under Bragg, 
reinforced by Longstreet from Lee's 
army. The first day's fighting (Sep- 
tember 19, 1863J along the Chicka- 
mauga Creek, was undecisive, and 
during the night Rosecrans concen- 
trated his army. The next day the 
fighting was furious, but the Federals 
held their own until the blunder of an 
officer allowed a brigade to be with- 
drawn, leaving a large gap in the center. 
Into this gap Longstreet hurled his 
legion and doubled up the Federal line 
both ways, inflicting a most disastrous 
defeat. Thomas alone, on the Federal 
left, held firm and gained the name of 
"the Rock of Giickamauga." The 
army retreated to Chattanooga and was 
soon besieged, leaving only a wagon 
road open for supplies. Rosecrans was 
relieved from command, and was suc- 
ceeded by Thomas. 

General Grant was now placed in 
command of all the armies of the West, 
and w^nt at once to Chattanooga. In 
a short time he had the army well fed 
and equipped. General Sherman was 
sent with a corps to attack Bragg's 
forces on Missionary Ridge. General 
Thomas was to aid in this attack, while 
General Hooker, with two corps from 
the Army of the Potomac, was to caj)- 
ture Lookout Mountain. In two days 
the Confederates were completely dis- 
lodged and driven South. The battle 
above the clouds, on Lookout ( Novem- 
ber 24, 1863), and the charge up Mis- 
sionary Ridge ( November 25th ) were 
two spectacular and important military 
events of the war. Immediately after- 
ward Grant sent Sherman to the relief 



of Burnside, who was besieged at 
Knoxville by Longstreet. The siege 
was raised, and Longstreet joined Lee 
in \ irginia. 

The Confederacy was now not only 
split, but had lost control of Louisiana, 
Tennessee and portions of other States ; 
but there was no talk of surrender. 
Grant was made Lieutenant-General, 
and placed in command of all the 
armies. His plan of campaign was 
simple. All the armies were to co- 
operate and make for Richmond. Sher- 
man was placed in command in the 
West. Grant remained in the East, 
where Meade still commanded the 
Army of the Potomac and Butler the 
Army of the James. In May, 1864, the 
forward movements began. Grant 
threw his army across the Rapidan 
and fought successive battles in the 
Wilderness, at North Anna and Cold 
Harbor, in which the losses were ter- 
rible on both sides. Lee would not 
come from behind his entrenchments, 
and Grant could not get over them, 
but Lee could not stop Grant's prog- 
ress. Finding it impossible to get Lee 
into open battle, Grant threw his army 
across the James and besieged Peters- 
burg during the rest of the year, and 
until the next spring. When Grant 
was fighting Lee, General Early 
swooped down and threatened Wash- 
ington, but was driven off. 

The Shenandoah \'alley had long 
been the storehouse of the Confederacy, 
and Federal attempts to control it had 
not been successful. Banks, Hunter 
and others had been driven out, and 
W'inchester had repeatedly changed 
hands. Grant now sent General Sheri- 
dan there, who swept the valley from 
one end to the other, inflicting, in Sep- 
tember, 1864, serious defeats on Gen- 
eral Early, who opposed him. After 
this the valley remained in Federal con- 
trol. 

In the West Sherman marched to 
Atlanta, after being opposed with great 
ability by the Confederates under Gen- 
eral Joe Johnston. The latter did not 
want to fight unless compelled to do 
so, as his army was small. Sherman 
also did not care to fight unless 



264 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



necessary, so a brilliant succession of 
military maneuvers took place, in which 
Sherman was successful. As a result, 
General Hood was appointed to succeed 
Johnston, and made several severe at- 
tacks, only to meet with defeat. After 
the fall of Atlanta, he made a move- 
ment northward, with the purpose of 
cutting Sherman's communications in 
Tennessee. Thomas was sent to Nash- 
ville to deal with him, while Sherman, 
with his main army, marched across 
Georgia to Savannah, which he reached 
about Christmas, 1864. Meanwhile 
Farragut, with his fleet, had captured 
jMobile and Schofield had defeated 
Hood at Franklin, Tennessee, in one 
of the bloodiest battles of the war, and 
fallen back on Nashville. In Decem- 
ber, 1864, Thomas came out and, in a 
two days' battle, utterly defeated Hood 
so that his army never again became an 
effective force. This ended the war 
in the West, except for fighting on a 
small scale. In February. 1865. Ste- 
phens, with two others, met Lincoln at 
Hampton Roads and tried to arrange 
peace, but it was not successful, as 
Lincoln demanded that the LTnion be 
kept intact and the slaves freed. 

Meanwhile Sherman started north to 
meet Grant, before Richmond, but was 
met by Johnston, with a small army, in 
North Carolina. Grant did not wait 
for Sherman. It was evident that Lee 
must evacuate Richmond, and his plan 
was to join Johnston and defeat Sher- 
man. This plan was foiled. Petersburg 
fell April 2, 1865, and Richmond on the 
third. Then there was a week's race 
and hard fighting to the southwest, but 
Grant was ahead, and finally Lee sur- 
rendered his whole army at Appomat- 
tox Court House on April 9, 1865. 
Grant paroled the whole army, and al- 
lowed the men to take home their 
horses to begin fanning. A few days 
later Sherman received terms from 
Johnston, which were not satisfactory, 
and then, after some friction between 
Sherman and the administration, John- 
ston surrendered on the same terms 
as Lee, and the war was over, other 
small armies surrendering in a short 
time without a struggle. The army 



disbanded quickly, the men returning 
to their homes, and soon but 50,000 
men were left under arms. The liberal 
land laws to veterans let thousands of 
the late soldiers go West and take up 
claims. In this way Kansas and Ne- 
braska soon had a thriving population. 

]\Ieanwhile important events had 
taken place. Lincoln had been re- 
elected, in 1864, after a bitter struggle. 
There was a large section of the Demo- 
crats of the North dissatisfied with 
the conduct of the war, and these chose 
General McClellan for their candidate. 
Fremont had been nominated by dis- 
satisfied Republicans, but he withdrew 
before the election. Lincoln had an 
overwhelming majority in the Electoral 
College, but the popular vote was as 
follows: Lincoln, 2,216,067; McClel- 
lan, 1,808,725. Electoral vote: Lin- 
coln, 212; McClellan, 21. 

This showed a closer division than 
might have been expected. ]\IcClellan 
received almost the same number of 
votes that Lincoln got in i860, while 
Lincoln gained less than 400,000. The 
slavery question was still in politics. 
The Emancipation Proclamation had 
not been received well in some por- 
tions of the North, where the question 
of slavery was of less importance than 
of preserving the Union, and it was 
feared it would prevent a restoration 
on any terms. It appeared to Mr. 
Lincoln that re-election by Republican 
votes alone was impossible, so he de- 
termined to secure the nomination of a 
War Democrat for ^'ice-President. He 
first offered the nomination to General 
Butler, who declined it, and then to 
Andrew Johnson, who accepted it. 
Johnson was a man of little educa- 
tion, but of great will power. He 
had been Governor of Tennessee, Sen- 
ator, and then Military Governor, ris- 
ing from the tailor's bench in a little 
mountain town. 

Great was the joy in the North over 
the fall of Richmond and the surrender 
of Lee. Just four years had the fight- 
ing lasted, and peace was welcomed 
with the wildest enthusiasm, only to 
be dampened by the murder of the 
President. ( )n the night of Good Fri- 



SIXTH PERIOD— LINCOLN'S ADMINISTRATION 



265 



day, April 14, 1865, in I'onrs Theatre. 
Washington, John Wilkes iSooth, the 
actor, entered the box where the Presi- 
dent was seated, shot him, and jump- 
ing to the stage, shouting "Sic semper 
tyrannis." He broke the bones of his 
ankle in the jump from the box, but 
managed to escape and, by the aid of 
Confederates, crossed the Potomac and 
got into \'irginia, but in a few days 
was discovered. Refusing to surrender, 
he was shot. On the same night that 
Lincoln was shot. Secretary Seward 
was stabbed seriously, and Grant 
escaped only by absence from the city. 
Pincoln survived until Saturday morn- 
ing, April 15, 1865, but died without 
recovering consciousness. 

Terrible was the wrath of the North 
over the event, and the best men in 
the South regretted it equally, for all 
had come to respect Lincoln, and they 
realized that his murder would be laid 
upon the South, which would suffer 
accordingly — a presentiment that was 
correct. It developed that there was 
a small conspiracy involved, but that 
it included no one outside of Washing- 
ton and was not inspired by any South- 
ern leaders. Just how much each of 
the parties to the conspiracy knew is 
uncertain. The meetings were at the 
home of Mrs. Surratt. The others who 
were found to be most closely involved 
were men named Harold, Payne and 
Atzerott, who, with Mrs. Surratt, were 
executed. Others who in any way 
aided Booth to escape were punished 
severely. 

Could the Confederacy have had a 
steady outlet for cotton it could have 
kept up the struggle much longer. 

It was with this purpose in view 
that Mr. Davis sent Mason and Slidell 
to Great Britain and France ; but the 
failure was as complete as was an ap- 
peal to the Pope at Rome, who made 
the abolishment of slavery a sine qua 
Hon of recognition. This, of course, 
was impossible. The Confederacy first 
resorted to loans guaranteed by cotton, 
and for a time their loans sold well, 
but when cotton was no longer allowed 
to leave the country except as captured 
by the Federals, there was difficulty in 



making loans on any good basis. The 
Confederate expenses were enormous, 
because of the great risk in getting in 
supplies from abroad. There were 
few good mechanics in the South, and 
few foundries ; the Tredegar Iron 
\\ orks, at Richmond, was the only first- 
class establishment of its kind in the 
Confederacy, ^^'hen loans from the 
States and bond sales failed to raise 
money, resort was had to paper cur- 
rency, which was issued in large 
amounts. Just how inuch was current 
will never be known. The workman- 
ship on the notes was poor, and coun- 
terfeits in the X'orth were easily made, 
so that the South was swamped with 
paper money. It declined steadily with 
the fortunes of the Confederate arms, 
and after the war it became, along with 
the bonds, entirely worthless. Many 
of these bonds were held abroad. In 
fairness it can be said that the finances 
of the Confederacy were never well 
handled, even considering all the diffi- 
culties involved. 

The Federal Government was more 
fortunate. After a short period of 
gloom and despair the Northern people 
resolved to stick together. A meeting 
of the leading bankers was held and 
money was furnished for a tirne almost 
as called for. The Treasury also is- 
sued interest bearing notes for small 
denominations, but even these were not 
sufficient for the strain. When it was 
found that there was to be a long and 
bloody war, entirely original measures 
were taken. The National Banking 
System, substantially as it now is, was 
established. This had the two-fold 
effect of marketing bonds and provid- 
ing currency for the needs of the peo- 
ple. Income and internal revenue taxes 
were laid on many articles. Specie 
payments were suspended, but no great 
disaster came. Finally, non-interest 
bearing Treasury notes to the amount 
of nearly $450,000,000 were issued to 
pay war expenses. These were never 
on a par with gold, falling to about 40 
per cent, at one time, but fluctuating 
according to the success of the Federal 
arms. After the war they rose in value 
rapidly, but did not reach par until 



266 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



1878. During the most trying part of 
the war Mr. Chase was at the head of 
the Treasury, but. on the death of Chief 
Justice Taney, succeeded him and Hugh 
McCullough became Secretary. During 
the war most of the bonds were sold 
through the agency of Jay Cooke, of 
Philadelphia — the fourth man from that 
city to finance our Government in a 
war. By August, 1865, the National 
debt, which was only about $80,000,000 
in i860, had reached $2,845,000,000. 
About $800,000,000 was raised during 
the war by customs duties, internal 
revenue and direct taxes. 

The death of Lincoln in 1865 
caused unparalleled sorrow and alarm. 
It was not only that a beloved leader 
was dead, but it was believed that a 
great conspiracy existed to reopen the 
war and destroy the fruits of victory. 
In time this was found to be untrue, 
but the belief had a great effect on 
subsequent history. Revenge for Lin- 
coln's death and belief in the treach- 
erous nature of Southern people were 
responsible for much of the subsequent 
legislation that bore so hard on the 
South. Indeed, it is hard to estimate 
the direct and indirect influence Booth's 
act had upon the late Confederate 
States. Directly we can trace some of 
it, but indirectly we can only estimate 
what might have been done under the 
wise direction of Abraham Lincoln, 
whose last official act was connected 
with a speedy restoration of the LTnion. 
That Lincoln would have encountered 
opposition from Congress is certain, but 
that his commanding position would 
have enabled him to deal with recon- 
struction in a way that would have 
commanded general support is unques- 
tioned. Lincoln had the mature judg- 
m-ent, the plastic touch, and the g/eat 
heart that would have found a solu- 
tion to the greatest problem of the age 
without all the troubles that came in 
its train. 

To digress a moment : Sheridan was 
sent with an army to Texas, ready, if 
necessary, to drive the French out of 
Mexico, where Napoleon III had set 
an Austrian Prince on the Imperial 
throne, but the French retired, and 



Emperor Maximilian was executed. At 
the Hampton Roads conference Ste- 
phens hoped that a foreign war would 
bring about domestic peace. His idea 
was to combine both armies and 
march against Mexico, and then settle 
internal differences afterward. This 
was, of course, rejected by Mr. Lincoln. 
All eyes now turned on Andrew 
Johnson, who at once took the oath of 
office, and his unfortunate condition at 
the time gave rise to exaggerated re- 
ports of his drunkenness. In his speech 
he made no reference to Lincoln, but 
used the first personal pronoun freely. 
This made a bad impression. He re- 
tained Mr. Lincoln's Cabinet — the only 
accidental President to take such action. 
As has been said. Johnson was a Demo- 
crat, without culture and very head- 
strong. At first he proposed to make 
"treason odious." Being a Southern 
man, many Southern leaders feared 
a drastic policy, and many civil and 
military officers of the late Confederacy 
tied the country. Wiser counsels pre- 
vailed, however, and Johnson, under 
the influence of his Cabinet, was in- 
duced to take a different course. Thgn 
he went to the other extreme. Davis 
was put in a military prison, but sub- 
sequently released on bail, and never 
tried for treason. Amnesty was 
granted under conditions, from time to 
time, until only the high civil and mili- 
tary officers were exempt, and to these 
it was generally granted on application, 
until Congress, in alarm, took that duty 
on itself. Congress was not called in 
session during the rest of the year, and 
though many leaders had grave doubts 
about the new President, the Repub- 
lican party seemed satisfied with John- 
son's administration, as he was gener- 
ally endorsed at State conventions. 

The administration was busy at work 
on the question of reconstruction. It 
had been the policy of President Lin- 
coln to recognize any lately seceded 
States whenever 10 per cent, of the 
loyal voters of i860 formed a govern- 
ment under proper restrictions. This 
was done by Louisiana and Arkansas, 
but after a controversy with the Presi- 
dent, the most serious of his adminis- 



SIXTH PERIOD— JOHNSON'S ADMINISTRATION 



267 



tration. Congress finally refused to 
recognize this reconstruction. Johnson 
continued this plan on a liberal scale. 
He appointed provisional Governors, 
and urged all the States to form gov- 
ernments by votes of the loyal white 
citizens, including those who were 
amnestied, and resume peaceful pur- 
suits, holding that there never had been 
and never could be legal secession, and 
that the Union was intact. Now, this 
was the Republican theory, but, in prac- 
tice, it was desired that some bonds 
be given for future conduct, and that 
restoration to sovereignty and member- 
ship in the Union must be preceded by 
Congressional action. 

The thirteenth amendment to the 
Constitution, forever forbidding slav- 
ery, was ratified and proclaimed in 
1865. Great was the indignation in the 
radical section of the Republican party 
when, in December, 1865, members of 
Congress elected from some of the 
States lately in revolt applied for ad- 
mission. Some of these, including 
Stephens, appeared and took the "iron 
clad" oath that they had been loyal to 
the Government. In these States reg- 
ular forms of government had been set 
up in accordance with Presidential 
proclamation. They adopted new Con- 
stitutions, in which slavery was elimi- 
nated ; elected Legislatures which 
adopted the thirteenth amendment, 
abolishing slavery (which had been 
proposed by the preceding Congress), 
and elected Senators, while the people 
chose Representatives. By acting in 
accord with the executive proclamation 
these States expected to be received 
back into the Union on the terms laid 
down. Congress refused admission to 
these members, declaring Congressional 
action was necessary to reconstruction ; 
thus leaving the late Confederate States 
in the position of being neither in the 
Union nor out of it. Much of the 
objection was due to the fact that the 
new Southern Legislatures passed laws 
regarding vagrant negroes, which, if 
carried out, would have in many cases 
made their lot little worse than before. 
Southerners replied that there were 
modeled on the master and servant 



statutes of New England — which were, 
however, seldom executed, as the cus- 
tom of indenturing had gone out of 
use. Congress had already passed the 
Freedman's Bureau Act, by which aid 
was given to the freedman, through 
the Bureau, whose agents were army 
officers, not all of whom were fit men. 
Grant complained bitterly of some of 
these men, but many were honest and 
efficient. Congress passed a new act, 
extending the powe.s of the Bureau, 
but the President vetoed it. Then 
another similar act was passed, vetoed, 
and passed over the President's head. 
The break between Cf ngress and the 
President was complete. Congress 
wanted to reconstruct the Union in its 
own way, and ignored or denied the 
President's authority. U^nfi rtunately it 
had as yet no definite plnn. Johnson 
was as firm for his prerogatives as 
was any Stuart King, and the clash 
came. An act giving the negro civil 
rights was likewise vetoed, and passed 
over the President's head. The Presi- 
dent was greatly disappointed, and, in 
a tour of the country, made some very 
radical and unusual speeches, declaring 
that Congress was not a legal Congress, 
because it denied admission to legally 
elected members from the South. Rad- 
ical men in Congress believed Johnson 
to be in secret alliance with the South, 
and the fight became bitter. The four- 
t^enth amendment to the Constitution 
was finally ratified and proclaimed in 
1868. It defined citizenship, provided 
for apportionment of Representatives, 
prohibited former National or State 
officers who had sworn allegiance to 
the Government, and had joined the 
Confederacy, from holding office, unless 
their disabilities were removed by 
Congress, confirming the public debt, 
and prohibited the payment of any 
Confederate debts. After long delay, 
in 1867, two acts were passed, on which 
reconstruction was based. The late 
Confederacy was divided into five mili- 
tary districts, each under the control 
of a General, and past attempts at re- 
construction were ignored, except pro- 
visionally. Drastic provisions were 
made for forming new governments. 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



among wliich negro suffrage was prac- 
tically provided for, and which required 
adoption of the fourteenth amendment 
to the Constitution. The second act 
required the "iron clad oath" to be 
given voters (save those who had ac- 
cepted amnesty), by which only those 
were given the ballot who were not 
disfranchised for rebellion. All were 
disfranchised who had previously taken 
the oath of allegiance and violated it, 
so that nearly all the white men of 
any prominence in the South were dis- 
franchised, while the negroes voted and 
got many o-f the offices. The result of 
this legislation was that the State 
Governments set up only represented a 
minority of the wealth and intelligence 
of the States ; and, as many of the 
officials were recent comers from the 
North, the so-called "carpet bag gov- 
ernments" were the result. In most 
cases these governments were failures ; 
the Legislatures were often either ig- 
norant or corrupt, or both, and enor- 
mous debts were created, usually for 
building railways, much of which was 
absolutely wasted. A large part of 
these debts was afterward repudiated 
by the States. Finally, after the pas- 
sage by Congress of the fifteenth 
amendment, giving the negro the right 
to vote (adopted 1870), the remaining 
unreconstructed States were obliged to 
adopt that amendment or be kept out. 
This legislation was carried in the 
House under the leadership of Thad- 
deus Stevens, of Pennsylvania, who 
maintained a power over legislation 
never equaled in that body. In justice 
it should be said that the greatest 
prejudice against the South was in the 
minds of those who had never been in 
the war. Those who had fought were 
in a difi^erent position. They respected 
men who fought to the last ditch for 
their opinions. It is believed that 
Abraham Lincoln contemplated calling 
a convention of all the Federal and 
Confederate officers above the rank of 
Brigadier-General to consider the state 
of the Union, and that good results 
would have been obtained. 

The result of this controversy was a 
violent attack by Congress on the Presi- 



dent, who was now on bad terms with 
General Grant — now Commander of 
the army with the rank of Lieutenant- 
General. Laws were passed, over his 
veto, practically taking away his com- 
mand of the army, and requiring all 
orders to be sent through the Com- 
mander of the army, who should live 
at the Capitol. The Tenure of Office 
Act was passed, making it illegal for 
a President to remove any of his 
I'ederal appointees from office without 
the consent of the Senate, and finally 
an attempt at impeachment was made, 
which failed. All this time the Presi- 
dent had kept Lincoln's Cabinet ; and 
to his credit be it said that he executed 
all the laws passed o\er his veto. But, 
during the recess of Congress, he re- 
moved Secretary Stanton and put Grant 
in his place. When the Senate con- 
vened it refused to confirm Grant, who 
resigned, and Stanton took his old 
place. Johnson again removed him and 
appointed Adjutant-General Lorenzo 
Thomas. For this Johnson was im- 
peached by the House and tried by the 
Senate on many grounds, but the main 
point at issue was whether Johnson 
had really violated the Tenure of Office 
Act. While the defense showed clearly 
enough that there had been so such 
violation, inasmuch as Stanton was an 
appointee of Lincoln and not of John- 
son, party spirit ran so high that there 
was only one vote lacking of the two- 
tliirds necessary to convict. A number 
of Republicans who voted against con- 
viction were consigned to political in- 
famy, and suffered a political martyr- 
dom that was in some cases most 
painful. Yet of those who voted for 
conviction and lived twenty years there- 
after, many admitted that they were 
moved largely by political considera- 
tions, that their judgment was warped 
by the excitement of the times, and that 
Johnson did not deserve conviction. 
It is generally believed now that he 
wanted to carry out Lincoln's policy, 
as he incorrectly understood it, but that 
his defects of temperament and char- 
acter and his lack of calm judgment, 
together with his inordinate ambition 
and ridiculous vanity, made it impos- 



SIXTH PERIOD— JOHNSON'S ADMINISTRATION 



269 



sible to command the confidence of the 
people. He was restrained by his 
Cabinet from doing many things lie 
wished, while the public often censured 
Seward for remaining in the Cabinet : 
he did the country a great service by so 
doing. If Johnson had not been re- 
strained, the consequences would have 
been very serious for the nation. His- 
tory has done justice to both parties to 
this controversy. Both sides were 
honest in intention, but warped in judg- 
ment by circumstances. Those who sit 
down calmly in a later age to distribute 
praise and blame must remember that 
human nature is stronger than human 
law, and too often is in defiance of 
Divine commandment. Truly did the 
bard of all time say: "Forbear to 
judge, for we are sinners all." Both 
made mistakes, but, if we may judge 
by the results, Johnson's plan was in 
the main correct. So long as the mili- 
tary arm gave protection the recon- 
struction governments were sustained 
in power. When that arm was with- 
drawn the white people in the South 
resumed possession of their States in 
no pleasant frame of mind, and the 
negro was practically eliminated from 
the franchise in spite of the adoption 
of the fourteenth and fifteenth amend- 
ments to the Constitution, which were 
supposed to guarantee him power and 
self -protection. Indeed, the hope of the 
negro is not in the past legislation of 
Congress, but in the lines laid down 
by Booker T. Washington and others 
of the race, who clearly see that the 
negro must fully win respect by his 
own character and his deeds before he 
can be equal with the Saxon in treat- 
ment, as he is in the law that cannot 
be executed. 

The rest of Johnson's administration 
was uneventful. The Republicans, in 
1868, at Philadelphia, nominated Gen- 
eral Grant for President and Speaker 
Schuyler Colfax, of Indiana, for Vice- 
President. The Democrats nominated 
Horatio Seymour, of New York, and 
Francis P. Blair, of Missouri. The 
result was never in doubt. Grant win- 
ning by a large vote, both popular and 
electoral, as follows: Grant and Col- 



fax, 3,015,071 ; Seymour and Blair, 
2,709,613; Republican majority, 30=5.- 
458- 

Grant had 214 and Seymour 80 
electoral votes; Mississippi, Texas and 
Virginia, with 22 votes, not voting. 

One event in Johnson's administra- 
tion must not be overlooked. In 1867, 
by a treaty with Russia, we purchased 
Alaska for $7,500,000. There was 
great opposition to the purchase, but 
time has justified it. There is a story 
current to the effect that this alleged 
purchase was merely a blind to repay 
Russia for fitting out her fleet ready 
to interfere on our side if France and 
Great Britain came to the aid of the 
Confederacy. The story is not con- 
firmed, but it is certain that Russia 
was our firm friend all through the 
war. 

The career of Andrew Johnson ex- 
hibits a peculiar phase in our social 
system — the possibilities that wait upon 
citizens of the most humble origin. 
j\lr. Johnson was born in Raleigh, 
North Carolina, late in 1808. His 
parents were poor and lowly; and at 
the 'age of four years he was bereft of 
his father. Without an hour's school- 
ing he was apprenticed to a tailor at 
the age of ten years, and during that 
service he taught himself to read. With 
his own hands he supported his mother, 
and with her he moved to Greenville. 
East Tennessee, when he was eighteen 
years of age. There he soon married 
an excellent girl, who taught him to 
write. The energy of his character, his 
sobriety and strength of mind, com- 
mended him to the citizens, and he was 
elected alderman of Greenville at the 
age of twenty, and mayor when he was 
twenty-one. 

Mr. Johnson was possessed of a cer- 
tain kind of rugged and ready oratory 
that made him very popular; also the 
elements and aspirations of an adroit 
politician ; and he made his way upward 
in the path of distinction by his own 
indomitable will, passing successively 
through the offices of alderman, mayor, 
member of both houses of the Legis- 
lature of Tennessee, presidential elec- 
tor, member of Congress, Governor of 



270 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



Tennessee, National Senator, \'ice- 
President and Acting-President of the 
United States. His moral nature was 
more feeble than his ambition, and 
yielded to it ; and in his career as Presi- 
dent that weakness prevented his 
achieving most enviable fame as a 
patriot and a benefactor of his race. 

GRANT'S ADMINISTRATION. 

Auspicious omens of peace and pros- 
perity appeared at the beginning of 
President Grant's administration. The 
condition of public affairs, at home and 
abroad, seemed to promise a bright 
official career for the new Chief Magis- 
trate. The only cloud seen in the 
firmament of our foreign relations that 
betokened future difficulties was the 
irritation felt concerning the depreda- 
tions of the Alabama under the tacit 
sanction of the British Government. 
The Government of the United States 
claimed for its citizens payment for the 
damages inflicted upon them by that 
Anglo-Confederate cruiser. 

To effect a peaceful solution of the 
difficulty, Reverdy Johnson, of Mary- 
land, was sent to England in 1868 to 
negotiate a treaty for that purpose, but 
his mission did not have a satisfactory 
result. The treaty agreed to was almost 
universally condemned by his country- 
men, and it was rejected by the Senate 
by a vote of fifty-four against one. Mr. 
Johnson was recalled, and J. Lothrop 
Motley, the historian, was appointed 
American Minister to the British court, 
charged with the negotiation of another 
treaty for the same purpose. Mr. IMot- 
ley was no more successful in that 
particular mission than was his prede- 
cessor, and General Grant recalled him 
in 1870. The matter was finally settled 
by arbitration. 

At an early period of Grant's ad- 
ministration an important amendment 
to the National Constitution was pro- 
posed, by Mr. Julian, of Indiana, for 
securing the ballot to women, in the 
following form : 

"The right of suffrage in the United 
States shall be based on citizenship, and 



shall be regulated by Congress ; and 
all the citizens of the United States, 
whether native or naturalized, shall en- 
joy this right equally, without any 
distinction or discrimination whatever, 
founded on sex." 

As the first section of the fourteenth 
amendment declares that "all persons, 
born or naturalized in the United 
States, and subject to the jurisdiction 
thereof (without an allusion to se.x I 
are citizens of the United States, and 
of the State wherein they reside," this 
amendment clearly gives to women the 
rights and privileges of citizens. No 
action has since been taken by Con- 
gress on the subject; but organizations 
for effecting that object exist, and the 
matter will not be allowed to slumber 
indefinitely, for justice demands such 
a fundamental law. The right to the 
exercise of the elective franchise is 
guaranteed to our colored citizens ; do 
women less deserve the privilege? 

The great event in railroad history 
was the completion of the first trans- 
continental railway. This project, sug- 
gested as far back as 1848, had been 
indorsed by both political parties as a 
necessity and the Government urged to 
aid it. No private capital would under- 
take it, and the Go\ernment did not 
care to go into the business on its 
own account. As a compromise it was 
proposed that the Government loan Ti 
per cent, bonds to a corporation which 
should build the road and give first 
mortgage bonds for these advances. By 
the act of 1862 the Government was 
to give $16,000 per mile, in its own 
bonds, and a liberal land grant. Owing 
to the war even this liberal offer could 
not be accepted by any corporation, 
as that part of the line across the Rocky 
Mountains would be enormously ex- 
pensive. In 1864 the corporation that 
liad been formed for the work suc- 
ceeded in getting Congress to double 
the land grant, giving half the land 
for ten miles on each side of the road, 
allowing $32,000 per mile on the more 
difficult section and $48,000 per mile in 
the mountain sections, while taking a 
first mortgage lien on the road. Even 



SIXTH PERIOD— GRANT'S ADMINISTRATION 



this liberal offer did not attract capital 
to an enterprise which was believed to 
be, if not an engineering impossibility, 
at least a scheme which would be 
financially disastrous. This should be 
remembered in connection with the 
scandals which followed. As the work 
was too great for one corporation, it 
was divided. One company, the Cen- 
tral Pacific, was to build east from 
San Francisco, and the other, the Union 
Pacific, west from Omaha, until they 
met on the line already agreed on by 
engineers. The western end of the 
work was undertaken by Leland Stan- 
ford, C. P. Huntington. Mark Hopkins, 
Charles Crocker and a few others, with- 
out any knowledge of railroad construc- 
tion : all being comparatively poor men. 
They amassed fortunes, and have been 
subject to much abuse, but it should 
be remembered that they did a work no 
one else would undertake, while the 
nation has been greatly benefited by 
their enterprise. 

The eastern end was constructed 
largely by the energy of Oakes and 
Oliver Ames, of Boston, who met with 
the greatest difficulties in getting capital 
to complete the forty-mile sections be- 
fore Congressional aid was available. 
As no contractor could undertake so 
large a work, construction was sublet 
to a corporation known as "the Credit 
Mobiler" (borrowing a French name 
from similar institutions in France), 
which contracted for the whole work. 
Shares of this stock were undoubtedly 
sold to Congressmen to influence their 
votes on the second bill granting aid 
to the road, and in some cases the 
payment was made long after delivery. 
At least stock, which soon became very 
valuable, was carried in their names, 
to be paid for on demand, for their 
benefit. This of itself was originally 
considered as legitimate as to own 
national bank stock, which was affected 
by Congressional legislation. This was 
called "d6ing evil for a good purpose," 
but such sophistry did not avert a 
scandal. A committee of Congressmen, 
some years later, investigated the sub- 
ject, and Oakes .Ames was recom- 
mended to be expelled ; as the alleged 



misdemeanor was in a previous Con- 
gress, he was only censured, and died 
soon afterward, partly of chagrin, after 
doing what he felt to be a national 
service. Many whose names were con- 
nected with the scandal were driven 
from public life, though some survi\ed 
it. All denied improper motives, but 
such excuses were not received. It is 
true that the road was of immense 
public value, that it was a strategic and 
commercial necessity, but it is also true 
that proper aid could or should 
have been secured without improper 
methods. Nevertheless, posterity has 
been kind to Oakes Ames and has been 
inclined to forgive one who erred on 
the side of the country's good, even if 
he did profit by it and use bad methods. 
Yankee ingenuity was taxed to its 
utmost in constructing this line. There 
were great rivers to bridge, mountain 
ranges to cross, and new problems to 
solve. The Indians were hostile, the 
cost of construction exceeded expecta- 
tions, and finally the Union Pacific 
Company had to confess that it needed 
more help. Again the great financiers 
were asked to aid by taking second 
mortgage bonds, and they refused. In 
this emergency the company again went 
to Congress and asked that the Govern- 
ment take a second lien for its money. 
so that first mortgage bonds could be 
sold in the market. It was getting this 
legislation throug-h that most of the 
scandals occurred. Congress assented 
and money was raised to complete the 
work. Toward the end there was aij 
exciting race between the two com- 
panies to see which would lay the most 
track. The rails joined at Promontory 
Point, near Ogden, Utah, and on May 
lo, 1869, the golden spike was driven 
that united San Francisco and New 
York by rail. The occasion was made 
one of great festivity all over the coun- 
try, and with good reason, for it not 
only bound East and West, but stimu- 
lated other enterprises of tlie same 
kind, until now there are half a dozen 
transcontinental lines, most of which 
received some Government aid in the 
way of land grants, and some in money 
also. The total Government cash paid 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AXD REFERENCE 



for all the lines amounted to $64,633,- 
512, but as very little interest was paid 
the total sum due in 1898 was several 
times as much. A Government com- 
mission estimated the total actual cost 
of the Central Pacific at $58,000,000, 
and the Union Pacific at $50,720,000. 

One result of the building of the 
transcontinental railway was the dis- 
covery that between the Missouri 
River and the Sierra Xevadas were 
some of the richest portions of the 
country, available for agriculture and 
grazing, and rich in gold, silver and 
copper. These mines have produced 
more wealth than those of California. 
Moreover, the railway hastened the 
movement of the population westward, 
so that by 1870 there were a million 
along the line of the road, whereas in 
i860 there had been but a few thou- 
sand. From 1870 onward the develop- 
ment was rapid. Nevada was made a 
State during the Civil War (1864), for 
political reasons. Since the completion 
of the road there have been organized 
west of the Missouri the States of 
North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, 
Wyoming, Idaho. Washington, Utah 
and Colorado, none of which probably 
would have become a State in the 
Nineteenth Century save for the Gov- 
ernment aided railways. In i8g8 the 
Union Pacific and Central Pacific 
mortgages fell due and were paid, as 
to the former principal and interest, 
and principal and part interest as to 
the latter were to be paid in the ensuing 
ten years. So the Government got its 
money back and made millions by the 
sale of lands, which would have been 
worthless had not the railroads been 
constructed. In spits of scandals in 
Congress, stock jobbing and other re- 
ported evil doings, the country has 
profited largely by aiding Western rail- 
way construction. Altogether Congress 
voted about $120,000,000 to all the 
Western railways. 

At times these peculiar relations be- 
tween our people and those of the 
neighboring Spanish colony caused 
much irritation, and promised a disrup- 
tion of the peaceful relations between 
the United States and Spain. Finally, 



late in 1873, war between the two coun- 
tries seemed to be inevitable. The 
steamship J'irgiuius, flying the flag of 
our Republic, suspected of carrying 
men and supplies to the Cubans, was 
captured by a Spanish cruiser off the 
coast of Cuba, taken into port, and 
many of her passengers and her captain 
and some of the crew were publicly 
shot by the local military authorities. 
'J'his outrage produced intense excite- 
ment throughout our country. There 
was for awhile a hot war-spirit in the 
land, but wise men in the control of 
the Governments of Spain and the 
United States calmly considered the 
international questions involved, and 
settled the matter by peaceful diplo- 
macy. There were rights to be ac- 
knowledged by both parties. The 
Virg'uuus was surrendered to the 
United States authorities, and ample 
reparation for the outrage was offered. 
While the vessel was on its way to 
New York, under an escort, she sprung 
a leak off Cape Fear, and went to the 
bottom of the sea, at the close of De- 
cember, 1873. 

In the year 1870 the claims of the 
Government of the United States upon 
that of Great Britain, for damages 
inflicted upon the American shipping 
interest by the depredations of the 
Alabama, and other Anglo-Confederate 
ciuisers, occupied a large share of pub- 
lic attention. Two eft'orts to effect a 
treaty had been made, and failed. 
Much diplomatic correspondence en- 
sued. Finally, late in January. 1871, 
Sir Edward Thornton, the British 
m-inister at Washington, under instruc- 
tions from his government, proposed, 
in a letter to Secretary Fish, a Joint 
High Commission, to be appointed by 
the two governments respectively, to 
settle a serious dispute which had arisen 
concerning the fisheries, and so to estab- 
lish a permanent friendship between the 
two nations. I\Ir. Fish, in reply, pro- 
posed that the commission should em- 
brace in its inquiries the matter of the 
"Alabama claims," and other subjects 
of dispute, so that nothing should re- 
main to disturb the relations of friend- 
ship which might be established. The 



SIXTH PERIOD— GRANTS ADMINISTRATION 



suggestion was approved by the British 
minister, and each government pro- 
ceeded to appoint its commissions. 

The commissioners of the United 
States were instructed to consider (i) 
the fisheries; (2) the navigation of the 
St. Lawrence River; (3) reciprocal 
trade between the United States and 
the Dominion of Canada; (4) the 
Northwest water boundary and the 
Island of San Juan; (5) the claims of 
the United States against Great Britain 
for compensation for injuries com- 
mitted by rebel cruisers, and (6) 
claims of British subjects against the 
United States for losses and injuries 
arising out of acts committed during 
the recent Civil War. 

On the 27th of February (1871) the 
commission had their first meeting, in 
Washington city. Lord Tenterden, 
Secretary of the British Commission, 
and J. C. Brancroft Davis, Assistant 
Secretary of State of the United States, 
were chosen clerks for the Joint High 
Commission. They held many meet- 
ings and the subjects were fully dis- 
cussed, when a treaty was agreed to, 
which provided for the settlement, by 
arbitration, by a mixed commission, of 
all claims on both sides for injuries 
by either governments to the citizens 
of the other, during the Civil War, and 
for the permanent settlement of all 
questions in dispute between the two 
nations. This treaty was signed on the 
8th of May, 1871, and was speedily 
ratified by the two governments. 

The conclusion of the treaty was 
followed by the appointment of 
arbitrators. 

On the 15th of December, 1871, the 
"Tribunal" assembled at Geneva, in 
Switzerland, where Count Sclopis was 
chosen to preside. After two meetings 
it was adjourned to the middle of June, 
1872. A final meeting was held in 
September, the same year; and on the 
14th of that month its decision on the 
Alabama claims was announced. That 
decision decreed that the Government 
of Great Britain should pay to the 
Government of the United States the 
sum of $15,500,000 in gold, to be given 



to citizens of the latter for losses in- 
curred by the depredations of the 
Alabama and other Anglo-Confederate 
cruisers. That amount was paid into 
the Treasury of the United States, a 
year afterwards, through the agency of 
the banking firms of Drexel, Morgan & 
Company and Jay Cooke & Company, 
who made a contract with the British 
Government to pay this award on or 
before the loth of September, 1873. 
This transaction was performed in the 
following manner, without moving a 
dollar of coin : 

The contracting bankers, from time 
to time, bought bills of exchange, which 
they deposited in comparatively small 
amounts, and received coin or gold cer- 
tificates for such deposits, and pur- 
chased LTnited States bonds. Those 
bonds and coin certificates they finally 
exchanged with the Secretary of the 
Treasury for a single certificate for 
$15,500,000, which reads as follows: 
"It is hereby certified that fifteen mil- 
lion five hundred thousand dollars have 
been deposited with the Treasurer of 
the United States, payable in gold, at 
his office, to Drexel, Morgan & Co., 
Morton, Bliss & Co.. and Jay Cooke & 
Co., or their order." This was endorsed 
by these parties to pay the amount to 
the British minister at Washington, 
and the British Consul-General at New 
York. The minister and consul en- 
dorsed it with an order to pay the 
amount to Hamilton Fish, Secretary 
of State; and he, in turn, endorsed it 
with an order to pay it to W. A. 
Richardson, Secretary of the Treasury. 
The money was invested in the new 
five per cent, bonds of the United States 
of the funded loan, redeemable after 
the first day of May, 1881 : and a com- 
mission was appointed to distribute the 
award among the just claimants for 
damages. 

The question of boundary on the 
Pacific coast between our country and 
the British possessions was referred to 
the Emperor of Germany, who decided 
in favor of the claims of tJie United 
States, which gave to our territory the 
island of San Juan, the domain in 



274 



THE ho:me auxiliary and reference 



dispute. So was settled by the peaceful 
and just method of arbitration most 
exciting questions. 

In the year 1870 Congress authorized 
the establishment of a Weather Signal 
Service, under the control of the War 
Department, which was designed to 
collect information and give notice by 
signals or by telegraph of any approach- 
ing danger; in time of peace, of dan- 
gers to arise from storms in their 
progress, or other atmospheric dis- 
turbances. 

By an act of Congress a large tract 
of the public domain, about forty miles 
square, lying near the head-waters of 
the Yellowstone River, on the north- 
eastern slope of the Rocky ?^Iountains, 
was set apart for a public park. It is 
withdrawn from sale, settlement and 
occupancy, and is dedicated to the 
"pleasure and enjoyment of the people 
of the United States." 

Early in the year 1872 several politi- 
cal national conventions were held for 
the purpose of nominating candidates 
for the Presidency. 

Grant and Wilson were elected, the 
majority of the former being much 
greater than he received in 1868. 

The Senate immediately confirmed 
President Grant's nominations of con- 
stitutional advisers, which were as fol- 
lows: Hamilton Fish. Secretary of 
State; William A. Richardson, Secre- 
tary of the Treasury ; William W. Belk- 
nap, Secretary of War : George A. 
Robeson, Secretary of the Navy ; Co- 
lumbus Delano, Secretary of the In- 
terior; John A. J. Creswell, Postmaster- 
General, and George H. Williams, 
Attorney-General. Changes in the per- 
sonnel of the Cabinet afterward took 
place, and only Mr. Fish retained his 
position during the eight years of Presi- 
dent Grant's administration. 

At the beginning of the second term 
of President Grant's administration the 
future of our country, in all its aspects, 
appeared brighter than ever before, 
since the end of the Civil War. There 
seemed to be a steady improvement in 
the tone of public feeling after the 
irritations caused by the Civil War and 
the measures adopted for the restora- 



tion of the Union. The Government, 
in its dealings with the leaders in the 
insurrection, had been exceedingly len- 
ient. Of the thousands of our citizens 
who consciously and willingly com- 
mitted "treason against the United 
States," as defined by Article III, Sec- 
tion 3, Clause I, of the National Con- 
stitution, not one had been punished 
for that crime ; and only Jefferson 
Da\is, the acting head of the Confed- 
eracy, had been indicted, and he was 
released from jail (illegally) by Presi- 
dent Johnson's proclamation of amnesty 
on Christmas Day, 1868, already men- 
tioned, and has never been called to 
account. 

In the spring of 1873 difficulties oc- 
curred with the Modoc Indians, who 
for twenty years had shown a hostile 
feeling toward the white people. A 
treaty had been made with them in 
1864, which provided for the setting 
apart for them of seven hundred and 
sixty-eight thousand acres of land in 
Southern Oregon. Some of the tribe 
settled there ; others, led by a chief 
known as "Captain Jack," a conspic- 
uous warrior, preferred to remain 
where they were, but sullenly consented 
to go. Trouble with other Indians 
there caused the Modocs to leave the 
reservation and begin anew their depre- 
dations. It was finally determined to 
compel them to go to their reservation, 
when the Indians, under the immediate 
leadership of Captain Jack, broke out 
into open war late in 1872, and on the 
same day eleven citizens were mur- 
dered. 

In January, 1873, a severe engage- 
ment occurred between the National 
troops and the IModocs. who were 
strongly intrenched among rocks and 
vast lava-beds. All attempts to dis- 
lodge them were made in vain, and 
a peace commission was appointed to 
confer with them. That commission 
reported, on the 3d of March, that the 
Modocs had agreed to surrender their 
arms and go to the reservation. On 
the following day they were compelled 
to report that the barbarians had 
changed their minds, and had rejected 
all propositions for a removal, and re- 



SIXTH PERIOD— GRANT'S ADMINISTRATION 



fused to go to the reservation. Then 
another peace commission was ap- 
pointed, composed of Genera! Canby, 
the Rev. Dr. Thomas, and others. 
They found the Modocs under the in- 
fluence of Captain Jack, very insolent 
in their bearing, and showing unmis- 
takable signs of hostile feeling. Fi- 
nally, on the nth of April, 1873, while 
they were engaged in a council with the 
Indians, General Canby and Dr. 
Thomas were murdered by them, the 
savage warriors stealing upon them in 
a most cowardly manner. 

This treachery caused the Govern- 
ment to make the most vigorous war 
ufion the Modocs ; and before the first 
of June they were driven from the 
lava-beds and were completely subdued. 
Captain Jack was deserted by most of 
his followers, and was finally captured, 
with several of the participants in the 
murder. They were tried by a court- 
martial, in August, and six of them 
were condemned to death. Captain 
Jack and three of his companions were 
hung on the 3d of October following, 
at Fort Klamath, in Oregon. 

General George A. Custer had been 
sent into the region known as the Black 
Hills, with a military force, to examine 
and report upon the state of affairs 
there. It is a region that had been set 
apart by our Government as a reserva- 
tion for the powerful and warlike 
Sioux Indians. They are the most nu- 
merous of all the tribes, and more dif- 
ficult to conquer than any body of bar- 
barians within our domain. It is esti- 
mated that if they should rally all their 
strength, they might muster ten thou- 
sand warriors. The Rlack Hills, 
which had been assigned to them, oc- 
cupy portions of the Territories 'of 
Dakota and Wyoming. Custer was 
charmed with the beauty and apparent 
fertility of that region of country. He 
reported it to be another Florida in 
the exuberance of its floral Ijeauty, and 
also extremely rich in precious metals. 
The cupidity of frontiermen was ex- 
cited, and very soon prospecting miners 
appeared on the Sioux domain. In- 
structed by past experience of the bad 
faith of our Government the Indians 



saw in these mo\-ements a sure signs of 
their final dispossession of these fair 
lands. Their jealousy was aroused. 
Their suspicions were well-founded ; 
for near the close of 1874, a bill was 
introduced into Congress which pro- 
vided for the extinguishment of the 
Indian title to so much of the Black 
Hills reservation as lay within the 
Territory of Dakota. 

In the spring of 1875, Mr. Jenny, 
Government geologist, was sent to the 
Black Hills country to make a survey 
of that region. He was escorted by 
six companies of cavalry and two of in- 
fantry. This invasion of their reserva- 
tion, and the significant presence of 
surveyors, confirmed the suspicions of 
the Sioux, of the design of our Gov- 
ernment to deprive them of these lands ; 
and all through that year they showed 
such unmistakable signs of prepara- 
tions for war to defend their domain, 
that early in 1876 a strong military 
force was sent into the region of the 
Yellowstone River, in Montana Terri- 
tory and the adjoining region, to watch 
the movements of the barbarians. Fi- 
nally, a campaign against them was or- 
ganized. The general plan was for the 
military force to make a simultaneous 
movement, under experienced leaders, 
in three columns — one from the De- 
partment of the Platte, led by General 
Crooke ; one from the Department of 
Dakota, commanded by General Terry, 
and a third from the Territory of Mon- 
tana, led by General Gibbon. The latter 
was to move with his column down 
the Valley of the Yellowstone, to pre- 
vent the Sioux from escaping north- 
ward. General Custer, at the same 
time, pushing across the country from 
the Missouri to the Yellowstone to 
drive the Indians toward General Gib- 
bon, while General Crooke was to 
scout the Black Hills and drive out any 
of the hostile Sioux that might be 
found there. The expedition was un- 
der the chief command of General Al- 
fred H. Terry, a brave, judicious and 
experienced officer. He and his staff 
accompanied Custer from Fort Abra- 
ham Lincoln to the Yellowstone River. 
On their arrival in the vicinity, at about 



276 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



the first of June (1876), and com- 
municating with General Gibbon, they 
found that Indians were in the neigh- 
borhood, in large numbers, and well 
supplied with munitions of war. 

The reports of scouts caused a be- 
lief that the Indians, with their great 
movable village, were in the meshes of 
the net prepared for them near the 
waters of the Big and Little Horn, 
Powder and Tongue Rivers (tribu- 
taries of the Yellowstone), and Rose- 
bud Creek. The concentrated troops 
began to feel for themselves. On the 
17th of June, Crooke had a sharp fight 
with a superior force of Sioux, who 
were thoroughly armed and equipped, 
and was obliged to retreat. Terry and 
Gibbon met at the mouth of the Rose- 
bud. Custer was there, at the head 
of the stronger column, consisting of 
the whole of the Seventh regiment of 
cavalry, composed of twelve companies, 
and he was ordered to make the attack. 
He and Gibbon marched toward the 
vicinity of the Big Horn River. Custer 
arrived first and discovered an im- 
mense Indian camp on a plain. He had 
been directed to await the arrival of 
Gibbon, to co-operate with him, before 
making an attack; but inferring that 
the Indians were moving off, he di- 
rected Colonel Reno to attack them at 
one point with seven companies of the 
cavalry, while he dashed off with five 
companies (about three hundred men) 
to attack at another point A terrible 
struggle ensued on the 25th of June, 
1876, with a body of Indians, in num- 
ber five to one of the white men. They 
were commanded by an educated, bold 
and skilful chief named "Sitting Bull." 
Custer and almost his entire command 
were slain. Two hundred and sixty- 
one were killed and fifty were wounded. 

With General Custer perished two of 
his brothers, a brother-in-law, and 
other gallant officers. Many of them 
had doubtless been murdered after they 
had been captured, and the bodies hor- 
ribly mutilated. The body of the gen- 
eral was afterward found and fully 
identified. It was taken to Fort Abra- 
ham Lincoln, in Dakota Territory, 
where provision was made for its con- 



veyance to West Point, on the Hudson 
River, for interment. It was at first 
sent to Poughkeepsie, at midsummer, 
1877, and deposited in the receiving 
vault of the Rural Cemetery there, 
where it remained until the loth of 
October following, when it was con- 
veyed to West Point, with a certificate 
from the post-surgeon of Fort Lincoln, 
that the burial casket contained "the re- 
mains of General George A. Custer, 
lieutenant-colonel Seventh cavalry, 
killed at the battle of Big Horn River, 
June 25, 1876." 

The news of the destruction of 
Custer and his command produced 
much excitement throughout the 
country ; and the Government imme- 
diately ordered a large military force 
into the region of the Black Hills, for 
the purpose of utterly crushing the 
power of the Sioux. Sitting Bull and 
his followers, anticipating severe chas- 
tisement, at length withdrew into the 
British possessions, where they re- 
mained until the summer of 1881. 

The Territory of Colorado had to 
wait for admission into the Union as 
a State, ten years after first making 
application for the privilege. That act 
was consummated on the 4th of July, 
1876. 

In the last year of Grant's term was 
held the exhibition at Philadelphia, to 
celebrate the centennial of American 
liberty. Philadelphia was selected be- 
cause "the Declaration of Independence 
was signed there. It was by far the 
greatest world's fair that had been held 
up to that time. The city set aside a 
large portion of Fairmount Park for 
the purpose, and here were erected six 
large buildings and hundreds of smaller 
ones. The expense was borne largely 
by local enterprise, but the Govern- 
ment loaned .'f 1,500,000, which was re- 
paid. The total expense was $8,500,000. 
part of which was defrayed by the city, 
and part by the State. The rest was 
raised by subscription to stock in the 
enterprise, a portion of which was re- 
paid. The total number of visitors was 
just under 10,000,000, and the largest 
on any one day was 274,910. The expo- 
sition was open from l\Iay 10 to No- 



SIXTH PERIOD— GRANT'S ADMINISTRATION 



veinber lo, except Sundays, a total of 
159 days. It was opened with appro- 
priate ceremonies by President Grant 
and Emperor Dom Pedro, of Brazil. 

The exhibits came from all parts of 
the world, and for the first time in our 
history our people had an opportunity 
to compare their own products with 
those of other nations. The visitors 
likewise came from all over the world, 
and the result was most gratifying. 

The year 1876 was a "Presidential 
year" as well as a "Centennial year." 
The campaign for the prize of the 
Presidency of the Republic was vigor- 
ously begun at the middle of June, 
when a Republican National Conven- 
tion assembled (June 16) at Cincinnati, 
to make nominations for President and 
Vice-President. There were two 
prominent candidates before the Con- 
vention, James G. Blaine of Maine, and 
Roscoe Conkling of New York. They 
were both rejected, and the Conven- 
tion nominated Rutherford Birchard 
Hayes, at that time governor of Ohio, 
for the Presidency, and William A. 
Wheeler of New York, for the Vice- 
Presidency. On the 27th of the same 
month a Democratic National Conven- 
tion assembled at St. Louis for the 
same purpose and nominated Samuel 
J. Tilden (then governor) of New 
York, for President, and Thomas A. 
Hendricks of Indiana, for Vice-Presi- 
dent. A most exciting canvass ensued, 
during which the lawlessness that dis- 
turbed portions of some of the 
Southern States was reproduced with 
increased vehemence, and at times local 
civil war seemed to be inevitable. 

The result of the Presidential elec- 
tion was long in doubt, each party 
claiming a majority for its candidate. 
One hundred and eighty-five votes in 
the electoral college was necessary to 
the success of a candidate. It was 
decided, immediately after the election, 
that Mr. Tilden had one hundred and 
eighty-four. Democratic Presidential 
Electors had been chosen in three 
Northern States — New York, New Jer- 
sey and Connecticut ; in one of the 
Western States — Indiana ; and in all 
the Southern States except South Caro- 



lina, Florida and Louisiana. The Re- 
publican Electors had been chosen in 
si.x Northern States — Maine, Massa- 
chusetts, New Hampshire, Pennsyl- 
vania, Rhode Island and Vermont ; in 
eleven Western States — California, 
Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, 
JMinnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio, 
Oregon and Wisconsin ; and in one 
Southern State — South Carolina — 
giving Hayes 173 votes. 

Then ensued a long, bitter and 
sometimes violent contest in South 
Carolina, Florida and Louisiana, over 
the official returns of the elections. 
Each party charged the other with 
fraud or intended fraud, in making up 
these returns. There was the wildest 
excitement in the Gulf region and there 
was much agitation and anxiety at the 
North and West. 

Thoughtful men foresaw much trou- 
ble at the final counting of the votes 
of the Electoral College by the Presi- 
dent of the Senate, according to the 
provisions of the Constitution, for al- 
ready the question had arisen as to his 
absolute power in the matter. Each 
party persistently claimed the prize of 
the Presidency, when returning boards 
in the doubtful States had decided that 
I\Ir. Hayes had one hundred and 
eighty-five electoral vote, and Mr. Til- 
den one hundred and eighty-four. To 
prevent serious difficulty, plans were 
offered. On the 5th of December, 
Senator Edmunds offered in the Senate 
an amendment to the Constitution, 
providing for the counting and declara- 
tion of the electoral vote by the Su- 
preme Court of the L^nited States. It 
was defeated. On the 14th, Proctor 
Knott (a Democrat), from the Ju- 
diciary Committee of the House of 
Representatives, reported a resolution 
(as a substitute for one previously of- 
fered) that a committee of seven mem- 
bers, to be appointed by the Speaker, 
to act in conjunction with any similar 
committee that may be appointed by the 
Senate, to prepare and report such a 
measure, either legislative or constitu- 
tional, as may, in their judgment, be 
best calculated to accomplish the end 
])roposed, namely, that the elector.il 



278 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



votes may be counted and the result de- 
clared by a tribunal whose authority no 
one can question, and whose decision 
all will accept as final. This resolu- 
tion was adopted without a division. 
On the i8th, the Senate voted in favor 
of a committee to act with that ap- 
pointed by the House. 

On the 1 8th of January, 1877, the 
joint committee reported. They pre- 
sented a bill that provided for the meet- 
ing of both Houses in the hall of the 
House of Representatives, on the ist 
of February, 1877. Two tellers, to 
have been previously appointed by 
each House, to whom should be handed, 
as they were opened by the President 
of the Senate, all the certificates and 
papers purporting to be certificates of 
electoral votes ; these to be opened, pre- 
sented, and acted upon in the alpha- 
betical order of the States. When 
there should be a single return from a 
State, and an objection thereto, with 
its ground, should be made in writing, 
and signed by at least one Senator and 
one Representative, the two Houses 
should separately decide upon such ob- 
jection or objections, the vote to be re- 
jected only by the affirmative vote of 
the two Houses. In the cases of more 
than one return from a State, all such 
returns having been read by the tellers, 
should be, upon objection being made, 
submitted to the judgment and decision 
as to which is the true and lawful elec- 
toral vote of the State, of a Commis- 
sion of fifteen, to be composed of five 
members from each House, to be ap- 
pointed z'iva voce, January 30, with 
five Associate Justices of the Supreme 
Court of the United States, four of 
these Justices being those of the First, 
Third, Eighth and Ninth Circuits, who 
should on January 30, select another 
of the Associate Justices of the same 
Court ; the entire Commission to be 
presided over by the Associate Justice 
longest in commission. Each of the 
members of the Commission to take an 
oath to consider the questions sub- 
mitted, and to give a true judgment 
thereon agreeably to the Constitution 
and the laws. The decision of the 
Commission, or a majority thereof, to 



be made in writing, signed by the as- 
senting members, and submitted to 
Congress ; and this decision, having 
been entered in the journal of each 
House, must be final, unless overruled 
by the action of both Houses. This 
is a brief summary of the bill. 

After much debate, this bill was 
passed by both Houses. It was signed 
by the President on the 29th of Jan- 
uary, and on the 30th the two Houses 
elected five members each, to serve on 
the Electoral Commission. On the fol- 
lowing day a communication was re- 
ceived by both Houses from the four 
Associate Justices named in the bill — ■ 
Clifford, ]\Iiller, Field and Strong — an- 
nouncing that they had chosen as the 
fifth member of Associate Justices, 
Joseph P. Bradle}'. 

The joint Electoral Commission as- 
sembled in the hall of the House of 
Representatives on the ist of Febr- 
uary, 1877. The President of the 
Senate proceeded to open the certifi- 
cates of the several States, in their al- 
phabetical order. The counting was 
completed on the 2d of March, when 
the President of the Senate announced 
that Rutherford B. Hayes was elected 
President of the Republic, and William 
A. Wheeler was elected \'ice-President. 
On Saturday, the 3d day of March, 
the Forty-fourth Congress finally ad- 
journed. 

ADMINISTRATIONS OF HAYES, 
GARFIELD AND ARTHUR. 

The 4th of March — the day pre- 
scribed for the inauguration of a new 
President of the United States — falling 
on Sunday, Mr. Hayes, to prevent any 
technical objections that might be 
raised, privately took the oath of office 
on that day, and on Monday, the 5th, 
he was publicly inaugurated. 

A special session of the Senate was 
opened on the day of the public inau- 
guration, and received and confirmed 
the following cabinet nominations from 
President Hayes: William M. Evarts 
of New York, for Secretary of State ; 
John Sherman of Ohio, Secretary of 
the Treasury ; George W. McCreay, of 



SIXTH PERIOD— HAYES' ADMINISTRATION 



379 



Iowa, Secretary of War; Richard W. 
Thompson of Indiana, Secretary of 
tlie Navy ; Carl Schurz of Missouri, 
Secretary of the Interior; David M. 
Key of Tennessee, Postmaster-General, 
and Charles Devens of Massachusetts, 
Attorney-General. 

The political situation in Louisiana — 
both parties claiming the right of the 
respective magistrates chosen by them 
to govern the State — was made the spe- 
cial subject for discussion in President 
Hayes' cabinet on the 20th and 21st 
of March, when it was decided to send 
a commission to that State to investi- 
gate the matter. There were two rival 
claimants to the governorship of the 
State, and each party declared that its 
own chosen officers were legally elected. 
There was a similar state of affairs in 
South Carolina, and the President 
sought diligently for the truth and 
right. The opponents of the late ad- 
ministration declared their readiness to 
submit to law and justice, and prom- 
ised obedience and loyalty in the event 
of the removal of United States troops, 
the presence of which they regarded 
as a menace, and as a restraint upon 
the free action which every citizen has 
a right to exercise. 

Upon the report of the commission 
sent to the South, the President re- 
solved to trust the promises of the op- 
position in both Louisiana and South 
Carolina, and removed from them the 
restraints of military force. A salutary 
result was soon perceived, in an im- 
proved tone of public feeling there. 
This measure, and a reform in the civil 
service of the Republic, were the most 
conspicuous features of the public 
policy of the Administration. 

The subject of the Presidency oc- 
cupied so much of the time and atten- 
tion of the last session of the Forty- 
fourth Congress, that at its adjourn- 
ment there was left a great deal of un- 
finished important business. There 
was, toward the last, so much factious 
opposition to the outgoing and incom- 
ing administration, that Congress failed 
to pass important appropriation bills, 
and this neglect caused the necessity 



for calling an extraordinary session of 
the Forty-fifth Congress, to provide 
means for carrying on the Government. 
It was thought proper, at first, to have 
a summer session, but prudential rea- 
sons forbade it, and on the 5th of May 
(1877) the President issued a proc- 
lamation calling a session in October. 
When Congress met on the 15th of 
that month, the President in a message 
stated the object of their meeting, 
which was simply to make appropria- 
tions to supply money deficiences ; he 
presented a list of estimates of the 
amount needed, which aggregated 
about $37,000,000. It was expected 
that the session would be short, and 
it would have been, had only its legit- 
imate business been attended to ; but 
other subjects engaged the attention of 
members. The bills were delayed, and 
the extraordinary session was pro- 
longed until the time for the opening 
of the regular session, on the 3d of 
December. 

During the summer of 1877, our 
Government engaged in a war with the 
Nez Perce (Pierced-Nose) Indians, in 
Idaho. It was not only a blunder, but 
crime, on the part of the United States. 

At the first regular session of the 
Forty-fifth Congress, a bill known as 
the "Bland Silver Bill" was passed, on 
the 2 1st of February, 1878. The Presi- 
dent returned it to the House of Repre- 
sentatives on February 28th, with his 
objection; but, on the same day, it was 
passed by both Houses over his veto, 
and it became a law. It provided for 
the coinage of silver dollars of the 
weight of 4121^ grains, and that the 
rate of coinage should be at least $2,- 
000,000 a month, and not more than 
$4 ,000,000. 

During the summer and fall of 1878 
the yellow fever prevailed as a fearful 
epidemic in the region of the Lower 
Mississippi River from Memphis to 
New Orleans. In his annual message 
to Congress the President called the 
attention to that body of the necessity 
for investigating the causes of the epi- 
demic ; and on the 3th of December the 
Senate appointed a committee to settle 



28o 



THE HOME AUXILIARV AND REFERENCE 



the matter, with one from the House 
of Representatives, and appropriated 
$50,000. 

On the first of January, 1879, a most 
important event occurred — it was the 
resumption of specie payments by the 
National Government and the Banks, 
after a suspension of about eighteen 
years. There was very strong and per- 
sistent opposition to the measure on 
the part of the opponents of the ad- 
ministration, and efforts were made in 
Congress to defeat it. The authoriza- 
tion of the circulation of silver coin by 
act of Congress, in January, 1875, pre- 
pared the way for resumption. As the 
time approached for resumption, the 
opponents became louder prophets of 
evil. They predicted greater prostra- 
tion of business, and the impossibility 
of meeting the enormous demand for 
coin on the day fixed for resumption, 
and afterwards. The premium on gold, 
however, continually diminished, and 
paper money was at par value in De- 
cember. 1878. For some weeks private 
business houses had been paying out 
gold. Notwithstanding these indica- 
tions, the Government Sub-Treasuries 
and the Banks employed an increased 
clerical force to assist in the labors of 
the first of January. These clerks were 
not needed. At the closing hour the 
Banks had more gold in their vaults 
than at the opening. Resumption had 
been imperceptibly effected. Its salu- 
tary influence was immediately felt. 
From the first day of resumption, busi- 
ness began to revive, and the tide of 
prosperity throughout the whole coun- 
try has continued to rise higher and 
higher. 

On the Pacific Coast a strong preju- 
dice against the Chinese immigrants 
had been created, chiefly by other for- 
eign-born persons, because of their al- 
leged monopoly of labor at reduced 
prices. The matter was brought to the 
attention of Congress and a bill to re- 
strict Chinese immigration passed both 
Mouses in the winter of 1879. It re- 
stricted the number of Chinese pas- 
sengers in one voyage to fifteen. The 
President vetoed the bill. 

The opposition majority in Congress 



resolved to defeat, by means of legisla- 
tion, the operations of the law author- 
izing the use of United States troops 
to keep the peace at the polls where 
candidates for National offices were to 
be voted for. The employment of 
Cnited States Marshals for the same 
purpose was also opposed. The method 
resorted to for effecting their purpose 
caused very excitirjg debates in Con- 
gress. They burdened every appropria- 
tion bill with a "rider," or conditions 
requiring that United States troops 
should not be allowed at any election 
in any State, and that the Marshals 
should not interfere in any elections. 
So persistent were the opposition mem- 
bers in their methods, that they seemed 
determined to clog the wheels of Gov- 
ernment unless their measures were 
adopted. The Forty-fifth Congress ex- 
pired without passing the usual appro- 
priation bills, and this failure in duty 
caused the necessity for calling a ses- 
sion of the Forty-sixth Congress. They 
were summoned to meet on March 18, 
1879. They did so and passed appro- 
priation bills with obnoxious "riders," 
which were vetoed by the President. 
This extraordinary session lasted until 
July 1st. Failing to pass the vetoed 
bills over the President's veto, they 
were shorn of their obnoxious appen- 
dages and were passed and approved 
by the President. 

There was a remarkable and com- 
paratively sudden exodus of colored 
people from the States on the Lower 
Mississippi in 1879. The reason for 
the movement was alleged to be a 
denial of the exercise of civil rights 
to the negroes, to which they had a 
constitutional right, and their oppres- 
sions in various ways at the hands of 
the white people. The earlier emi- 
grants and the larger number went to 
Kansas. Later a considerable number 
went to Indiana. A committee was ap- 
pointed by the Senate to investigate the 
causes of the movement. Their re- 
port was not very satisfactory. They 
declared that the causes were partly 
political and partly pecuniary. 

There was a sudden outbreak of hos- 
tility to the white people by the Ute 



SIXTH PERIOD— GARFIELD'S ADMINISTRATION 



281 



tribe of Indians in Colorado in the 
early autumn of 1879. The movement 
was fierce and desperate, and created 
great alarm throughout a considerable 
portion of that State. The barbarians 
murdered N. C. Meeker, the Indian 
agent at White River. Major Thorn- 
burgh, of the United States Army, was 
sent with a force to suppress the hostile 
movement ; and in a battle with the 
Utes at Milk Creek, on September 29th, 
he and ten of his command were slain. 
For six days the rest of his force were 
surrounded by Indians, but being in- 
trenched it held out until succor ar- 
rived. The outbreak ended almost as 
suddenly as it was begun. 

The year 1880 was the "Presidential 
year," and both the great political par- 
ties as well as smaller organizations, 
began early to make preparations for 
the quadrennial contest for the coveted 
prize of the Presidency of the Repub- 
lic. In the months of June the several 
political parties each held a National 
Convention to nominate candidates for 
President and \'ice-President of the 
L'nited States. In this movement the 
Republican party first appeared. Its 
chosen representatives assembled in 
convention at Chicago, Illinois, on 
June 2d, 1880. They nominated James 
Abram Garfield, of Ohio, for President, 
and Chester Allan Arthur for Vice- 
President of the Republic. After a 
most exciting canvass, the election, in 
November, 1880, resulted in the choice 
of James A. Garfield for President and 
Chester A. Arthur for Vice-President 
of the Republic. 

On the 2Qth of February, 1881, 
President-elect Garfield left his home 
at Mentor, Ohio, for Washington City. 
He was accompanied by his family — 
his aged mother, eighty years old, his 
wife, and his two sons. He made a 
short, parting address at the railway- 
station, which he concluded with the 
words : ''What awaits me I cannot now 
speak of ; but I shall carry to the dis- 
charge of the duties that lie before me, 
to the problems and dangers I may 
meet, a sense of your confidence and 
your love, which will always be an- 



swered by my gratitude. Neighbors, 
friends, constituents — farewell !' 

Many friends accompanied General 
Garfield on his journey. He reached 
Washington on the morning of March 
jst, where he was met by a committee 
and taken to his quarters. His aged 
mother was conveyed to the President's 
house, where the room she was to oc- 
cupy was assigned her by Mrs. Hayes, 
whose guest she remained until after 
the inauguration, which event occurred 
on Friday, March 4, with imposing 
ceremonies. 

President Hayes had issued a procla- 
mation convening the Senate, in special 
executive session, on the afternoon of 
the 4th of March, to receive and act 
upon the nominations of Cabinet min- 
isters which the new President might 
make. These were sent in the next 
day, and the nominations were immed- 
iately confirmed without debate. They 
were as follows : For Secretary of 
State, James G. Blaine, of Maine; for 
Secretary of the Treasury, William 
Windom, of Minnesota ; for Secretary 
of War, Robert T. Lincoln, of Illinois, 
son of President Lincoln ; for Secre- 
tary of the Navy, William H. Hunt, of 
Louisiana ; for Secretary of the Inter- 
ior, Samuel J. Kirkwood, of Iowa; for 
Postmaster-General, Thomas L. James, 
of New York ; for Attorney-General, 
Wayne J\IcVeagh, of Pennsylvania. 

Subsequent nominations sent in to 
the Senate for confirmation were not so 
well received. With regard to one of 
them, the nomination of Judge Robert- 
son to the important office of Collector 
of Customs at New York, great efforts 
were made by Senator Conkling, ot 
New York, and the wing of the Re- 
publican party which acknowledged 
him as its leader, to procure its rejec- 
tion. Garfield, however, regarding 
himself as the President of the whoie 
nation, not of any party in it, or of any 
wing of a party, steadily refused to 
withdraw the obnoxious nomination, 
and the two Senators from New York 
State, hopeless of carrying their point, 
adopted the unprecedented step of re- 
signing their seats in the Senate. Sena- 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



tors Conkling and Piatt at once ap- 
pealed to the Legislature of New York 
for re-election. The conflict between 
the two factions was now transferred to 
Albany, and the war was carried on 
with unexampled bitterness. The Vice- 
President, Mr. Arthur, did not think 
it unbecoming his high office to mingle 
personally in the fray and exert his in- 
fluence for the cause of his friend 
Conkling. But it was in vain. The 
Senators who had resigned did not suc- 
ceed in gaining the re-election which 
would have returned them to the 
Senate with the endorsement of their 
State. The fierce political struggle was 
just terminating, when every heart was 
stricken with horror at the intelligence 
of a terrible tragedy. For the second 
time the elected head of this free peo- 
ple was struck down by the hand of an 
assassin. On the 2d of July the Presi- 
dent was leaving Washington for a 
• brief holiday, during which he was to 
pass the anniversary of the Declaration 
of Independence with Mr. Cyrus W. 
Field, near New York, and then to visit 
Williams College, Massachusetts. In 
the company of Mr. Blaine and other 
members of his Cabinet, he was taking 
his ticket at the railroad station, when 
the assassin Guiteau shot him in the 
back with a heavy ball from a pistol 
called an "English Bulldog." The 
President fell to the ground, and from 
the nature of the wound death was re- 
garded as imminent. Before the full 
effect of the deed was realized, Guiteau 
had been arrested and conveyed to 
prison, a circumstance fortunate for 
our national honor by reserving his 
punishment to the solemn verdict of 
justice, instead of leaving it to the pas- 
sions of an infuriated mob. The assas- 
sin made no attempt to escape. He had 
been a lecturer, a lawyer, a persistent 
seeker of office of any kind, always a 
swindler. He boasted of his crime. He 
was a "Stalwart," he said, and believed 
that the death of Garfield was the only 
means of saving the Republican party. 
Meanwhile, the wounded man was re- 
moved to the White House, where, in 
the language of the legal indictment of 
his murderer, which has a deep pathos 



in the words, "he did languish, and 
languishing did live" till the 19th of 
September. All that our best surgical 
skill could do was done, but in vain. 
The magnificent constitution of the 
sufferer enabled him to linger, not to 
recover. Wliile thus slowly dying, his 
demeanor was throughout manly, with 
that manliness which touches every 
heart. "Is the wound mortal?" was the 
first question he addressed to the sur- 
geons who examined him. "There are," . 
was the straighforward answer, 
"ninety-nine chances to one against 
your recovery." "Then," was the 
brave reply, "I will take that one 
chance." His chief anxiety was for 
his wife, and how she would bear the 
news. A telegram was sent to her at 
Elberon, summoning her to Washing- 
ton. She came to be his nurse and 
strengthener. To all foreboding of a 
fatal termination she replied, "He has 
made up his mind to recover, and he 
will recover." Her courage was as 
great as his own. When, after the 
lapse of a few days, it was seen that the 
illustrious patient had not succumbed 
to the shock, as was anticipated, hope 
grew strong in every breast. Every 
fluctuation of the pulse, every rise or 
fall of temperature, was watched with 
interest by every citizen in our wide ex- 
tended Union. Operations had to be 
performed to discharge the purulent 
secretions from the track of the wound ; 
they were borne with constancy, and 
the temporary relief they gave inspired 
the sufferer with new confidence, and 
the people with new hopes. Baseless 
hopes and unfounded confidence ! The 
assassin's ball, as it was thereafter 
proved, had injured the spinal column, 
and recovery was impossible. The 
President gradually got weaker. The 
White House, situated near the swamps 
of the Potomac, was considered un- 
healthy, and the opinion spread that 
Garfield's recovery was kept back by 
malarial influences. He himself seemed 
to share this opinion, and lunged for 
change of scene. He wished to be re- 
moved to Mentor, his quiet, unpretend- 
ing home in Ohio. But the distance 
from Washington to liis beloved home 



SIXTH PERIOD— GARFIELD'S ADMINISTRATION 



283 



was too great for him to bear. As a 
last resource he was taken to the sea- 
coast at Elberon. Weeping crowds ac- 
companied the htter on which he was 
carried out from that Executive Man- 
sion to occupy which has been the as- 
piration of our best and bravest. The 
line of railroad by which he passed was 
bordered by sorrowing muhitudes who 
flocked thither for miles, and a sym- 
pathizing throng awaited his arrival. 
But no voice was heard, no cheer was 
raised as the sad cortege went on. At 
Elberon he seemed, for a day or two, to 
gather strength ; he felt himself a new 
man ; he was raised up to see the bright 
ocean heaving in the sunlight and 
splashing on the shore. But neither 
change of place, nor refreshing breezes 
vere of avail. He was able to sign one 
official document. The last words he 
wrote were scribbled on a bit of paper, 
Strangiilatits pro repiiblica. The day 
before his death he said to his old 
friend Rockwell, "Old boy, do you 
think my name will have a place in 
human history ?" "Yes, a grand one ; 
but grander, in hmnan hearts. Old 
fellow, you must not talk in that way, 
you have a great work to do." "No,'' 
said the dying man, "my work is done." 

And then the end. Down to the very 
last, no murmurs escaped his lips, no 
regrets at leaving the power and glory 
of his exalted position, or at the sud- 
den cutting short of his brilliant career. 
He sank with patient resignation, 
courageous and uncomplaining, only 
anxious for her who had borne him. and 
her who had been the bride of his 
youth, and the true companion of his 
manhood. 

\\hen Garfield's death was an- 
nounced, President Arthur at once took 
the oath of office in his own house at 
Xew York, at one o'clock in the morn- 
ing, and two days afterward repeated 
it at \\'ashington. in the presence of 
the Chief-Justice of the Supreme Court 
and the Cabinet. As usual, the Cabi- 
net tendered their resignations, and 
were requested to retain office till new 
appointments could be made. 

The year 1881 being the centenary of 



the surrender of Cornwallis at York- 
town, that crowning triumph of the 
Revolutionary War was celebrated at 
the spot where it took place. Delegates 
from the French government were 
present to commemorate a victory in 
vv'hich the arms of France had borne a 
conspicuous part, and descendants of 
Rochambeau, La Fayette, De Grasse, 
and Villiers. as well as representatives 
of Von Steuben, met on the field where 
their ancestors had stood side by side 
a century before. The celebration was 
concluded by a ceremony which shows 
in a striking manner the generosity of 
our people and its gratitude for the 
sympathy displayed by the English 
sovereign during Garfield's illness and 
at his death. The British flag was 
hoisted and received a royal salute. A 
striking token of good will between the 
two branches of the great Anglo-Saxon 
race ; a good will which it is to be 
hoped will long continue to promote 
civilization and bless mankind. 

On the fourteenth of November, 
1 881, the trial of Guiteau for the assas- 
sination of President Garfield began in 
the Court of the District of Columbia. 
Between the murder and the trial lie 
had been detained in jail, under the 
guard of some regular troops. But so 
deep and so wide-spread was the in- 
dignation of the people at his dastardly 
deed, that even his guardians did not 
escape it, and even one of the sentries 
of the prison attempted to shoot the 
wretched criminal through the bars of 
his cell. During the progress of the 
trial, another attempt to kill Guiteau 
was made. The assailant, mounted on 
a fleet horse, rode up to the cellular van 
in which the prisoner was being carried 
from the court-house to the jail, and 
fired his pistol through one of the win- 
dows of the vehicle. In both cases 
Guiteau received no injury. Judge Cox 
presided over the trial, the prosecution 
was conducted by the District Attorney, 
Corkhill, assisted by ]\Ir. Davidge and 
Judge Porter, the latter an eminent ad- 
vocate of New York, who had been 
conspicuous in the Beecher trial. The 
evidence of the murder was soon given. 



284 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



The facts were indisputable. The ques- 
tion as to the sanity of the prisoner re- 
main to be discussed. On January 25, 
1882, the jury returned a verdict of 
guilty amid volleys of blasphemy from 
the prisoner. An appeal was made, and 
a new trial demanded. But the de- 
mand was rejected, and on the 3d of 
February Charles J. Guiteau was sen- 
tenced to be hung on the 30th of June. 

The first change in the Cabinet took 
place in November, 1881, when Mr. 
W'indom resigned the Treasury, and 
was succeeded by Judge Folger, of New 
York. On the ist of January, 1882, 
Mr. James resigned the Postmaster- 
ship, and was succeeded by Mr. Howe. 
Mr. Blaine, the Secretary of State, had, 
during the illness of Garfield, inaugu- 
rated a line of foreign policy which 
seems calculated to involve the country 
in sundry complications. He had sent 
instructions to our Ministers in Peru 
and Chili which looked to an interven- 
tion on the part of the United States to 
prevent Chili exercising her legitimate 
rights of conquest. He had proposed 
in a highly undiplomatic tone the abro- 
gation of the Clayton-Bulwer treaty 
with Great Britain respecting the guar- 
antees of an interoceanic canal between 
the Atlantic and Pacific, and proposed 
to the Central American Republics the 
meeting of a convention of delegates 
from each State to be held at Washing- 
ton, and to deliberate on their common 
and mutual interests. The full extent 
of these negotiations was not known to 
the public till Mr. Blaine finally left the 
Cabinet. The new Secretary of State, 
Mr. Frelinghuysen, of New Jersey, 
modified the instructions given by Mr. 
Blaine to Messrs. Trescott and Blaine, 
our special envoys to Peru and Chili, 
and to the moderation of the views held 
by him and the President, ample evi- 
dence is borne by their subsequent acts. 

One of the most important state 
trials ever held in this coimtry, whether 
we regard the high position of the par- 
ties incriminated, or the failure of jus- 
tice which public opinion considers to 
have taken place, was that of the "Star 
Routes." The "Star Routes" of our 
Postal Service may be described as 
lines upon which mail cannot be car- 



ried by railroad or steamboat lines. 
There were one hundred and thirty- 
four such routes, on which the com- 
pensation was raised from $143,169 to 
$622,808. This was accomplished by 
increasing the number of trips, shorten- 
ing their time and obtaining therefor 
by political influence additional com- 
pensation. On twenty-six of the routes 
the pay was raised from $65,216 to 
$530,319, Chief among those accused 
of being implicated in this attempt to 
defraud the Government were Senator 
S. W. Dorsey and Second Assistant 
Postmaster-General Thomas J. Brady. 
Against them and others in minor po- 
sitions, the formal indictment was 
brought on the 4th of March, 1882, the 
proceedings having commenced in No- 
vember of the year previous. The first 
jury disagreed, and charges of receiv- 
ing bribes were brought against sev- 
eral of its members. The Marshal of 
the District of Columbia, the Wash- 
ington Postmaster, and others, were ac- 
cused of aiding the prisoners and 
were dismissed. A new trial was be- 
gun in December of the same year, 
ending, however, in their acquittal. 

A question concerning Peru and 
Chili arose from the war going on be- 
tween those countries. Peru, being 
overrun by the Chilians, was in a state 
of anarchy, and two so-called govern- 
ments co-existed. In June, according 
to instructions from Secretary Blaine, 
the Provisional Government of Cal- 
deron, one of the pretenders, was for- 
mally recognized in place of that of 
Pierola. General Hurlburt in July sent 
a communication to General Lynch, 
commander of the Chilian forces, say- 
ing that the United States disapproved 
of war which had in view territorial 
aggrandizement, and that the proposal 
of Chili to take possession of Peruvian 
territory, unless Peru demonstrated 
its inability to pay in any other way the 
indemnity imposed upon it by Chili, 
was disapproved by this Government. 
This letter produced violent excitement. 
The Peruvians expected aid from the 
United States, and were correspond- 
ingly elated and grateful. The Chil- 
ians, on the other hand, denounced 
Minister Hurlburt with exceeding the 



SIXTH PERIOD— ARTHUR'S ADMINISTRATION 



285 



bounrls both of his own authority and 
that of the United States. In response 
to the inquiries of the Chihan govern- 
ment General Kilpatrick, the minister 
at Lima, wrote a letter contradicting 
the statements of his Peruvian col- 
league. Upon this affair Secretary 
Blaine, for his own vindication, pub- 
lished his instructions to the ministers 
and various other documents. In these 
he desires the ministers, if it lies in 
their power, to persuade Chili to fore- 
go the claim upon Peruvian territory. 
He wrote : "There is nothing more dif- 
ficult or more dangerous than forced 
transfer of territory, carrying with it 
an indignant and hostile population, 
and nothing but a necessity, proved be- 
fore the world, can justify it. It is 
not a case in which the power desiring 
the territory can be accepted as a safe 
or impartial judge." As a consequence 
of General Hurlburt's letter. President 
Calderon was imprisoned by order of 
General Lynch. 

Affairs having become so involved, 
Mr. William H. Trescot was appointed 
special envoy to Peru and Chili. Mr. 
Blaine was succeeded by Mr. Freling- 
huysen. He immediately telegraphed 
to ^Ir. Trescot that the questions aris- 
ing from the suppression of the Cal- 
deron government could be attended to 
in Washington, and he proceeded to 
say: "Were the L^nited States to as- 
sume an attitude of dictation toward 
the South American republics even for 
the purpose of preventing war, the 
greatest of all evils, or to enforce its 
mandate, and to this end tax our peo- 
ple for the exclusive benefit of foreign 
nations." He nevertheless urged mod- 
eration on Chili's part, declaring that 
otherwise this government would not 
give any aid in negotiating with Peru. 
Mr. Partridge was afterward sent as 
minister to Peru. He called an in- 
formal meeting of the representatives 
of various European powers to en- 
deavor to agree upon a solution of the 
difficulty. In this action he was re- 
garded as having exceeded his author- 
it)-, and was recalled. 

The question of the coinage of silver 
again became a prominent subject, not 
merely in political, but in financial anc 



commercial circles. By Xovember 1st 
there were in the Treasury about 66,- 
000.000 silver dollars. The danger 
arose that this would inflate the paper 
circulation of the country and reduce 
its currency to the standard of the 
silver dollar, and that gold would be 
withdrawn from circulation. To avoic" 
this emergency France and the Unite-.. 
States invited various important na- 
tions to send delegates to a conventio.i 
which should determine a fixed ratio 
between gold and silver. The conven- 
tion was held, but Great Britain and 
Germany refused to be bound by any 
promises and the convention was ad- 
journed. 

Early in the session two important 
measures were brought before the at- 
tention of Congress. The peculiar 
practices of the ^lormons in the Terri- 
tory of Utah — practices which, openly 
avowed as they are, conflict with our 
normal civilization — were felt to be in 
discord with the ordinary moral prin- 
ciples of society. The other was a bill 
relating to Chinese immigration. 

As regards the Mormon Question, a 
law passed in 1862 prohibting the Mor- 
mon system of "sealing," or polyga- 
mous marriage, was so negligently en- 
forced that only three convictions had 
occurred. To carry out the intention 
of the bill, and render prosecution more 
easy of proof, the so-called Edwards 
Law was passed. By this, in addition 
to a re-enactment of a fine and im- 
prisonment, those who contravene the 
law are prohibited from voting or hold- 
ing oflSce. Under this act all the elec- 
tive officers in Utah were dismissed 
from office, and a commission of five 
appointed by the President to dis- 
charge their duties. The result of the 
position taken by the Federal Govern- 
ment has been the conviction of many 
of the leading bishops, elders and other 
dignitaries of the I\Iormon Church for 
violation of the law. 

The Chinese Question is one of 
much greater extent than any mere 
local issue. It is this: whether this re- 
public, which has always loudly pro- 
claimed itself as the refuge for the 
poor and oppressed of all nationalities, 
shall, in violation of its own constitu- 



286 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



tional principles, and of the treaties 
which it has. as a sovereign power. 
entered into with a foreign nation, re- 
fuse the ordinary protection for life 
and property to a certain class of im- 
migrants who, in frugality, industry 
and patience, afford a striking contrast 
to the majority of those who advocate 
their exclusion. By the articles of the 
Burlingame treaty concluded between 
the United States and China in 1868, 
the Chinese were accorded the same 
privileges in regard to settling in this 
country and becoming naturalized as 
are enjoyed by those of any other na- 
tionality. In 1880. after violent agita- 
tion against their admission, formented 
particularly by the working classes of 
the Pacific States, the treaty was modi- 
fied. By the new terms this Govern- 
ment could regulate or suspend, but not 
prohibit, the immigration of the labor- 
ing classes, and in response to many 
demands for a stricter law. a bill was 
passed in 1882 prohibiting the importa- 
tion of Chinese laborers for a term of 
ten years. 

In this year full reports were heard 
of the ill-fated band who had sailed 
under D.e Long in the Jeannette. 

In domestic as well as in foreign af- 
fairs Mr. Arthur's presidency was 
uneventful. If the saying is true that 
the country is happiest which has no 
history, his term must be included in 
the list of happy presidencies. 

The Republican Convention met on 
June 3d in the Exposition Building at 
Chicago. President Arthur had hoped 
to be nominated, but his record in New 
York politics had alienated the Civil 
Service Reformers, and his course of 
action since his accession to his high 
office had rendered hostile the adherents 
of Mr. Blaine. On the fourth ballot 
Mr. J. G. Blaine, of Maine, was nomi- 
nated as the Republican candidate for 
the presidency, and on the 15th of July 
he addressed to the committee deputed 
to inform him of his nomination a 
formal letter of acceptance. The Demo- 
cratic Convention met in the same city 
on the 8th of July. Grover Cleveland 
was nominated as the candidate of the 
party. ' Mr. Cleveland was known to 



have discharged admirably his duties as 
Mayor of Buffalo in opposing municipal 
corruption. He was elected Governor 
of New York as a reform Governor, 
hostile to Federal interference in State 
affairs, and had discharged his duties 
in a manner which gained the approval 
of the Civil Service Reformers as well 
as of the Democrats. His election had 
been a rebuke of the management of 
the Republican party as careless of its 
traditions and of the purpose of a great 
body of Republicans, and was a declara- 
tion of political independence. 

CLEVELAND'S ADMINISTRA- 
TION. 

On the 4th of ]\Iarch Grover Cleve- 
land was inaugurated at Washington 
with the usual ceremonies, and nomi- 
nated as his Cabinet : Thomas F. 
Bayard, Secretary of State ; Daniel 
Manning, Secretary of the Treasury; 
William C. Whitney, Secretary of the 
Navy : William C. Endicott, Secretary 
of War ; L. O. C. Lamar, Secretary 
of the Interior: Augustus H. Garland. 
Attorney-General, and William F. Vilas, 
Postmaster-General. 

The minor appointments to minor 
positions under the Federal Govern- 
ment began at once to trouble the new 
administration. There was the strong 
party of old Democrats, hungry for the 
spoils of victory, who clamored for the 
immediate dismissal of old Republican 
office-holders. Great was their wrath 
when, in consequence of a strong peti- 
tion from most of the business houses 
of New York, Mr. Pearson was re- 
tained as postmaster at our commercial 
metropolis. There were the anti-Blaine 
Republicans, who had voted for Cleve- 
land in the interest of Civil Service 
reform, and whom both the old parties 
designated as "Mugwumps." This 
strange word, first popularized at this 
epoch, is an old Narragansett Indian 
word, used in Elliott's translation of 
the Bible for chief or king, and was 
now applied to the Civil .Service re- 
formers and Independent Republicans 
to insinuate that they thought them- 
selves better than other men, and bound 



SIXTH PERIOD— CLEVELAND'S ADMINISTRATION 



287 



to no allegiance. The "Mugwumps" in 
their turn were indignant at the nomi- 
nation of Mr. Eugene Iliggins as ap- 
pointment clerk in the Treasury. He 
was described as an unscrupulous 
political worker and with a bad record, 
and his installation in such a position 
as that named was justly regarded as 
indicating a swerving on the part of 
the President from his earlier profes- 
sions of a desire to reform the Civil 
Service — a desire proclaimed in his an- 
nouncement that no removals from 
office would be made except in the case 
of heads of departments, for "cause" 
or for "offensive partisanship." 

It is advisable to go into these details 
respecting the formation of the admin- 
istration of President Cleveland, as in 
them lie the causes why he did not suc- 
ceed in procuring a re-election to a 
second term. It is the old story — a man 
cannot serve two masters. 

The first business that attracted the 
attention of the President was the civil 
war raging in the Central American 
States, to the detriment of American 
interests in that quarter. A naval force 
was dispatched to the scene of disturb- 
ance, and a force of marines landed to 
protect life and property at Aspinwall, 
which had been occupied and burned 
by one of the factions. At home the 
failing health of General Grant con- 
tinued to evoke universal sympathy. 
The last act of President Arthur had 
been to sign the bills restoring him to 
his rank in the army, but he was not 
destined to hold the honor long. He 
died on the 23d of July, and on the 
8th of August his remains were brought 
from Mount MacGregor, where the 
death took place, to New York. The 
body lay in state for two days in the 
City Hall, and was then transported to 
a spot on the banks of the Hudson in 
Riverside Park, which the city had as- 
signed for that purpose. 

On the 28th of November the Vice- 
President, Mr. Hendricks, died sud- 
denly. By his decease before the meet- 
ing of Congress, the succession to the 
presidency, in case of the death or dis- 
ability of the President, was left unde- 
termined. By the Constitution, the 



Congress has the power to provide for 
the case of the removal or death of 
either the President or Vice-President, 
but the Congress had not yet organized. 
When it did meet on the 7th of De- 
cember the Senate elected Senator 
Sherman its President pro tempore, the 
acting Vice-President thus being the 
leader of the opposition to the Presi- 
dent's policy. So great was the an.xiety 
felt at this unexpected state of affairs 
that, by the advice of his Cabinet, the 
President declined to attend the funeral 
of his colleague. Various proposals 
had been made at various times with 
a view of settling beyond peril the ques- 
tion of succession. In the early part 
of 1883 a bill for this purpose was 
brought in, and as the death of Mr. 
Hendricks again called the attention of 
the nation to this important matter, the 
President in his message recommended 
the subject to the careful consideration 
of Congress. In accordance with this 
recommendation, and in view of the 
alarming results that might ensue if a 
question of such grave importance was 
not at once settled by the Legislature, 
a bill prepared by Senator Hoar was 
introduced and finally passed. By its 
provisions, in case of the death of both 
the President and Vice-President, '.iie 
functions of the office are to be dis- 
charged till an election can be held 
under the articles of the Constitution, 
by the Cabinet officers, in the order of 
the seniority of creation of their olfices. 
In addition to the suggestion for im- 
mediate action on the settlement of the 
presidential succession. President Cleve- 
land, in his first address to the First 
Session of the Forty-ninth Congress, 
while presenting to the Senate the re- 
ports of his various Secretaries of the 
Executive Departments, endorsed and 
enforced the views expressed by these 
officers. His recommendations were 
strictly on the line of the ideas he had 
promulgated in his inaugural address 
and in his letter of acceptance of the 
presidential nomination. As a prelimi- 
nary he pointed out what he deemed 
the constitutional functions of the 
Executive and the Legislature, and the 
line that was to be drawn between them. 



288 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



"The Constitution," he wrote, "which 
requires those chosen to legislate for 
the people to annually meet in the dis- 
charge of their solemn trusts, requires 
the President to give to Congress in- 
formation of the state of the Union, 
and recommend to their consideration 
such measures as he shall deem neces- 
sary." And he proceeded: "The 
Executive may recommend such meas- 
ures as he may deem expedient ; the 
responsibility for legislative action rests 
with those who are selected by the peo- 
ple to make their laws." Having thus 
defined his own position with respect 
to the Houses of Congress, he recom- 
mended the abolition of all custom 
duties on imported works of art, a 
measure involving only a trivial sacri- 
fice of revenue. The next recommend.i- 
tion was of far wider import, for it 
was no less than one for the revision 
of the tariff. 

.The President during the whole of 
his term of office was placed in a most 
embarrassing position, for, in addition 
to open enemies in Congress, he had 
to contend against the lukewarm sup- 
port or scarcely disguised hostility of the 
rank and file of the Democratic party. 
To them the principle of Civil Service 
reform, to which he had pledged him- 
self, was in every respect distasteful. 
It was denounced as un-American, stig- 
matized as Chinese and British, and 
declared to be the first step towards 
creating a bureaucracy, the members 
of which, neither hoping for promotion 
nor fearing dismissal from the people, 
or the chosen representatives of the 
people, or the Chief of the State, would 
form an arrogant, exclusive, almost 
independent body, able, if not entirely 
to thwart, at least to embarrass the 
execution of the popular will. The 
principle of rotation in office was pro- 
claimed as the true American and 
Democratic principle, and it was urged 
that, as all offices since the war, dur- 
ing all the successive Republican ad- 
ministrations, had been fihed by Re- 
publicans, so now, when a President 
elected by the Democratic party occupied 
the White House and administered 
public affairs through a Democratic 



Cabinet, all offices ought to be filled 
by Democrats. 

"Turn the rascals out!" had been for 
years a rallying cry for the Democracy, 
and its fulfillment was demanded. Nor 
would the public service, it was argued, 
suffer by such changes in its personnel, 
for the offices in whicli they took place 
were such as any intelligent citizen 
could discharge satisfactorily; while in 
the present state of affairs a substitu- 
tion of Democrats for Republican offi- 
cials was especially desirable, in order 
to give the party that had been so long 
excluded from every share in the ad- 
ministration some training in the offi- 
cial routine of public office. Above all, 
the managers of the Democratic party 
insisted on the doctrine that "to the 
victor belongs the spoils," and that the 
only way by which the party could be 
held together, or those who had worked 
zealously for its triumphs be rewarded, 
was the bestowal of office, if only as 
an acknowledgment of services ren- 
dered and an encouragement of services 
to come. Great as was the pressure 
thus put on the President, and often as 
he was compelled to give way to it, 
on the whole he endeavored to the best 
of his ability to carry out the pledges 
on which he had appealed to the people 
when a candidate for their suffrages. 

But whatever political troubles en- 
vironed President Cleveland from open 
foes or doubtful friends, he had found 
time to win a wife ; and although the 
matrimonial alliances of our Presidents 
have no such political bearings as those 
of European potentates, the event de- 
serves mention, for thereafter the 
President acquired a temporary and 
sentimental popularity. 

The foreign relations of the United 
States were as uneventful as usual. A 
new extradition treaty between Great 
Britain and this country had been for 
some time under discussion. It was 
considerably wider in its terms than 
the existing one, but one of its clauses, 
stipulating for the surrender of per- 
sons who should have inflicted injury 
by the use of dynamite, gave rise to 
great opposition. 

On the Mexican frontier the usual 



SIXTH PERIOD— CLE\-ELAND'S ADMINISTRATION 



289 



condition of aft'airs continued. Law- 
less men from both countries crossed 
and recrossed the frontier, but without 
any acts involving any international 
question. In the month of August, 
1886, however, a new and curious con- 
troversy arose between the Mexican 
and American Governments. At the 
frontier town of El Paso, in Texas, 
there lived an American citizen. Cut- 
ting by name, who published a news- 
paper there. For some reason or other 
he moved from the American side to 
the Mexican side of the boundry line, 
and there, in pursuit of his calling, he 
began the publication of a paper in the 
Spanish language. With true American 
journalistic enterprise, he set out to 
make his paper popular by making it 
sensational, and he made it sensational 
by violent attacks on the local govern- 
ment. He was arrested for libel, but 
released on signing a retraction. On 
his release he at once crossed into 
Texas, had the original libel repub- 
lished there in Spanish in an American 
newspaper, and taking copies of this 
paper with him, returned to ^Mexico and 
sold them. He was rearrested, tried, 
convicted and sentenced to imprison- 
ment. The American Government 
took up the position that the offense 
was committed within the jurisdiction 
of the L'nited States and could not be 
punished in ^Mexico, and demanded 
[jereniptorily his immediate release. 
The affair was temporarily adjusted 
by the Mexican Government making a 
proposition, through the United States 
Minister at Mexico, that the American 
Government should send a special en- 
voy to confer with the Mexican Attor- 
ney-General as to the proper interpreta- 
tion of the law in the case. The 
proposition was acted upon, and Mr. 
Arthur G. Sedgwick was deputed to 
act in behalf of the United States, but 
without diplomatic powers or authority 
to effect a settlement. The upshot of 
the affair was that the Mexican court 
released Mr. Cutting on a technical 
plea. 

Congress passed in 1887 the Inter- 
state Commerce Act. The bill itself 
was designed to stop the encroachment 



of raiKvaj' corporations on individual 
rights, and to check discrimination in 
the rates of freight to the advantage 
of certain localities or certain favored 
customers. It was not without pro- 
tracted debate that the measure became 
law, and it was not without consider- 
able misgivings and foreboding of evil 
that the railroad companies commenced 
to comply with its provisions. The 
ultimate or permanent success of even 
this measure is still quite doubtful. 
An investigation held in April, 1889, 
elicited the fact that, while the great 
railway managers had found difficulties 
in the way of carrying out its provi- 
sions, none of them asked for its re- 
peal. On the contrary, they urged the 
necessity of the Government strictly 
enforcing its provisions on all railroads 
in the United States or that, pass 
through the United States. This last 
demand was aimed especially at the 
Canadian railroads, of which tlie Grand 
Trunk Railroad has a branch running 
through the State of Maine, and de- 
rives the bulk of its business from the 
Western cities of Chicago, Detroit and 
St. I^aul. The law, too, it was urged, 
placed American transcontinental lines 
at a disadvantage compared with the 
great Canadian Pacific Railroad that 
runs to \'ancouver's Island from the 
Atlantic seaboard. Built by the aid of 
lavish subsidies from the Canadian 
Government, this transcontinental line, 
running wholly outside the United 
States, is necessarily exempt from the 
action of its laws. It is not, moreover, 
hampered by any such restrictions as 
those embodied in the Interstate Com- 
merce Bill respecting rates of freight 
or the relation of the rates of freight 
to the number of miles over which the 
freight is carried. It can, therefore, 
carry some classes of goods between 
England and San Francisco cheaper 
than our lines can. The contention, 
therefore, of the railway managers is 
that, as far as the connections of this 
company extend to the United States, 
so far ought the Interstate Commerce 
Bill to be enforced. 

In April, 1887, an important change 
took place in the Cabinet, the Secre- 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



tary of the Treasury, JMr. Daniel Man- 
ning, being compelled by ill-health to 
resign his high position. To his exer- 
tions the election of Grover Cleveland 
as Governor was mainly due, and his 
action in the National Convention of 
1884, as head of the New York delega- 
tion, had equally great influence on 
his nomination to the presidency. His 
knowledge of banking and finance well 
qualified him for the office to which 
he was assigned, and his discharge of 
his duties was satisfactory to the 
financial and commercial community. 
After his resignation he paid a visit 
to Europe, but the improvement of his 
health did not continue on his return 
hence, and in December he died, in his 
native city of Albany. 

In 1885 death removed from the 
scenes of active life General George 
B. McClellan, the commander of all the 
armies of the United States after the 
retirement of General Scott, and the 
organizer of the Army of the Potomac. 
His career in the war and his candidacy 
for the presidency in 1864 have already 
been told in these pages. In that year 
he had resigned his commission in the 
army and took up his residence in New 
York and New Jersey, devoting him- 
self to various engineering enterprises, 
to travel and to literary pursuits. He 
was a clear writer, a good speaker, and 
profoundly versed in the arts of strat- 
egy and tactics. Too much caution 
and a strange suspicion that the Gov- 
ernment did not wish him to succeed, 
led to all his failures and disappoint- 
ments. But, to quote the words of 
Prof. Henry Coppee, "his personal 
magnetism had no parallel in military 
history, except in that of the first Na- 
poleon. He was literally the idol of 
his officers and men. and they would 
obey him when all other control failed." 

Samuel Jones Tilden was born in 
Lebanon, New York, in the year 1814, 
the descendant of a New England 
family that settled in .\merica in 1634. 
His father was a friend of Martin 
\'an Buren, and politics was the very 
atmosphere of the household in which 
the boy grew up. Both before and 
after his entrance at Yale, in 1832, as 



well as before and after his admission 
to the bar, his tongue and pen were 
devoted to discussing the political ques- 
tions of the day. As a lawyer he made 
his fame and laid the foundation of 
his fortune by his argument in the 
suit between the Pennsylvania Coal 
Company and the Delaware and Hud- 
son Canal Company, and from 1855 
all the great Northwestern railroads 
were his clients. In 1848 he had joined 
in the Free Soil schism which that 
question provoked in the Democratic 
party, but throughout the war main- 
tained that the struggle against the 
Confederate States could be carried on 
to a successful termination without 
having recourse to unconstitutional 
methods. In 1868 Tilden was the 
leader of the Democrats in New York 
State, and, to his honor, he opposed 
with the utmost determination the cor- 
rupt ring which, under the command 
of \\'illiam M. Tweed, plundered the 
city of New York. He became the 
directing spirit which carried out the 
impeachment of Judges Barnard and 
Cordoza. and gave his energy and time 
and labor to prosecute the suits by the 
city against the "Tweed Ring" and its 
agents and allies. He became Governor 
of New York in 1874, and his first 
message denounced the extravagance 
and dishonesty that had prevailed in 
the management of the canals of the 
State. In 1876 he was nominated the 
Democratic candidate for the presi- 
dency, and although the Electoral Com- 
mission gave the high office to Mr. R. 
B. Hayes, yet Tilden had the popular 
vote, the numbers being 4,284,265 for 
Tilden, against 4,033,293 for Hayes. 
Henceforth he was the first of Demo- 
cratic leaders, but his state of health 
compelled him to decline the nomina- 
tion in 1880 and again in 1884. He 
died, after a i)rotracted period of fee- 
bleness, in 1886. His last important 
act in public afl^airs was a letter ad- 
dressed to Speaker Carlisle, urging the 
necessity of liberal appropriations for 
the purpose of making our coasts safe 
against the attacks of any naval power. 
In public life Mr. Tilden was more a 
politician than a statesman. Astute, 



SIXTH PERIOD— CLEVELAND'S ADMINISTRATION 



secretive, and dextrous, he was an ex- 
cellent organizer of his party and held 
them together in defeat, although he 
could not lead them to victory in his 
lifetime. To his advice Mr. Cleveland 
owed the presence in his Cabinet of its 
strongest man, Mr. Manning, the Secre- 
tary of the Treasury. Mr. Tilden will 
be long known from the contested re- 
sult of his candidacy for the presi- 
dency ; he will be perhaps better known 
for the munificent legacies he left to 
the city of New York to establish a free 
public library in the large and stately 
house in Gramercy I'ark, which he 
also bequeathed to the city. 

Another unsuccessful candidate for 
the honor of the presidency died in 
1886, General Winiield Scott Hancock, 
who was defeated by J. A. Garfield in 
1880. Whatever slanders political ma- 
lignity had scattered abroad during 
General Hancock's candidacy had been 
forgotten before his death, and his 
deeds during the war were alone re- 
membered. "Hancock," wrote General 
Grant, "stands the most conspicuous 
figure of all the general officers who 
did not exercise a separate command. 
His name was never mentioned as hav- 
ing committed in battle a blunder for 
which he was responsible. He was a 
man of very conspicuous personal ap- 
pearance; tail, well-formed, he pre- 
sented an appearance that would 
attract the attention of an army as he 
passed. His genial disposition gained 
him friends, and his presence, with his 
command, in the thickest of the fight, 
won him the confidence of the troops 
that served under him." General 
.Sherman spoke equally highly of their 
fellow-soldier. "Sit down," he said to a 
raker-up of scandals during the heat 
of the presidential campaign, "sit down 
and write the best thing that can be 
put in language about General Han- 
cock as an officer and a gentleman, and 
I will sign it." 

To these may be added the name of 
one who had been nominated by the 
Republican party as their candidate for 
the vice-presidency in 1884, General 
Logan, of Illinois, equally distinguished 
as a soldier and as a statesman. 



John Alexander Logan was born in 
Illinois in 1826, and died at the capital 
of the Union in 1886. He served as a 
soldier in the Mexican war, and after 
it was over embraced the profession 
of the law, where his pleasing address 
and forcible oratory soon rendered 
him popular. After some experience 
in State politics, he was elected to 
Congress in 1858 as a Douglas Demo- 
crat, and in i860 advocated the election 
of that statesman. He declared, how- 
ever, on the first suspicion that the 
election of Abraham Lincoln would be 
the cause of strife, that he would 
"shoulder his musket to have him in- 
augurated." He fought as a volunteer 
at the first battle of Bull Run, and 
afterwards organized the Thirty-first 
Illinois Regiment, of which he became 
Colonel. He greatly distinguished him- 
self in the field, and refused to interrupt 
or abandon his military service by ac- 
cepting a nomination to Congress. "I 
have entered the field to die, if need 
be," he said, "and never expect to 
return till the object of the war is 
obtained." He was conspicuous for 
his skill and gallantry at Vicksburg, 
Resaca, Atlanta, and n' arched with 
Sherman "to the sea." When active 
service was over he resigned his com- 
mission and was returned to Congress, 
where he was one of the managers of 
the impeachment of President Johnson. 
In 1 87 1 he was elected to the Senate, 
and in 1884 was nominated as the 
Republican candidate for the vice- 
presidency on the same ticket as Mr. 
Blaine. The most fitting tribute to his 
memory is expressed in the words of 
Mr. Blaine : "General Logan was a 
man of immense force in a legislative 
body. His will was unbending; his 
courage, both moral and physical, was 
of the highest order. I never knew a 
more fearless man. He did not quail 
before public opinion when he had once 
made up his mind, any more than he 
did before the guns of the enemy when 
he headed a charge. In debate he was 
effective and aggressive. While there 
have been more illustrious leaders in 
the United States and more illustrious 
leaders in legislative halls, there has, 



292 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



I think, been no man in this country 
who has combined the two careers in 
so eminent a degree as General Lo- 
gan." General Logan was a man of 
striking personal appearance ; swarthy, 
as if he had Indian blood in his veins, 
with jet-black hair, which he wore long, 
a heavy black moustache, dark eyes, 
and regular features, he looked the type 
of the Western American. 

Before passing on to narrate the for- 
eign relations which the Secretary of 
State had to conduct, and which 
brought upon him much obloquy, it 
will not be out of place to take some 
notice of the alarming earthquake — ■ 
or rather series of earthquakes — at 
Charleston, the first and most alarming 
shock being on August 31, 1S86. This 
was felt, indeed, throughout the whole 
region of the United States between 
the Mississippi River and the Atlantic 
Ocean. It was especially severe in 
North and South Carolina, reaching its 
climax in the city of Charleston, where 
it caused terrible destruction. The city 
was wrecked, and the streets encum- 
bered with masses of fallen bricks and 
tangled telegraph and telephone wires, 
making it almost impossible to pass 
from one part of the city to another. 
Most of the people, with their families, 
passed the night in the streets, which 
were for some days crowded with men 
and women who were afraid to re-enter 
their houses. Fires broke out in differ- 
ent parts of the city immediately after 
the earthquake, adding to the general 
alarm. An examination of the ruins 
showed that the damage was greater 
than was supposed. The loss was vari- 
ously estimated at from ten to fifteen 
millions of dollars. Though few per- 
sons were killed, the sufi'ering of the 
people was very great. The city was 
for a time virtually cut ofT from the 
outer world. The rails had been 
twisted like threads, so that no trains 
could approach or leave the place. 
There was some prospect of famine, the 
principal hope of relief from such dis- 
aster lying on the seaward side. Famine 
was. however, happily averted by 
strenuous efifort and by contributions in 



kind from adjoining cities. These 
were, later, supplemented by consider- 
able money donations from all parts of 
the world. 

In the fall of 1886 a ceremony took 
place which rose to the dignity of a 
national event — that was the solemn un- 
\eiling of the statue, "Liberty Enlight- 
ening tlic World," which now stands 
in New York Harbor. 

One of the most important and deli- 
cate questions that occupied the atten- 
tion of the Secretary of State during 
President Cleveland's administration 
was the so-called "Fisheries Question." 
or the controversy between Canada and 
Great Britain on one hand and the 
United States on the other, respecting 
the rights of American fishermen who 
plied their trade in the waters adjacent 
to the Dominion of Canada. It is a 
question that is coeval with the repub- 
lic, and which on several occasions has 
produced considerable coolness between 
the two Governments. 

The Democratic Convention had been 
summoned to meet in St. Louis on June 
5, 1888. The convention nominated as 
the party's candidate for the ensuing 
presidential term the then holder of that 
exalted office, and the Republican Con- 
vention, that met at Chicago on June 
19th, nominated as its candidate Gen- 
eral Benjamin Harrison, of Indiana, 
who had already served his country 
as a soldier in the field, as Congress- 
man in the House of Representatives 
and as a Senator. The veteran Allen 
G. Thurman, of Ohio, was nominated 
by the Democrats as Vice-President on 
the same ticket with Grover Cleveland 
as President, while the Republicans 
named Levi P. Morton, of New York, 
as the Vice-President on their ticket. 
The campaign was not disgraced by the 
personalities which had formed so re- 
voltinga feature in the campaign of 
1884, but was conducted on broad, 
economic issues. The result was that 
Benjamin Harrison and Levi P. Morton 
were elected President and Vice-Presi- 
dent of the LTnited States by 233 elec- 
toral votes, against 168 cast for Cleve- 
land and Thurman. 



SIXTH PERIOD— HARRISON'S ADMINISTRATION 



HARRISON'S ADMINISTRATION 
AND CLEVELAND'S SECOND 

TERM. 

Benjamin Harrison, the twenty-third 
President of the United States, was the 
grandson of General William Henry 
Harrison, "Old Tippecanoe," who was 
President in 1841, and great-grandson 
of Benjamin Harrison, of Virginia, 
one of the signers of the Declaration 
of Independence. He was born at 
North Bend, Indiana, in 1833, and 
practiced law in that city till he entered 
the army, in which he rose to the rank 
of Brigadier-General. When the war 
was over he resumed his profession, 
and was one of the Senators of his 
State in Congress from 1880 to 1886. 
The Vice-President, Levi P. ^Morton, 
an eminent banker of New York, had 
been Minister to P^rance during Mr. 
Arthur's administration. The new 
Executive was duly inaugurated at 
Washington with the accustomed cere- 
monies, and nominated a.s his Cabinet: 
James G. Blaine, of Maine, Secretary 
of State; William Windom, of Minne- 
sota, Secretary of the Treasury ; R. 
Proctor, of Vermont, Secretary of 
War; John Wanamaker, of Pennsyl- 
vania, Postmaster-General ; William H. 
H. Miller, of Indiana, Attorney-Gen- 
eral ; B. F. Tracy, of New York, Secre- 
tary of the Navy; J. W. Noble, of 
Missouri, Secretary of the Interior, and 
Jeremiah Rusk, of Indiana, Secretary 
of Agriculture. This last was a new 
office, of which Mr. Rusk was the first 
incumbent. 

The first great public function in 
which President Harrison was called 
to appear was the Centennial celebra- 
tion of the inauguration of Washington 
at New York. The centenary of the 
Declaration of Independence was 
marked by the Great Exhibition in 
Philadelphia in 1876, under President 
Grant : the termination of the War of 
Independence by the surrender of the 
British forces at Yorktown was com- 
memorated in 1881 under President 
Arthur. President Cleveland witnessed 
the long processions and elaborate cere- 
monies with which Philadelphia in 1887 



kept the centenary of the signing of 
the Constitution, and now this series of 
national celebrations was completed by 
due observance of the hundredth anni- 
versary of the day on which the first 
President had been inaugurated. 

The tariff act known as "the Mc- 
Kinley Bill" was prepared and put 
through the House. It provided for an 
average of higher duties than had ever 
been laid, but also greatly increased 
the free list. In the Senate the bill 
met opposition, where a bill to put 
congressional and presidential elections 
under Federal control had aroused the 
Southern Democrats, who professed to 
see in it a return of negro domination. 
By skillful maneuvering Senator Quay 
made an arrangement by which the elec- 
tion law was dropped and the tariff 
bill passed. 

At this session was passed a new 
bill in relation to silver. The Bland- 
Allison Act had failed to bring the price 
of silver up to $1.29 per ounce, where 
the ratio of 16 to i would be main- 
tained. The Senate passed a bill re- 
storing the free coinage of silver, but 
the House was opposed to it. A new 
compromise was passed, known as "the 
Sherman Act." By it the Secretary of 
the Treasury was to buy in the open 
market monthly not exceeding 4,500.000 
ounces of silver at the market price 
and issue certificates on it at once, 
before coining, at the rate of one dollar 
for each 371 1/2 grains, which should 
be legal tender. This it was supposed 
would absorb all the surplus silver and 
restore the former price. In the mean- 
time a new international conference 
on the subject was called in the hope 
of the general remonetization of silver. 
This act failed to restore the price, and 
the international conference failed as 
before. 

Foreign matters had a serious aspect 
during this administration. In New 
Orleans an Italian society, known as 
"the Mafia," had long secured immunity 
from punishment for crime by means 
of political influence. A number of 
particularly foul murders had been 
committed and no one convicted. On 
March 14, 1891, a mob gathered, broke 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



open the jail, and shot down seven 
Italian prisoners who were awaiting 
trial, and hanged two others. Italy at 
once demanded an apology and repara- 
tion. Mr. Blaine replied that it was a 
matter for Louisiana and not the 
United States to settle. The relations 
between the two countries became 
strained. The Italian Minister went 
home, and ours left Rome. Eventually 
the matter was healed over, $25,000 
recompense given the families of the 
nmrdered men, and friendly relations 
were restored. 

A more serious incident was that 
with Chili. In 1891, during one of the 
periodical revolutions, the existing gov- 
ernment was overthrown. Our minister 
granted asylum to the deposed Presi- 
dent, and he escaped the fate common 
in South American revolutions. This 
greatly angered the successful revolu- 
tionists, who soon took an opportunity 
to wreck their vengeance. The revo- 
lutionary steamer Itata was seized by 
the United States, but sailed away sud- 
denly. She was followed, and sur- 
rendered at Iquique. This made 
matters worse. The United States 
cruiser Baltimore lay in Valparaiso 
Harbor and some of her crew (, October 
i6th) went ashore as usual. A mob 
collected and drove the blue jackets 
back to the boats, killing two and 
wounding several. This was an insult 
not to be brooked. President Harrison 
demanded an immediate apology and 
indemnity. Chili at first was not dis- 
posed to agree to this, whereupon rapid 
preparations were made for war. At 
this Chili backed down and made the 
reparation demanded, though not with 
very good grace. The sum paid was 
$75,000. The body of the killed boat- 
swain's mate, Charles W. Riggin, was 
disinterred, brought home to Philadel- 
phia and lay in state in Independence 
Hall, after which it was buried with 
military honors, followed by the great- 
est procession ever given a sailor in 
this country. 

In 1889 a revolution in Brazil had 
driven the aged Dom Pedro from his 
throne, and a Republic was set up. 
In 1892 the navy revolted against the 



Government, and established a partial 
blockade of several ports, whereupon 
one of our war vessels in the bay of 
Rio Janeiro escorted some American 
vessels to the dock. The rebel navy 
did not open fire, as was threatened. 
Soon after the rebellion was crushed. 
.Another important dispute with Great 
Britain was sent to arbitration. Claim- 
ing the sole right to catch seals in 
Ijcring Sea, this Government had seized 
some Canadian vessels engaged in 
shooting seals on the high seas. Our 
contention was that we owned the seals. 
The matter was decided against us, and 
we paid damages. In 1897 seal catch- 
ing was temporarily stopped to prevent 
extermination of the herd. 

One event of 1889 that will long live 
in history was the destruction of Johns- 
town, Pennsylvania, i\Iay 31st, by the 
bursting of a dam which kept back a 
large lake. The water from this lake 
was precipitated upon the town and 
almost totally destroyed it, while several 
thousand persons lost their lives. Ap- 
peals for aid were answered from all 
over the world, and the city was soon 
rebuilt and more prosperous than ever. 

In 1888 was passed the new Chinese 
Exclusion Act with provisions much 
more strict than those of former days. 
The construction of the Pacific railway 
was the primary cause of the heavy 
wave of Chinese immigration, which 
soon became threatening because the 
cheap labor drove out the Caucasian 
who could not compete. By the act of 
1888 Chinese laborers were absolutely 
prohibited entering, while all Chinese 
in the country were required to register. 

In 1890 the administration met the 
usual mid-term reverse at the elections. 
This was partly due to party apathy 
and partly to dissatisfaction with the 
new tariff bill. The House of Repre- 
sentatives was controlled by the Demo- 
crats, and Charles F. Crisp, of Georgia, 
was elected Speaker, which prevented 
any partisan legislation in the latter part 
of Harrison's temi. Just before this 
term expired a revolution in the Ha- 
waiian Islands deposed Queen Liliuo- 
kalani and set up a Republic. President 
Harrison negotiated a treaty of annexa- 



SIXTH PERIOD— HARRISON'S ADMINISTRATION 



tioii, which was referred to the Senate, 
but not acted on. 

Th'e year 1892, judged by official sta- 
tistics, was the most prosperous up to 
that time. Our foreign trade was 
large, domestic trade showed the largest 
totals in the history of clearing house 
statistics, and manufacturing was on 
an unprecedented scale. Under such 
circumstances the Republican party ex- 
pected an easy victory. Unfortunately 
it was not harmonious, and there was 
much grumbling over the tariff bill on 
the ground that it unduly raised the 
price of necessities. The Republican 
Convention met in Minneapolis June 7, 
i8y2, with President Harrison the only 
avowed candidate with a large follow- 
ing. President Harrison had incurred 
the personal enmity of many of the 
party leaders, who took up Mr. Blaine 
once more as a candidate, in spite of 
his refusal to be a candidate. On the 
eve of the convention Mr. Blaine re- 
signed as Secretary of State for reasons 
not given, but variously stated to be 
because he wanted the nomination, and 
that personal dift'erences had arisen be- 
tween him and the President over 
matters relating to his own department. 
He was succeeded by John ^V. Foster, 
of Indiana. The control of the con- 
vention depended on the delegates 
from Southern States, from most of 
which there were contesting delega- 
tions. The contests were generally set- 
tled in favor of the administration 
delegates. Cieneral Harrison was re- 
nominated and VVhitelaw Reid, editor 
of the New York Tribune, was given 
second honors. 

The Democratic Convention met at 
Chicago June 20, i8(j2, and, in spite 
of all opposition, Mr. Cleveland was 
renominated on a platform that was not 
quite so unequivocally against protec- 
tion as in 1888. Adlai E. Stevenson, 
of Illinois, got second honor. William 
F. Harrity, of Pennsylvania, an able 
politician of experience, was chairman 
of the Campaign Committee. The Re- 
publican chairman was Senator Thomas 
H. Carter, of Montana. The contest 
was spirited, but the Democrats won 
easily, carrying many States hitherto 



strongly Republican. The electoral vote 
stood : Cleveland, 277 ; Harrison, 145 ; 
Weaver, 22. The popular vote was : 
Cleveland (D.), 5,556,562; Harrison 
(R.), 5,162,874; Weaver (Pop.), 
1,055,424; Bidwell (Pro.), 264,066; 
Wing (Labor), 22,613. 

It will be seen that in four years the 
Democratic vote increased but slightly, 
while the Republicans lost considerably. 
The vote for Weaver, Populist, was 
about seven times that cast for Streeter 
in 1888. The People's (Populist) 
party was the outgrowth of the discon- 
tent of the farming element South and 
West with financial legislation. Into 
it were fused members of all parties. 
It demanded the free coinage of silver, 
government loans on crops, and many 
other ideas new to our politics. Its 
strength was largely in the West, in 
the prairie States. During Harrison's 
administration the States of Idaho, 
Montana, W^yoming, Washington, 
North Dakota and South Dakota had 
been admitted, all but one of which 
were counted as safely Republican, yet 
the Populists, singly or by fusion with 
the Democrats, carried nearly every 
one of them. For the first time since 
i860 a third party had carried a State. 
During Harrison's administration ex- 
President Hayes, James G. Blaine, Gen- 
eral B. F. Butler and Justice Lamar 
died. General Sheridan and General 
Sherman died previously. 

Mr. Cleveland now came into power 
with both Houses of Congress Demo- 
cratic, though the Senate was so di- 
vided on financial issues that it could 
not well be tabulated. Mr. Cleveland 
chose for his Cabinet : Secretary of 
State, Walter O. Gresham, of Indiana ; 
Secretary of the Treasury, John G. 
Carlisle, of Kentucky; Secretary of 
War, Daniel Lamont, of New York; 
Secretary of the Navy, Hilary A. Her- 
bert, of Alabama ; Secretary of the 
Interior, Hoke Smith, of Georgia ; Sec- 
retary of Agriculture, J. Sterling Mor- 
ton, of Nebraska ; Postmaster-General, 
Wilson Bissell, of New York; Attor- 
ney-General, Richard Olney, of Massa- 
chusetts. 

Mr. Gersham died in office, and was 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



succeeded by Mr. Olney, whose place 
was taken by Judson Harmon, of Ohio. 
Mr. Bissell resigned in 1895 ^"d was 
succeeded by William L. Wilson, of 
West Virginia. The President's first 
act was to withdraw the Hawaiian 
treaty, thus defeating annexation. His 
eftort to place I.iliuokalani on the 
throne failed, and the Republic lasted 
until 1898, when annexation was 
effected. 

One of the President's first duties 
was to formally open the World's Fair 
at Chicago. This exhibition in Jack- 
son Park, instituted at a cost of over 
$20,000,000, was the most complete the 
world has ever seen. Enormous build- 
ings were erected, but instead of 
being purely useful, the most elaborate 
pains were taken with their architec- 
ture. The exterior was a white com- 
position known as staff, being princi- 
pally plaster of paris, which looked 
like marble. The decorations mural 
and of statuary, were elaborate and 
artistic. The grounds were laid out 
with lagoons, fountains and all that 
landscape gardening could produce. 
The whole was a veritable fairyland. 
At night the buildings and lagoons 
were lighted up by electricity and the 
artistic effect was magnificent. The ex- 
hibits were complete and comprehen- 
sive, showing all that the world could 
offer in the arts and sciences. Foreign- 
ers were amazed at the display, and 
Americans no less. In the seventeen 
years which had passed since the Cen- 
tennial, progress had been wonderful. 
Whereas in 1876 much of our showing 
was poorly contrasted with foreign 
exhibits, now the comparisons were 
almost all in our favor. The exhibition 
was open six months, during which 
time there were 27,500,000 visitors, and 
total receipts of over $33,000,000. The 
Government gave directly $1,500,000, 
besides its own exhibit, and further aid 
by allowing the coinage of special de- 
signs of subsidiary coin, which com- 
manded a premium. One interesting 
feature of the fair was the Parliament 
of Religions, at which were gathered 
representatives of nearly every known 
religious creed in the whole world. 



In June of this year another financial 
panic came. The Democratic party was 
pledged to a revision of the tariff'law, 
which made manufacturers cautious, 
and capitalists contracted loans. Silver 
had continued to fall in price in spite 
of Government purchases, and Great 
Britain suddenly suspended the coinage 
of the silver rupee at the Indian mints. 
This caused a further drop in the price 
of silver, and the panic in this country 
assumed large proportions. Manufac- 
turers, banks and business men failed, 
and there was financial stringency 
throughout the country. In this emer- 
gency President Cleveland convoked 
Congress in extra session to repeal that 
portion of the Sherman Act providing 
for purchases of silver. The House 
elected Charles F. Crisp, of Georgia, 
Speaker, and under the rules soon 
passed the repeal bill. In the Senate 
it met determined opposition. The 
Senators from the South and far West 
were generally in favor of free silver, 
and they used every method to prevent 
a vote. Senators spoke many hours at 
a stretch against repeal, often lasting 
all night. The fight was in vain, for 
by a combination of "sound money" 
Republicans and Democrats the repeal 
bill passed in October. Nothing else 
of importance was passed at this ses- 
sion, but at the regular session the 
Committee on Ways and Means of the 
Flouse (Wm. L. Wilson, chairman) in- 
troduced a measure greatly reducing 
tariff duties. This bill was passed, and 
went to the Senate, where the Demo- 
crats were more conservative. In 
order to gratify local interests the rates 
were largely increased, until they were 
about half way between the McKinley 
law and the Wilson bill. It was the 
intention to make concessions for lower 
rates in the Conference Committee of 
the two Houses, but the Republicans, 
led by Senator Quay, who spoke for 
days and threatened to speak for many 
weeks, checked this design, and the 
House accepted the Senate measure. 
The President refused to sign it, and 
it became a law after ten days. 

The fall elections were a perfect land- 
slide for the Republicans, following 



SIXTH PERIOD— CLEVELAND'S ADMINISTRATION 



297 



what has become ahnost a fixed rule 
that the administration loses in the 
middle of its term. Mr. Reed was once 
more elected Speaker, and Nelson 
Dingley, of Maine, became Chairman 
of the Ways and Means Committee: 
Mr. McKinley being now Governor of 
Ohio. 

There was no partisan legislation 
during the rest of Cleveland's admin- 
istration. In both of his terms Mr. 
Cleveland largely extended the scope 
of the civil service law, for which he 
was criticised by Republicans, who 
claimed that he first allowed depart- 
p/ients to be filled with Democrats. 
Much dissatisfaction also was caused 
by the fact that the bonded indebted- 
ness was increased $262,000,000. Part 
of this was to pay expenses, but most 
of it to maintain gold payments dur- 
ing the silver excitement. One con- 
tract made by the administration with 
a Wall street syndicate for bonds at a 
low price which the latter sold at a 
high price, caused great dissatisfaction. 
It was necessary, however, to get gold 
as the "endless chain" worked rapidly. 

The important foreign episode of the 
administration was a controversy with 
Great Britain over the Venezuela 
boundary. For many years there had 
been a, dispute between Great Britain 
and \'enezuela as to the boundary line 
between the latter and British Guiana. 
The matter came to a crisis when gold 
was found in the disputed country. 
Great Britain finally laid down a line 
as its minimum boundary and brought 
matters to a crisis by offering to arbi- 
trate only over a small amount of ter- 
ritory in dispute. In this situation, in- 
voking the Monroe Doctrine, Mr. 
Cleveland sent an ultimatum, with an 
implied threat of war, that the whole 
subject must be arbitrated. The ultima- 
tum admitted of no compromise, and 
was so brusque that war seemed in- 
evitable if Great Britain refused, as 
seemed likely, to accede to our de- 
mands. She did accede, and the matter 
was satisfactorily settled. The mes- 
sage to Congress, sent December 17, 
1895, caused a small panic in financial 



circles, as it was believed war was in- 
evitable. 

The political situation in 1896 was 
very much mixed. The Populists had 
increased in power, and they finally 
brought over the mass of Democrats to 
their favorite platform of free silver. 
Contrary to custom, the Republican 
(minority) party held its Convention 
first, at St. Louis, June 16, 1896. The 
])latform declared for the gold standard 
and against the free coinage of silver 
without the co-operation of foreign 
Nations. Again there were many con- 
testing delegations, most of which were 
settled in favor of those supporting 
William McKinley, of Ohio, the leading 
candidate. Other aspirants were 
Speaker Reed and Senator Quay. Mr. 
McKinley was nominated on the first 
ballot. Garret A. Hobart, of New Jer- 
sey, got second honor. A pathetic fea- 
aure of the Convention was the with- 
drawal from the Convention of a num- 
ber of men who had been connected 
with the party since its birth. Senator 
Teller and his friends could not accept 
the gold standard platform, and with- 
drew — a situation somewhat similar to 
that at Charleston in i860, though the 
desertion was not so formidable. 

The Democratic Convention met at 
Chicago July 7th, and first adopted a 
free silver platform, relegating the tar- 
ifl" question to the rear for the time be- 
ing, whereupon many Eastern dele- 
gates withdrew. Richard P. Bland, of 
Missouri, was the leading candidate. 
On the fifth ballot the Convention 
nominated William J. Bryan, of Ne- 
braska, a brilliant young orator and 
former Congressman, who had hardly 
been mentioned for the place, but who 
carried the Convention by storm in a 
brilliant speech for free silver, .\rthar 
Sewall, of Maine, a prominent ship- 
builder and capitalist, got second 
honors. 

The Populist party met at St. Louis 
and adopted a platform including free 
silver, Government loans to farmers on 
crops, payment of National bonds in 
silver, etc. They nominated Mr. 
Bryan, but refused to indorse Sewall, 



THE HOME AUXTLLARY AND REFEREN'CE 



who was president of a National bank. 
In his place they named Thomas Wat- 
son, of Georgia. This conii^licated the 
electoral tickets somewhat, but in most 
States where the Populists had any 
strength fusion was made so as to in- 
sure Mr. Watson a part of the vote. 
This year the Prohibition party split 
and had two candidates in the field. 

The Democrats who refused to ac- 
cept the Chicago platform met at In- 
dianapolis and nominated General John 
M. Palmer, of Illinois, for President, 
and General Simon B. Buckner, of 
Kentucky, for Vice-President, on a 
gold standard platform. While these 
made an earnest canvass, it was more 
for educational purposes than to get 
votes, as most of their followers finally 
voted for McKinley i\Ir. Bryan made 
the most remarkable campaigning tour 
on record, speaking in nearly every 
State and attracting large crowds of 
people. His youth, earnestness, bril- 
liancy, and courage made him many 
friends, though it has seldom occurred 
that a tour of this kind has been suc- 
cessful. 

In November, Mr. AIcKinley was 
elected over Mr. Bryan by a large ma- 
jority of the popular and electoral 
votes, and receiving a majority over all, 
opponents. The electoral vote stood : 
McKinley, 271 ; Bryan, 176. For Vice- 
President the vote was: Hobart, 271; 
Sewall, 146 ; Watson, 30. The popular 
vote stood: McKinley, 7.107,822; 
Bryan, 6,288,866; Bryan and Watson, 
222.207; Palmer, 133,800; all others, 
178,178. There were elected 207 Re- 
publicans, 121 Democrats, 26 Popu- 
lists and 3 Silverites to Congress. 

ADMINISTRATIONS OF 
McKINLEY AND ROOSEVELT. 

President McKinley chose for his 
Cabinet: John Sherman, of Ohio, 
Secretary of State; Lyman J. Gage, of 
Illinois, Secretary of the Treasury; 
Russell A. Alger, of Michigan, Secre- 
tary of War; John D. Long, of Massa- 
chusetts, Secretary of the Navy; Cor- 
nelius N. Bliss, of New York, Secre- 
tary of the Interior; James Wilson, of 



Iowa, Secretary of Agriculture ; Joseph 
McKenna, of California, Attorney- 
General ; James A. Gary, of Maryland, 
Postmaster-General. 

Mr. Sherman soon retired, and was 
succeeded by William R. Day, of Ohio, 
who was succeeded by John Hay, of 
Ohio, then Ambassador to Great 
Britain. Mr. McKenna was soon pro- 
moted to the Supreme Court, and was 
succeeded by John W. Griggs, of New 
Jersey. Mr. Gary also retired and was 
succeeded by Charles Emory Smith, of 
Pennsylvania. The fourth change was 
the resignation of 'Slv. Bliss, who was 
succeeded by Ethan Allen Hitchcock, 
of ^lissouri, then Ambassador to Rus- 
sia. 

Esteeming the tariff question of 
prime necessity, an extra session of 
Congress was called. Mr. Dingley pre- 
pared a new high protective measure, 
which passed both houses after many 
amendments, and became a law in 1897. 
Manufactories once more became busy, 
and a sudden rise in the price of wheat, 
due to an unusual foreign demand, 
were factors in restoring prosperity to 
the country. In the year i8g8 the for- 
eign trade balance was more than $600.- 
000,000 in our favor, the domestic 
trade was the greatest ever known, 
while railroads and other enterprises 
largely increased their earnings. 
There has been a great increase in our 
exports since that date, especially in the 
line of manufactured goods, with which 
the LInited States competes very favor- 
ably for the foreign trade. 

This is the end of the second stage 
of our history. The first ended when 
we were acknowledged as an indepen- 
deift Nation by Great Britain. From 
1783 to 1898 is 115 years of progress, 
not always constant, of struggling for 
prosperity, of local and national growth 
and of development entirely within the 
confines of our national limits. In 
January, 1898, there was little doubt 
that we should continue developing our 
internal resources, cultivating the good 
will of all Nations, but interesting our- 
selves little except commercially be- 
yond the limits of our then existing 
territory. In five months the whole 



SIXTH PERIOD McKINLEY'S ADMINISTRATION 



299 



situation changed and introduced into 
our politics new ideas, new duties, and 
new responsibilities. The expansion of 
our territory was as sudden as it was 
unexpected, and forms one of the most 
interesting periods in our history, which 
must be given with some detail. 

As we have seen, the people of this 
country have always taken a lively in- 
terest in Cuban affairs. The island lies 
in a position that strategically com- 
mands the Gulf of Mexico, and is es- 
teemed one of the richest parts of the 
globe in material resources. Pro- 
slavery men looked on it with longing 
eyes, as indeed did pretty much every- 
one until the slavery issue became 
prominent in politics. Even Abraham 
Lincoln in his debates with Douglas 
would not pledge himself to vote 
against annexation, although it was 
slave soil at the time. The futile ef- 
forts of the ill-starred Lopez to get up 
an insurrection have been noted. A 
genuine effort was made at revolution 
in 1868, just after Isabella had been 
driven from the throne of Spain. For 
two years the revolutionists gained 
steadily, their operations being con- 
fined mainly in the eastern end of the 
island. They raised a large army, but 
could not procure adequate supplies of 
guns and ammunition. In spite of do- 
mestic troubles, Spain made great ef- 
forts to put down the revolt, sending 
across the seas or enlisting in Cuba over 
235,000 soldiers, of whom 85,000 were 
killed or died of disease, principally the 
latter. The Cubans were aided largely 
by their countrymen in the United 
States, which led to much friction be- 
tween this country and Spain, although 
we had been the first to recognize the 
new order of things in the Peninsula. 

In February of 1895 the standard of 
revolt was raised once more and the 
movement became more formidable 
than ever. A temporary government 
was organized and military operations 
were conducted under Generals Garcia, 
Gomez, and the brothers Maceo. 

A considerable army was raised and 
the war was carried into every depart- 
ment of the island. In the first two 
years there was hard fighting and the 



insurgents were generally successful, as 
they possessed a fair amount of am- 
munition and supplies. This country 
was faithful to its treaty obligations; 
and when filibustering was suppressed, 
supplies were cut off, the Cuban army 
stopped fighting in the open field, and 
began harassing the enemy, burning 
sugar plantations of Spaniards, and do- 
ing as much damage with as little open 
fighting as was possible. Spain raised 
altogether some 300,000 men for the 
war, of whom nearly one-third died of 
disease or were killed. Finding that 
active operations in the field were im- 
possible, Captain-General Weyler began 
his policy of reconcentration, forcing 
all inhabitants to leave the country and 
concentrate in the towns and cities, 
where, being without money or work, 
they died by thousands. Weyler was 
guilty of the grossest cruelties, in de- 
fiance of military law ; and his conduct 
and a natural desire to see the Cubans 
succeed aroused sentiment in this 
country in favor of the revolutionists. 
In spite of popular sympathy, our Gov- 
ernment, at great expense, continued to 
stop filibustering, and two captains of 
vessels were imprisoned. The admin- 
istration constantly tried to alle\-iate the 
unnecessary suft'erings of the war and 
to bring about peace on the island. 
Finally Spain granted an autonomous 
government, which was little more than 
a farce, and at the last moment de- 
clared an armistice, but events had 
moved so rapidly that no compromise 
was possible. 

The administration resolved to main- 
tain friendly relations, and, as an earn- 
est of its good intentions, sent the 
battleship Maine (Captain Charles D. 
Sigsbee) in January, i8g8, to the har- 
bor of Havana, on a friendly visit ; and 
the Spanish cruiser Vizcaya was or- 
dered to New York. Neither ship was 
received with enthusiasm, and the rela- 
tions were formal and strained. On 
February 8th a sensation was created 
by the publication of a letter purport- 
ing to have been written by the Spanish 
Minister at Washington, Dupuy de 
Lome, to Senor Canalejas, a Spanish 
official at Havana. In this letter Mc- 



300 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



Kinley was called a "a low politician," 
"weak and catering to the rabble," 
"who desires to leave a door open to 
me and to stand well with jingoes of 
his party." Canalejas was urged to 
agitate commercial relations even if 
"only for effect," and to send a man 
to Washington "to make a propaganda 
among the Senators." When de Lome 
saw the letter was published, he im- 
mediately cabled his resignation to 
Madrid, and, when questioned by the 
State Department, blandly acknowl- 
edged it and left the country. This 
caused a storm of excitement. Just 
how the Cuban Junta secured the letter 
is not known, but it proved a power- 
ful weapon. The excitment had not 
cooled down on the morning of Feb- 
ruary i6, 1898, when the country was 
driven wild with excitement on learn- 
ing that at 9.40 o'clock the evening pre- 
vious, the battleship IMaine had been 
blown up in Havana harbor, killing or 
mortally wounding two officers and 264 
men. Captain Sigsbee, who was on 
board, was saved, and immediately 
wired the Secretary of the Navy, ask- 
ing suspension of judgment pending an 
investigation. Spain desired to join in 
the investigation, but, being refused, 
started one of her own in a desultory 
manner. 

A Court of Inquiry, composed of 
Captain William T. Sampson, of the 
Iowa ; Lieutenant-Commander Adolph 
Marix, Captain French E. Chadwick, 
and Lieutenant-Commander W. P. 
Potter, began an investigation, Feb- 
ruary 26th, which lasted twenty-three 
days. All of the survivors were closely 
questioned ; the Maine was examined 
by divers, mainly under the direction of 
Ensign Powelson, whose energy and in- 
telligence largely contributed to the 
solution of the problem. The Court 
unanimously reported that the Alaine 
had been blown up by a mine situated 
outside the vessel and that no fault 
could be imputed to the officers of the 
ship. The testimony showed that the 
Maine lay at an unusual anchorage, and 
that, on the night of the explosion, the 
vessel had veered round to a position 
she had not occupied before. The 



Spanish Court reported that the ex- 
plosion was from the inside of the 
Maine, but no one ever considered it 
seriously, as the investigation was not 
worthy the name. Their divers were 
down but a short time and found noth- 
ing of importance, while Ensign Powel- 
son showed conclusively that the keel 
of the Maine had been forced up above 
the water line, and everything showed 
that a mine had been exploded beneath 
the vessel. 

The President sent the report to Con- 
gress, saying he had referred it to 
Spain, expecting that nation to do what 
was right in the premises. Little at- 
tention was paid to this, however, as 
the people of the country were unan- 
imous for war. The situation in Cuba 
was such that it was no longer safe 
for Americans. Under orders of the 
President Consul-General Fitzhugh 
Lee left Havana April 9, 1898, by 
which time nearly all our consuls and 
citizens were already gone. On .A.pril 
7th an unusual event took place at 
the White House. The diplomatic rep- 
resentatives of Great Britain, Germany, 
Austro-Hungary, France, Italy and 
Russia, headed by Sir Julian Paunce- 
fote, handed the President a joint note 
expressing the hope that further ne- 
gotiations would bring about peace. 
The President replied that he was 
anxious for peace, and concluded: "The 
Government of the United States ap- 
preciates the humanitarian and disin- 
terested character of the communica- 
tion now made on behalf of the powers 
therein named, and for its part is con- 
fident that equal appreciation will be 
shown for its own earnest and unsel- 
fish endeavors to fulfill a duty to hu- 
manity by ending a situation, the in- 
definite prolongation of which has be- 
come insufferable." This is generally 
conceded to be one of the most convinc- 
ing answers to an appeal for peace ever 
made. It satisfied the powers, not one 
of which thereafter made a protest. 

On April 10, 1898, the new Spanish 
Minister presented a long note to the 
State Department, making the best of 
the situation from a Spanish point of 
view, calling attention to autonomy, the 



SIXTH PERIOD McKINLEY'S ADMINISTRATION 



armistice, tlie repeal of the Weyler de- 
cree of reconcentration, and the fact 
that General Blanco, who had suc- 
ceeded Weyler, was trying to do the 
best he could for humanity. It was 
too late. War was already certain, and 
the only question was as to the pre- 
liminaries. There were many members 
in both Houses who wanted to recog- 
nize the existing Cuban Republic, but 
the President opposed this, and, after 
a long struggle, the administration won. 

On April 19th both Houses passed 
resolutions declaring the people of 
Cuba free and independent, demanding 
that Spain relinquish authority in 
Cuba, directing the President to use all 
the land and naval forces to carry the 
resolutions into effect, and specifically 
stating that this country entered upon 
the task not for its own aggrandize- 
ment, but expecting to leave the con- 
trol and government of the island to 
its people as soon as it was pacified. 
The President signed these resolutions 
April 20th and sent, by cable, a copy 
to our Minister to Spain, General 
Woodford, who was to wait two days 
for a reply. The Spanish Government 
already had received a copy from its 
Minister, Polo y Bernabe, in Washing- 
ton, and, without waiting to hear from 
Woodford, sent him his passports. He 
turned over the legation to the British 
Embassy and left on the same day for 
home. Thus Spain actually began the 
war. On the 22d the President issued 
an order blockading nearly all the ports 
of Cuba. At daylight on the 23d the 
fleet which had collected at Key West, 
under command of Acting Rear-Ad- 
miral Sampson, sailed for Cuba, and 
the blockade was begun. On the way 
the Spanish merchant steamer Buena 
\'entura was captured as a prize by the 
gunboat Nashville. Others soon fol- 
lowed. On the 25th, in reply to a mes- 
sage of the President, Congress passed 
a resolution declaring that war existed 
with Spain and had existed since the 
2 1 St of April, the day Spain broke off 
diplomatic relations. 

On the 23d the President issued a 
call for 125,000 volunteers for the war. 
While the negotiations were in prog- 



ress the country had not been idle. On 
February ist this country was in no 
condition for war; there were few re- 
serve supplies of ammunition and 
epuipment, and an immediate declara- 
tion of war would have found the 
country badly handicapped. The ad- 
ministration needed some time and 
much money to prepare for war. The 
President asked for $50,000,000 to be 
used at his discretion for the public 
good. The House, on the 8th, the 
Senate on the oth of March, unani- 
mously voted the money. In the House 
there were impassioned patriotic 
speeches in which e.x-Confederate of- 
ficers vied with ex-Federals in pledg- 
ing support to the Government. Prep- 
arations had already begun to get the 
navy ready. With the sum now at 
hand contracts were made for all sorts 
of army and naval supplies. Warships, 
and merchant ships for transports were 
purchased. Supplies of ammunition 
were sent to Commodore Dewey com- 
manding the Asiatic naval station, and 
every nerve was strained to get the 
nation ready for war. When it came 
we were partly prepared, but it took 
many weeks to get the volunteer army 
in anything like condition for service. 
Laws were passed allowing the regu- 
lar army to be recruited up to 62,000 
men, providing for volunteer cavalry 
and engineer regiments, and ten so- 
called immune regiments, in addition 
to the volunteers apportioned to the va- 
rious States. The Army and Navy 
Departments worked night and day to 
equip the ships and soldiers. The 
navy was already in good condition and 
needed only accessions, while the army 
had almost to be created. 

The strategy of war was compara- 
tively simple, as it turned out. though 
it gave great anxiety at the start. 
There was a panic of fear along the 
Atlantic coast over the dread of bom- 
bardment of the chief cities. The fast 
cruiser Columbia and other vessels 
were kept scouting off the extreme 
northeastern coast, as far as the Grand 
Bank, to sight a hostile fleet. A so- 
called flying squadron, under Com- 
modore Winfield Scott .Schley, was col- 



302 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



lected at Hampton Roads, ready to 
start in any direction. His flagship 
was the armored cruiser Brooklyn, and 
his principal ships were the Texas, 
sister ship to the Maine, Captain Phil- 
lip, and the first-class battleship Massa- 
chusetts, Captain Higginson. 

When Admiral Sampson sailed from 
Key West, he had the Iowa, Captain 
Robley D. Evans; the armored cruiser 
New York (fla^-ship), Captain Chad- 
wick; the Indiana, Puritan, Cincinnati, 
New Orleans, Detroit, Marblehead, 
]\Iayflower, and a large number of 
smaller vessels, with which he block- 
aded the coast. 

The only other American fleet was at 
ITongkong, under Commodore George 
Dewey, consisting of the flag-ship 
Olympia (Captain Gridley), the Ral- 
eigh, Baltimore, and Boston, all second- 
class cruisers ; the gun-boats Concord 
and Petrel ; the revenue cutter !McCul- 
lough, and two transports. 

On the Pacific coast there was the 
cruiser Charleston and the monitors 
IMonadnock and Monterey. The first- 
class battleship Oregon, Captain Clark, 
was ordered from San Francisco to the 
East. Clark left ]March 19th and 
reached Rio de Janeiro April 30th. 
Here he was joined by the gun-boat 
Marietta and the new cruiser purchased 
from Brazil, the Buffalo. The Oregon 
reached Key West, May 26th, after a 
voyage of 12,000 miles, without a mo- 
ment's stop for repairs — the most re- 
markable voyage on record, due to the 
strength of the ship and the untiring 
efforts of the officers and crew. The 
last part of the voyage was hazardous, 
as it was expected that the Spanish fleet 
might be overhauled at any time. Cap- 
tain Clark had determined to fight 
them all, if he met them, and subse- 
quent events indicated that he would 
have won. 

The Spanish had a large number of 
small gunboats and a few cruisers in 
Cuban waters, but their principal navy 
consisted of two fleets, one near home, 
in the Atlantic, and the other in the 
Philippines. The home fleet consisted 
of some of the finest vessels afloat. 
The Alaria Teresa, Almirante 



(Jquendo, \'izcaya, and Christobal 
Colon were considered of the finest type 
of armored cruisers afloat, and there 
was much anxiety in this country be- 
cause of them. These, with the tor- 
pedo boat destroyers Pluton, Terror, 
and Furor, formed a fleet which was 
sent to American waters, April 2gth, 
from the Cape de \'erde Islands. The 
Spanish reserve fleet, under Admiral 
Camara, at Cadiz, consisted of the 
battleship Carlos Y, the cruisers Pelayo 
and Xumancia, and several converted 
cruisers. These latter once started for 
IManila and got through the Suez 
Canal, but returned to Cadiz after the 
destruction of Cervera's fleet. The 
fleet in Manila Bay consisted of the 
Reina Christina, Castilla, Don Antonio 
de Ulloa, Isla de Luzon, IsIa de Cuba, 
General Lezo, Marquis del Duero, El 
Cano, Velasco, Isla de INIindanao, and 
some small torpedo boats and gun- 
boats. 

.As to the army, Spain had something 
like 200,000 trained soldiers in the 
West Indies and about 12,000 in the 
Philippines. There were some 80,000 
reserves in the Peninsula called out, all 
armed and equipped. The L'nited 
States had a little army of 25,000 men 
to begin with, which was in three 
months recruited up to 57,000 regulars 
and over 220,000 volunteers, very few 
of whom saw much service in the field 
of battle. 

The first order was to blockade Cuba, 
for it was not intended to begin active 
military operations until the rainy sea- 
son was over. The next order was for 
Dewey to destroy the Spanish fleet in 
the Philippines. The next object was 
to destroy Admiral Cervera's fleet, 
which had sailed from the Cape de 
\'erde Islands, rio one knew just where. 
It was believed Cervera would make 
Cuba his objective point, which was 
confirmed by learning of his presence 
off the Venezuelan coast. May 14th. 
That he would strike for Cienfuegos, 
fin the south side of Cuba, seemed 
most probable, as it was the nearest 
port and in direct railway communica- 
tion with Havana. Then began the 
chase for this fleet, to be hereafter de- 



SIXTH PERIOD McKINLEY'S ADMINISTRATION 



pcribed. As it turned out, there was 
little occasion for grand strategy dur- 
ing the war. There was one series of 
American successes on land and sea, 
which soon brought peace. 

Before beginning tlie narrative of 
tlie war, some space must be given to 
the great preparations on land and sea. 
A large number of yachts and mer- 
chant vessels were bought or leased and 
fitted up as gunboats and cruisers, 
though little protective armor was put 
on them. The four great American 
Line steamers Paris, New York, St. 
Louis, and St. Paul were leased, fitted 
up as cruisers, but used largely as 
scouts and transports, the St. Paul being 
in command of Captain Sigsbee. The 
Paris was rechristened the Yale and the 
New York the Harvard. Many ves- 
sels were hastily fitted out as trans- 
ports, supply and hospital ships, to- 
gether with many colliers to supply the 
fleet. Since for the past fifteen years 
Congress had been liberal with the 
navy, it was much easier to fit out than 
the army. The naval force was in- 
creased by enlistment of men, the naval 
reserves of States, and by promoting 
officers and taking many from civil life. 

The financial question was easily 
settled. Stamp taxes were laid, in- 
tended to raise over $100,000,000 per 
year, and a popular loan of $200,000,- 
000 in 3 per cent, bonds was offered. 
Most of this was taken in subscrip- 
tions of $500 or less, and no subscrip- 
tion of $5,000 or over was accepted. 
The loan was subscribed to many times 
over. The bonds sold at a premium 
long before they were ready for de- 
livery. 

The army problem Avas much more 
difficult to solve. Ever since the Civil 
War the army had been neglected, in 
spite of recommendations and protests 
from army officers and the W^ar De- 
partment. Although the officers were 
as fine a Lodv as ever wore uniform, 
Congress never looked upon them and 
the men as much more than ornamental 
police. Only in the last fi"w years had 
the army been equipped with the mod- 
ern small caliVier rifle with smokeless 
powder cartridges, and there was not 



large enough reserve supply at first for 
the regular recruits. The fear of mili- 
tarism being ever before the eyes of 
Congress, some little good was done by 
a small appropriation to the various 
States for the National Guard. Nomi- 
nally these organizations aggregated 
about 125,000 officers and men. In one 
State only was the organization per- 
fected and used to duty. Pennsyl- 
vania's National Guard was a division 
of three brigades, each of five regi- 
ments of infantry, one troop of cavalry, 
and one light battery. These were ac- 
customed to brigade evolutions, and 
some experience in division drill. In 
other Eastern States, and in some cen- 
tral States, the organization was more 
or less perfected, but in none of them 
was it adequate for war. The material 
was there, but it lacked the necessary 
training. The National Guard was 
equipped with Springfield rifles and 
black powder cartridges. Most of the 
tentage and material was drawn from 
the regular army, but the equipment 
\\'as seldom complete. 

When the call for 125,000 men was 
issued, the States furnished their quota 
usually by using the National Guard 
regiments as a basis. Those who de- 
sired to stay at home did so, and their 
places were quickly taken by volun- 
teers. The new law provided for a 
regiment of three battalions of four 
companies, each company consisting of 
106 men. Few militia regiments were 
so large, and they were consolidated or 
filled up to meet the requirements. It 
took but a short time for the States to 
raise the quotas in local camps. As 
they were filled the regiments were 
sent to camps of instruction in the 
South, so as to become acclimated, ex- 
cept a few which were detailed to 
guard powder mills and public prop- 
erty. The principal camps were near 
Washington (Camp Alger), at Chicka- 
mauga (Camp Thomas), at Jackson- 
ville (Camp Cuba Libre), and at Fer- 
nandina Later there was a large camp 
near Middletown, Pa., and many 
smaller ones in Alabama and Georgia. 
On May 25th, the President issued a 
call for 7S,ouu more men, making 200,- 



THE HO.ME AUXILIARY AND REFKRENCE 



ooo volunteers, in addition to the vol- 
unteer cavalry, engineers, and im- 
munes, not apportioned among the 
States. The First Volunteer Cavalry 
was commanded by Surgeon Leonard 
Wood, of the army, who had been ad- 
vanced to the rank of Colonel, with 
Theodore Roosevelt as Lieutenant- 
Colonel, who left the post of Assistant 
Secretary of the Navy to assume the 
position. This regiment was nicknamed 
the "Rough Riders" because it was 
largely recruited from cowboys and 
frontiersmen in Texas, Arizona, and 
adjacent territory. It also included a 
large number of college athletes and 
clubmen from New York. Nearly 
every race and religion was represented, 
as well as nearly every State. It 
gained more celebrity than any other 
volunteer organization. 

This army was organized into eight 
corps, only seven of which were com- 
pleted. Each corps was supposed to 
consist of two divisions, each of three 
brigades of three regiments — nominally 
about 24,000 officers and men. To offi- 
cer this army, whose maximum reached 
about 275,000 men, all of the Brigadier- 
Generals in the regular army, as well 
as some other officers, were made 
Major-Generals of \^olunteers. In ad- 
dition men of experience in the Civil 
\\'ar were given the same rank. These 
included James H. Wilson, of Dela- 
ware; J. Warren Keifer, of Ohio; Fitz- 
hugh Lee, of \'irginia; M. C. Butler, 
of South Carolina, and Joseph Wheeler, 
of Alabama ; the last three mentioned 
being ex-Confederate officers. Nearly 
all the Colonels in the regular army, as 
well as some Lieutenant-Colonels, were 
made Brigadier-Generals, together 
with a considerable number from civil 
life who had served in the Civil War. 
Among the latter were Charles Kin,£f, 
better known as a novelist ; Frederick 
D. Grant, H. V. N. Boyton, Adelbert 
Ames, hero of Fort Fisher; J. P. S. 
Gobin, Grand Commander of the Grand 
Army of the Republic, and W. C. 
Oates, the latter an ex-Confederate 
officer. 

Under the law the Governors of the 
States appointed all line officers below 



the rank of Brigadier-Ciencral. To 
provide for this army an immense in- 
crease in the stafif was necessary. This 
was done as far as possible by taking 
young officers from the regular army 
and promoting them, though many pre- 
ferred to remain in the line. In ad- 
dition, a large number of civilians were 
appointed, many of whom had never 
had the slightest military training. 
Some of these learned their duties 
easily and became efficient. Others 
never did become efficient, and much 
trouble resulted. During the war it 
developed that the weakest spot of the 
army was the staff, not only in the 
iugher grades, but in the regiments. 
Lveryone was anxious to fight, but the 
vexatious detail of quartermaster and 
subsistence departments, and sanitary 
arrangements was irksome and it took 
some time to properly learn the duties; 
a certain amount of "red tape" being 
necessary or else there would be hope- 
less confusion. It took a long time for 
green officers to learn these rules, and 
in the meantime the men were often on 
short rations, while few companies at 
first had good cooks. In spite of all 
drawbacks, by July ist there was an 
army of over 200,000 men, nearly all 
equipped, and all eager to fight. In 
spite of all complaints made by per- 
sons ignorant of war, this army was 
assembled and equipped in a shorter 
space of time than had ever been known 
before. 

We now turn to the narrative of the 
war, which is brief and glorious. The 
first conflict took place April 27th, at 
Matanzas, Cuba. The blockading ves- 
sels New York, Puritan and Cincinnati 
bombarded the forts of the town and 
dismounted some batteries without loss 
on either side. On the same day Com- 
modore Dewey, having received laconic 
orders to destroy the Spanish fleet, 
sailed away from Mirs Bay, near 
Hongkong, expecting to find the enemy 
at Subig Bay, north of IManila. In this 
he was disappointed ; so he kept on, and 
entered the Bay of Manila, sailing past 
the batteries on Corregidor Island at 
the entrance, about daybreak. May i, 
1898. It was a hazardous enterprise, 



SIXTH PERIOD McKlNLEY'S ADMINISTRATION 



305 



for he knew there were mines in the 
harbor, heavy fortifications on land, 
and he iiad a large fleet to fight. It is 
true that he was somewhat superior to 
the enemy in tonnage and the number 
and weight of his guns, but neither 
his vessels nor those of the enemy had 
any protective armor. The Spanish 
fleet lay under the guns of Cavite Fort, 
where there was an arsenal. Unless 
Dewey could win a decisive battle, he 
might be in a perilous position, as he 
was 7,000 miles from the nearest Am- 
erican port. I^ndaunted by these 
dangers, Dewey sailed in, and by good 
chance escaped the mines as they ex- 
ploded. Sighting the enemy on the 
south of the bay by the fort, he placed 
his vessels in line and sailed around in 
a circle, so as to give each of his ves- 
.■^els a chance to fire and sail on out of 
range. The line bore steadily down 
until in just the right position, when 
Dewey, who remained on the bridge, 
remarked quietly to the Olympia's cap- 
tain: "You may fire, Gridley, when 
you are ready." An instant later, at 
5.06, May 1st. the fight began, and 
lasted nearly two hours and a half. 
The enemy replied vigorously, but their 
aim was poor. On the other hand, the 
American gunners fired slowly and 
with more accuracy, but not so well as 
Dewey had expected, and he was 
greatly troubled as he feared the am- 
munition had run short owing to a 
misuaderstanding of the signals. 
When several of the enemy's vessels 
were aflame, and all more or less dam- 
aged, Dewey ordered the whole fleet 
out of range to consider the situation, 
for he was much disturbed. Contrary 
to general belief for mouths afterward, 
the respite was not for breakfast, but 
to find out how much damage his fleet 
had sustained, and how much ammu- 
nition remained. Anxiously Dewey 
awaited the reports from each of his 
vessels as to the losses. When one ves- 
sel after another reported not a man 
lost or seriously hurt nor any damage 
done, the Commodore breathed a sigh 
of relief. After breakfast and a little 
rest, the line was formed again, and 
the attack was renewed upon the Span- 



iards, who were already rejoicing over 
a victory, supposing that they had 
driven the American vessels off by their 
fire. The Americans were now confi- 
dent, their aim went true, and in a 
short time every Spanish vessel was 
sunk, and some 600 Spanish sailors 
were killed, including one captain. The 
Spaniards fought to the last, but their 
marksmanship was very bad. (")nce 
more Dewey called for a list of casual- 
ties, and again found that not a single 
life had been lost, and only eight 
wounded, while the damage to the en- 
tire fleet did not amount to $5,000. 
This, the most remarkable naval battle 
in history up to that time, caused a 
sensation all over the world. The ad- 
ministration breathed a sigh of relief. 
Dewey was made Rear-Admiral and 
given a sword by Congress, and in 1899 
was given the full rank of Admiral. 

Cavite Fort surrendered on demand 
of Dewey, who notified Manila that he 
would shell the town if the batteries 
opened on him. The city was block- 
aded, and Dewey was obliged to await 
the arival of an army. Assistance was 
sent as soon as possible. Some regulars 
and a large number of volunteers were 
sent to him, until the army in the 
Philippines amounted to about 20,000 
men by December. General Wesley 
Merritt was sent in command of the 
army, but was afterward recalled to 
Paris and home on special duty, and 
was succeeded by General Elwell S. 
Otis. The Charleston sailed from San 
Francisco. May i8th, and the First Cali- 
fornia, with other troops, sailed on the 
25th. Thereafter troops were sent as 
rapidly as possible, by way of Hono- 
lulu ; and the monitor Monterey made 
the long trip safely in tow, soon to be 
foHowed by the Monadnock. As the 
cruiser Charleston was on its way to 
Manila, it stopped, June 21st, at the 
Island of Guam, in the Ladrone Islands, 
belonging to Spain, and fired a few 
shots by way of warning. The Spanish 
Governor sent word he could not fire 
a salute as he was out of powder. He 
was told to surrender, and it was some 
time before he could be made to under- 
stand that war had been declared, and 



3o6 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



he was a prisoner. Leaving- an Ameri- 
can settler in charge as Governor, the 
Charleston sailed on in safety to 
Manila. 

As the troops reached Manila, tliey 
were placed in camp west and south of 
the cit)'. Aguinaldo. a former leader 
of revolutionist Filipinos, who had sold 
out to Spain for gold, as it was 
charged, and had gone to Hongkong, 
had returned with Dewey, and went 
ashore to organize a native force as 
allies, though Dewey had no official re- 
lations with him. Aguinaldo soon or- 
ganized a quasi-Republic. of which he 
became the self-appointed dictator. 

Our narrative now returns to At- 
lantic waters. Leaving smaller vessels 
to maintain the Cuban blockade. Ad- 
miral Sampson at Key West rendez- 
voused the flag-ship New York, the 
battleships Iowa and Indiana, the moni- 
tor Puritan, the cruisers Cincinnati, De- 
troit, and Marblehead, and the torpedo 
boat JNIayflower, and on May 4th sailed 
eastward, looking for Cervera's fleet, 
which might possibly have sailed for 
San Juan, Porto Rico. On the 12th a 
portion of the fleet bombarded San 
Juan, did some damage to the fortifica- 
tions and discovered that Cervera's 
fleet was not there. As to find the 
Spanish fleet was the principal object 
of the voyage. Admiral Sampson 
turned westward again. 

In the meantime the first American 
blood of the war had been shed. Off 
Cardenas, Cuba, the blockading vessels 
Wilmington, Hudson and torpedo boat 
Winslow were attacked by Spanish gun- 
boats and shore batteries. The Win- 
slow was disabled and the Hudson, a 
converted ferry boat, went to her 
rescue and took her in tow just as En- 
sign Worth Bagley and four men were 
killed and Lieutenant Rernadou 
wounded by a Spanish shell. It was 
the most destructive shot of the Span- 
ish navy during the war. On the same 
day the cables were cut by a party of 
American sailors in small boats off 
Cienfuegos, and one American was 
killed. 

On May 12th positive information 
was received that Cervera's fleet was 



at Martinique, Windward Islands. The 
next day Schley's flying squadron 
sailed for Key West. It was now cer- 
tain that Cervera was going to Cuba, 
and it was necessary to catch him if 
possible. The plan laid out was for 
Schley to go around the western end 
of the island, with the chance of find- 
ing him at Cienfuegos, while Sampson 
sailed around the eastern end until he 
met Schley. And now comes the story 
of the only incident in the naval history 
of the war that has given rise to con- 
troversy, except one other which im- 
mediately followed. Schley sailed 
around Cuba and blockaded Cienfue- 
gos, May 2 1 St, where he believed Cer- 
vera's fleet was harbored. On the 19th 
word reached Washington that Cervera 
was at Santiago. Sampson was in- 
formed, and sent the news to Schley, 
telling him to go to Santiago if he was 
sure Cervera was not at Cienfuegos. 
Now, Schley, on May 25th, was not 
certain on this point, and remained at 
Cienfuegos until he got a second notice, 
when he sailed, May 26th, for Santiago, 
but did not complete a close blockade 
of the place, owing to the smallness of 
his fleet. He here received orders to 
close in, hold the place and sink a col- 
lier in the mouth of Santiago Harbor. 
Most of Schley's vessels were nearly 
out of coal, and he found it difficult 
and almost impossible to coal from a 
collier at sea. Notifying the Depart- 
ment of his condition, and that he could 
not follow instructions, he started to 
go back to Key West, May 2Qth, but 
the collier Merrimac broke down, and 
he finally managed to coal his vessels 
at sea. Schley claims that he had been 
told that even if Cervera was at San- 
tiago he would surely come to Cien- 
fuegos, which latter point it was neses- 
sary to watch closely. This is his ex- 
planation of not closing in on San- 
tiago at first. Sampson's vessels soon 
began to arrive. On the 31st the bat- 
teries at the harbor were bombarded, 
and some damage done, and on June ist 
Admiral Sampson arrived, took com- 
mand of the whole fleet, and instituted 
a close blockade. Sampson now re- 
solved to execute his plan for closing 



SIXTH PERIOD McKINLEY'S ADMINISTRATION 



up the harbor with a collier, and asked 
In' aval Constructor Richmond P. Hob- 
son to draw up the plan. 

This he did, and received permission 
to execute it. This plan was simply ^o 
take in the collier Alerrimac, until he 
reached a narrow place in the channel, 
anchor one end of the vessel, let the 
other swing with the tide, and, just as 
the collier was lengthwise across the 
channel, sink her with small torpedoes 
controlled by electricity. This was one 
of the most hazardous enterprises ever 
undertaken, yet when volunteers were 
called for nearly every man in the fleet 
wanted to go, and there were many 
heart-burnings over refusals. Hobson 
chose only six men, picked for cour- 
age, physical and technical skill. They 
were Osborn Deignan, George F. Phil- 
lips, Francis Kelly, George Charette, 
Daniel Montague and J. C. Murphy. 
Randolph Clausen, a coxswain of the 
New York, determined to share in the 
work, concealed himself in the Merri- 
mac, and when discovered at the last 
moment, refused to leave his self- 
chosen post, making the eighth man of 
the party. The first attempt was made 
June 2d, but it was getting light, and 
the enterprise was postponed until the 
next night, when it was carried out, but 
not to a complete success. The Spanish 
batteries opened on the Merrimac, and 
the crew escaped death by a miracle. 
Unfortunately, the rudder chains were 
shot away, part of the torpedo wires 
cut, and when the collier sank it did 
not close the channel. Hobson and his 
men sank with the vessel and swam 
to a catamaran, from which they were 
taken at daylight by Admiral Cervera, 
who was out looking for an American 
warship he supposed he had sunk. On 
hearing .Hobson's story Cervera was so 
impressed with his bravery that he sent 
an officer to Admiral Sampson, under 
a flag of truce, to allow clothes and 
money to be sent to the American pris- 
oners, who were the only ones cap- 
tured by Spain during the war. This 
touch of kindness pleased the American 
people so much that, later, the Spanish 
Admiral received many attentions in 
this country. 



The Morro Castle and batteries along 
the mouth of the harbor were re- 
peatedly bombarded, and the men 
driven from the guns, but the perma- 
nent damage was small. A part of the 
fleet attacked the batteries at Guanta- 
namo Harbor, east of Santiago, and on 
June loth, 600 marines landed and made 
a camp. They were attacked by Span- 
iards for two days, and lost four men. 
The navy shelled the hills, and the 
marines held their ground. Admiral 
Sampson now believed that an army 
could capture the batteries at the mouth 
of the harbor, and wired the President 
that with 10,000 men he could take 
Santiago in twenty- four hours. An 
army, principally of regulars, had been 
collected at Tampa under General 
Shafter, and this was hastily embarked 
on a fleet of transports. There were 
two divisions of infantry under Gen- 
erals Lawton and Kent and one of 
Cavalry under General Wheeler, but the 
latter left their horses behind and 
fought as infantry. The only volun- 
teers were two squadrons of First 
Cavalry (Rough Riders), the Seventy- 
first New York and the Eighth Massa- 
chusetts. Owing to a false alarm, 
raised by the report of Spanish cruis- 
ers in the Nicolas Channel, the sailing 
was delayed several days for more war- 
ships as convoys, but on June 13th the 
expedition sailed, about 16,000 strong, 
and was otif Santiago on the 20th. 
There seems to have arisen a diff'er- 
ence of opinion between Shafter and 
Sampson, which lasted through the 
campaign. Sampson wanted Shafter to 
storm Morro Castle, but Shafter said 
it would be impossible to land under the 
fire of Spanish batteries and take the 
place without incurring more loss than 
he felt justified in ordering. The 
troops began to disembark at Daiquiri, 
about fifteen miles east from Santiago, 
on the 2ist, Lawton's division taking 
the lead ; but as the task was difficult, 
due to the loss of lighters, the absence 
of suitable docks, and the fear of trans- 
port captains, which kept them far from 
shore, the work progressed very 
slowly, and the regular order of land- 
ing was nut maintained. General 



3o8 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



Wheeler's division began to disembark, 
and, as Wheeler was the ranking officer 
ashore, he pushed his men to the front 
along the Santiago road. Early on the 
24th the Spaniards were met at La 
Gnasimas and engaged by General 
Young's brigade. After a sharp fight 
the Spaniards were driven back. The 
American loss was sixteen killed and 
fifty-two wounded, including in the 
former Hamilton Fish and Captain Al- 
lyn K. Capron, of the Rough Riders. 
General Shafter feared Spanish bullets 
much less than yellow fever, which he 
knew was likely to break out, so de- 
termined on a brief campaign even at 
some discomfort and suffering. By the 
26th the advance had reached within 
four miles of Santiago, along a single 
road over which all supplies and am- 
munition had to be transported by mule 
trains. Reinforcements which arrived 
finally gave Shafter about 22,000 men. 
General Shafter now ordered General 
Lawton's division to the right, on July 
1st, to capture the Spanish town El 
Caney "before breakfast," and then to 
move to the left and join Generals Kent 
and \\'heeler in taking San Juan Hill. 
Lawton did his work, but it took longer 
than was e.xpected,, as the Spaniards 
fought bravely from behind stone 
walls, and there were no siege guns at 
the front. The Spanish Mauser rifle 
proved a terrible weapon when prop- 
erly handled. Fortunately, the Span- 
iards were poor marksmen, ^^'ithout 
waiting for Lawton, Wheeler and Kent 
charged up San Juan Hill in tlie face of 
a galling fire from behind breastworks 
and stone walls, and took it with a rush 
after heavy loss. This charge up the 
hill is one of the most brilliant feats in 
our history. Barbed wires had been 
stretched so as to impede progress, but 
nothing could stop the gallant soldiers 
as they rushed up the hill. .At the same 
time a feint w^as made by a brigade on 
Aguadores to the extreme left. The 
Americans lost heavily while waiting in 
line before the charge at the foot of the 
hill. Just behind them was a signal 
service balloon, which made a good tar- 
get for the enemy. The two volunteer 
infantry regiments used black powder, 



and smoke from these made a good tar- 
get also, .\fter the Americans cap- 
tured San Juan Hill, they dug trenches, 
and successfully resisted heavy at- 
tacks from the Spaniards throughout 
the night and during July 2, who fought 
bravely in spite of the expectation that 
they would fly at the first fire. As the 
American line was thin and the attacks 
persistent, General Shafter asked his 
officers if it would be prudent to fall 
back. They decided in the negative. 
General \\"heeler, who, in spite of his 
years and illness, had been active 
through the campaign, was insistent 
that no retreat should be made. On 
hearing from Shafter, the President 
sent General Miles with reinforce- 
ments. General Shafter lost in the two 
days 23 officers and 208 men killed, and 
80 officers and 1,203 men wounded. 
The total losses of the campaign were 
23^ officers, 237 men killed, and 80 
officers and 1,332 men wounded. 
Early on July 3d General Shafter sent 
a summons to General Toral, command- 
ing at Santiago, to surrender. On that 
morning occurred the second great 
naval event of the war. General 
Shafter desiring to consult with Ad- 
miral Sampson as tc the shelling of 
Santiago by the navy, the latter left on 
his flag-ship New York to meet the 
General. Not long after he had left, 
Cervera's fleet made a sortie out of the 
harbor. It was a surprise to the Amer- 
icans. Many of the vessels had only, 
a few boilers under steam, and some 
liad their engines uncoupled. Commo- 
dore Schley, the ranking officer, set the 
signal to close in and fight. The Maria 
Teresa, Almirante Oquendo, and Viz- 
caya were soon riddled with shot, set 
on fire and beached, the officers and 
crew surendering. The torpedo boat 
destroyers IMuton and Furor were 
quickly sunk, while the Cristobal Colon 
managed to get started well to the west, 
followed by the Brooklyn, Oregon, 
Texas and Iowa. The last two were 
sent to look after the three beached 
cruisers, and the others kept up the 
chase for about forty miles. The large 
guns seem to have done little damage, 
but the havoc of the smaller calibers 



SIXTH PERIOD McKINLEY'S ADMINISTRATION 



was frightful. The Colon was over- 
taken, and ran on the beach. Soon af- 
terward the New York came up, with 
Admiral Sampson on board. Admiral 
Cervera and all his surviving officers 
and crew surrendered, amounting to i.- 
300. Several hundred were killed or 
drowned. The Americans lost but one 
man. The Spanish officers were sent to 
Annapolis, and afterward paroled. 
The sailors were sent to Portsmouth, 
and were finally allowed to go home. 

On July 5th, Toral, who had declined 
the first summons, was again ordered 
to surrender, and refused ; but a truce 
was agreed on to allow foreigners and 
women and children to leave the city. 
Fearing, from reports, that Shafter was 
in a dangerous situation, reinforce- 
ments had been rushed to him, and on 
July nth General Miles arrived. Hob- 
son and his crew were exchanged for 
Spanish prisoners. The navy bom- 
barded the city on the loth and nth, 
and were preparing to do more execu- 
tion when negotiations were opened by 
which, on the 14th, General Toral sur- 
rendered not only Santiago, but all of 
the eastern end of Cuba, and about 2j„- 
000 men, on condition that they be sent 
back to Spain at the expense of the 
United States. This was agreed to and 
the Santiago campaign was over. 

In the meantime yellow fever and 
malaria had attacked the American 
army with terrible effect, and proved 
worse than Spanish bullets. Even the 
physicians were attacked and there 
were many deaths. .A^ccordingly a 
camp was prepared on the east end of 
Long Island and named Wykoff, after 
the gallant officer who fell at Santiago, 
whither the army was transported and 
remained until the danger of contagion 
was over. The volunteer regiments 
were then disbanded. Colonel Wood 
was made a Brigadier, later a Major- 
General, and appointed Military Gov- 
ernor of Santiago. Roosevelt had been 
made Colonel of his regiment. Though 
there have been many criticisms of Gen- 
eral Shafter and his campaign, it should 
be remembered that within a month 
he had invaded a foreign, tropical coun- 
try, fought and won two hard battles. 



and received the surrender of a greater 
force than his own with a compara- 
ti\ely small loss. Only about a dozen 
of the wounded died, as the Spanish 
bullets did little damage except when 
they struck a vital spot. 

On July 20th General Miles sailed 
from Guantanamo with transports un- 
der con\oy for Porto Rico. Instead 
of landing on the north side, as was 
expected, he landed on the south side 
at Guanica, which he took without re- 
sistance. General Brooke had sailed 
with his corps, amounting in all to 
some 35,000 men, and ser\'ed under 
General Miles. Ponce surrendered on 
the 28th, and soon the American army 
from three directions advanced toward 
San Juan. There was a skirmish at 
Guayama on the 8th ; at Coamo on the 
9th, where the Americans lost one 
killed and six wounded ; and on the 
loth General Schwan drove back the 
Spaniards from Mayaguez. General 
Brooke now pushed to the mountains, 
and was just about to open the only 
serious battle of the campaign, when 
news of the armistice came. The loss 
in this campaign was three men killed 
and four officers and thirty-six men 
wounded. 

Peace came about in this wise. On 
July 26th the French Ambassador at 
Washington, Mr. Jules Cambon. repre- 
senting Spanish interests, asked for 
terms of peace. On the 30th President 
McKinley replied that peace could be 
secured by Spain giving up sovereignty 
of Cuba, ceding Porto Rico and Guam 
to the United States, while the Amer- 
icans were to hold the harbor and city 
of ^Manila until a joint commission of 
.Americans and Spaniards should deter- 
mine the control, disposition and gov- 
ernment of the Philippines. On August 
nth a protocol agreeing on the above 
was signed in Washington, at 4.23 p. m., 
b}' Secretary Day and Ambassador 
Cambon. Hostilities were ordered to 
cease at once, but before the news 
reached Manila a combined attack was 
made, on the 13th, by Admiral Dewey 
•and General Merritt, upon that place, 
which was captured with a loss of only 
fifty in killed, wounded and missing. 



310 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



Previous to this, on July 31st, the Span- 
iards had attacked Merritt's Hues at 
night, when nine Americans were killed 
and forty-seven wounded — most of 
them volunteers. Soon about 100,000 
volunteers were discharged, including 
all who had served abroad, except a few 
regiments in the Philippines. The total 
strength of the army in August was 
just under 275,000 men. The total 
losses to October ist were 280 killed 
and 2,630 dead of disease, including a 
few who died of wotmds, making a 
total of 2,910, or a trifle over i per cent, 
of the whole, the smallest death rate 
ever known during a campaign. The 
deaths from disease were largely of 
typhoid fever, most of them in volun- 
teer camps. Up to March i, 1899, the 
total deaths were about 5,000. 

The war was now over and arrange- 
ments were made to carry out the 
protocol. Joint commissioners were 
appointed to superintendent the evacua- 
tion of Porto Rico and Cuba. The 
former was easily accomplished, but the 
latter was not concluded until in the 
early part of 1899, though the Amer- 
icans took possession of the island on 
January ist, and raised the Stars and 
Stripes on Morro Castle and over the 
wreck of the Maine. 

The President appointed as commis- 
sioners to make the formal Peace 
Treaty in Paris William R. Day, Sen- 
ator William P. Frey, Senator Cushman 
K. Davis, Senator George Gray and 
Whitelaw Reid. These met the Spanish 
Commissioners October ist, but it was 
not until the middle of December that 
the treaty was signed. Spain wanted 
this country to assume all or part of the 
Cuban debt, which was refused. Then 
this country demanded the cession of 
the Philippines, offering $20,000,000 as 
compensation for recent improvements. 
The latter was finally agreed to under 
protest, and was ratified by the Senate 
February 6th. The Queen Regent 
signed the treaty March 17, 1899. 

One great result of the war was the 
wiping out of the sectional feeling in 
this country. The North and the South- 
were equally patriotic and by general 
consent the one sectional issue was 



buried. This alone was worth all the 
war cost in blood and treasure. Also 
the fact that Great Britain was our fimi 
friend tlirough the war, though obliged 
to act neutrally, wiped away much of 
the prejudice that had existed between 
the two nations, and brought them into 
friendly relations that are likely to have 
important consequences. 

In August much complaint was made 
as to the inefficiency of the commissary, 
quartermaster and medical departments 
of the army. Over 2,000 men died of 
various camp diseases, there were com- 
plaints that the food was bad, and it 
was hinted that there was corruption 
or inefficiency in many departments. 
Secretary Alger was the chief object 
of these complaints. He demanded an 
investigation, and the President ap- 
pointed nine commissioners to inquire 
into all the complaints. They were 
General Grenville M. Dodge, Colonel 
J. A. Sexton, Captain E. P. Howell, 
General J. M. Wilson, Charles Denby, 
Urban A. Woodbury, General James A. 
Beaver, General A. McD. McCook and 
Dr. Phineas S. Connor. All the offi- 
cers named were from civil life and 
gained their titles in the Civil War, 
except General Wilson, who was Chief 
of Engineers of the Army, and General 
McCook, who was a retired officer of 
the regular army. In January, 1899, 
Commissary-General Egan, in a report 
to the War Inquiry Board, attacked 
General Miles, using unbecoming and 
abusive language, because of the for- 
mer's charges about the army beef, 
some of which was alleged to have been 
"embalmed under the pretense of an 
experiment." For his language General 
Egan was court martialed, convicted 
and suspended from duty for six years. 
The unfortunate controversy over the 
conduct of the War Department did 
much to detract from the satisfaction 
over our brilliant victories on land and 
sea. The commission's report mildly 
censured the War Department and 
Inspector-General's Department, but 
found in general that the operations 
of the war had been conducted with 
unusual swiftness and efficiency. 

To investigate the charges of General 



SIXTH PhKlOD McKINLEY'S ADMINISTRATION 



311 



Miles, a Roard of Inquiry of army 
officers was constituted. It found the 
charges unsupported by the facts. 

In the elections of November, 1898, 
the Republicans were generally success- 
ful and elected a majority of the House 
of Representatives, something unusual 
for a party in power in the middle of 
an administration. Colonel Roosevelt 
was elected Governor of New York, 
and the Republican pluralities as a 
whole were greater than in 1896, due 
largely to the fact that a number of 
Western States returned to Republican 
allegiance. The Legislatures elected 
chose enough Republican Senators to 
give that party a large majority, so 
that both the administrative and legis- 
lative bodies were, after March 4th, 
in the hands of the Republicans. 

On July 6, 1898, the joint resolution 
annexing the Hawaiian Islands was 
passed by large majorities in both 
Houses of Congress. A commission 
was appointed to draft a- form of gov- 
ernment for the islands, the American 
flag was raised, and the local Govern- 
ment temporarily continued. The com- 
mission reported to Congress, but it 
was not acted on by the Fifty-fifth 
Congress. When Congress met in De- 
cember, 1898, there was general satis- 
faction over the result of the war. but 
the policy of expansion of our territory 
was by no means unanimously ap- 
proved. \MTile the division of opinion 
on what was termed "imperialism" did 
not follow party lines entirely, most 
of the anti-expansionists were Demo- 
crats. The subject was injected into 
debate when the Senate received the 
treaty with Spain. The opposition was 
determined and ably led. One of those 
most anxious to defeat the treaty was 
Senator Hoar, of Massachusetts, a life- 
long Republican. The House also dis- 
cussed the subject, as it was necessary 
to appropriate $20,000,000 to carry out 
the treaty. The Senate ratified the 
treaty by a narrow margin, and the 
House voted the appropriation, but not 
until many long, and sometimes bitter, 
speeches had been made. Indeed it is 
possible the treaty might not have been 
ratified at all but for the precipate ac- 



tion of Aguinaldo and his followers 
near Manila, which will hereafter be 
described. Several Senators who wav- 
ered in their views were brought over 
by this outbreak to support the treaty. 
The administration policy was to estab- 
lish order in Cuba and the Philippines 
before taking any steps toward estab- 
lishing their political status. 

Congress passed a law to amalgamate 
the line and staff officers of the navy 
in recognition of the fact that modern 
war vessels are now mere fighting ma- 
chines and engineers are equally re- 
sponsible with the line officers and 
deserve the same rewards. 

A bitter fight was made o\er the re- 
organization of the regular army. 
Under the terms of enlistment the 
volunteers and all but 28,000 regulars 
were to be discharged on the ratification 
of peace. As this would not leave 
enough for the temporary occupation 
of Cuba and suppression of native in- 
surgents in the Philippines, the adminis- 
tration desired that the regular army 
be fixed at 100,000 men. To thi.; lead- 
ing Democrats offered such objection 
that a compromise was finally made to 
increase the regular army to 65,000 men 
and authorize the enlistment of 35,000 
volunteers, but the extra regulars and 
all the volunteers were to be mustered 
out July I, i<)Oi. This bill was signed 
b)' the President, the expectation being 
that a new law would be passed if cir- 
cumstances required before 1901. 

Owing to a wide difference of opinion 
as to whether Admiral Schley or Samp- 
son was entitled to the credit for the 
victory of Santiago, the Senate con- 
firmed none of the President's naval 
promotions for gallantry during the 
war. This controversy aroused much 
feeling. Admiral Schley was the popu- 
lar hero, but officially Sampson was 
given the chief credit. It wa? the only 
controversy over naval matters of the 
whole war. 

An effort was made to provide for 
the construction of the Nicaragua 
Canal. Measures to this end, differing 
in details, i^assed both houses by very 
large majorities, but failed in confer- 
ence, though the President was author- 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



ized lo appoint a commission to investi- 
gate the whole subject. 

Congress also passed in i8g8 a na- 
tional bankruptcy law. The former one 
had been repealed about twenty years 
previously. 

The unexpected acquisition of the 
Philippines was the source of new 
troubles. From the beginning Aguin- 
aldo, the young leader of a former re- 
bellion against Spain, had expected 
that the United States would set up a 
Republic in the Philippines or permit 
the Filipinos to do so. A mock sort of 
organization was formed with Aguin- 
aldo at its head, but it was never 
recognized by the United States or our 
military authorities in Manila. There- 
upon Aguinaldo became impatient. He 
had collected a considerable army, 
which was tolerably equipped and lay 
in the outskirts of Manila. Finding he 
would not be recognized, early in Feb- 
ruary, 1899, he began hostilities by an 
attack on the American troops under 
General Otis at Manila. The attack 
was easily repulsed with great loss to 
the natives and little to the Americans. 
This attack was followed by field opera- 
tions of much difficulty, many engage- 
ments being fought, in which the 
Filipinos were steadily worsted. The 
disposal of Aguinaldo's army was fol- 
lowed by extended guerilla warfare. 

The friendly feelhig between this 
country and Great Britain had been 
manifested in many ways during the 
war and it was looked upon as an au- 
spicious time to settle a number of 
disputes of long standing with Canada. 
These were chiefly in reference to the 
Alaskan boundaries, fishing and sealing 
rights and reciprocal trade. A Joint 
High Commission of the two nations 
met in 1898-99, but had not accom- 
plished anything definite when they ad- 
journed in February, to meet later 
in the year. The most difficult sub- 
ject was that which related to our tariff 
laws. Canadian lumber, coal and agri- 
cultural products would naturally come 
in competition with our own goods, 
and the Dingley tariff law was designed 
to prevent this. Mr. Dingley was on 
the commission and naturally could not 



agree to important modifications. Tlis 
death and that of Lord Herschell, head 
of the British Commission, were greatly 
regretted by both nations. 

The American army in Cuba had little 
trouble in preserving order, but the 
poverty of the people and unsettled 
political status made improvement slow. 
By agreement with General Gomez, the 
United States gave $3,000,000 to pay 
the Cuban troops. The Cuban Assem- 
bly demanded a much larger sum and 
dismissed Gomez for accepting the 
ofl'er. This brought the Assembly into 
reproach, as it did not express the 
wishes of the great masses of the 
people. 

In January the stock market devel- 
oped an activity never before known 
in our history. Prices advanced rap- 
idly, and a wave of speculation seemed 
to have struck the whole country. In 
New York for some time the sales on 
the Stock Exchange averaged 1,000,000 
shares daily. • This was the result of 
general industrial recovery from a 
period of depression, large harvests and 
the heavy balance of foreign trade in 
our favor. Railway earnings showed 
large increases, while manufacturers in 
nearly every branch of trade were busy. 
Development of our iron industry is 
shown by the fact that we can sell steel 
rails cheaper than any other nation in 
the world. During 1898 large ship- 
ments were made to India, Austria and 
Russia ; many orders were refused, as 
it was impossible to fill them. Amer- 
ican electrical machinery was sold all 
over the world, and American locomo- 
tives were in great demand. These 
tokens of prosperity helped to dispose 
of the silver question, though the lead- 
ing Democrats of the country declared 
their intention of adhering to the Chi- 
cago platform of 1896. 

The rise in stocks was accompanied 
by the formation of a great many so- 
called "Trusts." The name arises from 
the fact that when the earlier aggrega- 
tion of competing firms or corporations 
were made, the property was placed in 
the hands of trustees for the benefit of 
all concerned. Originators of these 
combinations claimed that competition 



SIXTH PERIOD— McKINLEY'S ADMINISTRATION 



had become so fierce that it was merely 
a question of combination or general 
failure. The public generally looked 
upon such combinations as an attempt 
to control the output of a commodity 
for the purpose of raising the prices 
to the consumer. Nearly all of the 
States, as well as Congress, passed laws 
to make these monopolies impossible, 
but they have been of little effect in 
stopping the process of combination. 
Up to March i, 1899, there were al- 
ready incorporated in New Jersey 
companies with an aggregate capital of 
$2,000,000,000, most of which were 
combination of corporations or firms 
to create monopolies. This probably 
represented over one-half the total of 
such corporate capital in the country. 

So important has the movement be- 
come that it has been injected into poli- 
tics as an issue. Regardless of the 
moral and economic value of these 
trusts, it is interesting to note the de- 
velopment of maiuifacturing in the 
century. During the first quarter 
manufacturing was largely done in the 
homes by manual labor. Invention of 
machinery developed the factory sys- 
tem, which spread rapidly during the 
second and third quarters, and in the 
last quarter the individual factory be- 
gan to disappear, and organizations to 
monopolize various industries appeared. 
Likewise in the cities the large depart- 
ment stores have largely monopolized 
trade to the exclusion of the small 
shopkeeper. These developments have 
been viewed with alarm by many 
thoughtful people, who fear the cen- 
tralization of control over the produc- 
tion of so many commodities and 
deprecate the elimination of the indi- 
vidual merchant and manufacturer. 
Certainly it is one of the interesting 
])roblems of the Nineteenth Century 
which the Twentieth will be called upon 
to settle. 

In September, 1899, the Ignited 
States addressed a note to the powers 
in which it asked to be assured that the 
"open door" in China would be main- 
tained. That is to say, this country 
wanted a declaration from the powers 



to the effect that its trading privileges 
in Chinese territory would not be in- 
terfered with by any foreign power 
temjjorarily or permanently in control 
of that territory, by lease or otherwise. 
After tedious negotiations the desired 
assurances were obtained March 20, 
iQoo. The first symptoms of the 
"Bo.xer" outbreak had been observable 
for some time, and European nations 
were demanding protection for their 
missionaries. It was felt that our con- 
quest of the Philippines had given us 
new interests in the East, which should 
be safeguarded in any concerted action 
by the powers. T'le advisability of 
doing this, and even of maintaining our 
hold on foreign conquests, was ques- 
tioned by many, and it was made the 
chief issue of the approaching political 
campaign, the Republicans advocating 
the expansion policy, the Democrats 
the contrary. 

The choice of the two principal 
political parties for standard-bearers 
fell on the same men as four years 
before, McKinley and Bryan, but the 
addition of the new issue did not 
strengthen the Democratic nominee, for 
he received only 155 electoral votes to 
292 cast for his Republican opponent. 

President AIcKinley made no change 
in his Cabinet, but it was understood 
that Attorney-General Griggs would 
resign. He argued with signal ability 
the Government's side in the test cases 
brought to establish the legality of col- 
lecting duty on importations from the 
new possessions. The Supreme Court 
held in two cases (December, igoo, 
and May, 1901,) that Porto Rico and 
the Philippines are not parts of the 
United States in the meaning of the 
constitutional clause which prescribed 
that "all duties, imports and excise 
shall be uniform throughout the 
United States." There was a dissent- 
ing minority. 

The very general American sympathy 
with the Roers in their unequal struggle 
against Great Britain acted as a kind 
of pressure on the administration, 
v.hich had preserved the strictest neu- 
trality. Accordingly a well-meant offer 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



of mediation between tlie contestants 
was made March 13, 1900, but it was 
declined by Great Britain. 

Our trade interests were helped dur- 
ing igoo by reciprocity treaties with 
Portugal (June 12), Italy (June 18) 
and Germany (July 13). Of more in- 
terest as being in line with the adminis- 
tration's policy was the treaty ratified 
by the Senate January 16, providing 
for the partition of the Samoan Islands. 
By its terms Great Britain relinquished 
her claims, the United States received 
Tutuila and other islands east of 171° 
of W. longitude, whilQ Upolu and the 
other islands west of that meridan fell 
to the share of Germany. This ar- 
rangement gave us Pago Pago harbor, 
the best and most defensible coaling 
station in the South Pacific. But the 
treaty which dwarfed all recent ones in 
significance was the new canal treaty 
with Great Britain, so widely discussed 
and so variously modified before at- 
taining the form finally signed by 
Secretary Hay and Lord Pauncefote, 
November 18, 1901. It superseded 
the obsolete Clayton-Bulwer agreement 
concluded half a century before, when 
the present development of civiliza- 
tion had scarcely been dreamed of, and 
the changing commercial and national 
requirements of a later age could not, 
of course, be adequately anticipated. 
For a long time public sentiment had 
demanded an abrogation of the Clayton- 
Bulwer arrangement, and the demand 
became more imperative after the Alon- 
roe Doctrine obtained its new impor- 
tance. Congress had anticipated its 
probable action in the matter by author- 
izing the Isthmian Canal Commission 
(headed by Admiral Walker and com- 
posed of military, naval and civilian 
experts) in the river and harbor act 
passed ]\Iarch 3, 1899. The exhaustive 
investigation of the subject by this 
competent body covered nine months' 
time and cost $1,000,000. Its report, 
submitted December 4, 1900, was fa- 
vorable to the Nicaragua route, though 
the Panama one was acknowledged to 
have advantages in respect of length, 
shorter time of transit, and probable 
smaller cost of construction. A change 



of opinion came at the end of 1901, 
when the French Canal Company, the 
successors to the De Lesseps' Company, 
ofl'ered to sell their partly completed 
canal, with their material and treaty 
rights, to the United States for $40,- 
000,000. This offer was accepted and 
the Nicaragua project abandoned. A 
treaty was negotiated with the Republic 
of Columbia to obtain the necessary 
rights in the Isthmus, but this was re- 
jected by the Colombian Senate. As a 
result, Panama declared its independ- 
ence of Colombia and established a 
separate Republic, with which the 
United States concluded a treaty in 
November, 1903, agreeing to pay the 
new Republic $10,000,000 for the terri- 
tory and privileges needed. The fol- 
lowing two years were consumed in 
preliminary work, of organization, en- 
gineering, and combating the causes of 
disease upon the Isthmus, and it was 
not until 1906 that the actual work 
of construction could be inaugurated. 

An important question arose as to 
whether a sea level canal or a lock 
canal at a higher level should be con- 
structed. The former, while the most 
desirable, would cost far more and take 
much longer to construct, and the lock 
system was finally accepted. 

The "Boxer" rebellion in China, 
commencing early in 1900, resulted in 
the wholesale massacre of Chritsian 
missionaries and their native converts, 
and finally culminated in the siege of 
the buildings occupied by the European 
legations in Peking. In order to rescue 
these, the powers dispatched a joint 
force of 50,000 men, of which the 
American contingent was commanded 
by General Chaffee. The expedition 
was at first unable to overcome the 
obstacles encountered, but received re- 
inforcements and made a new start, 
relieving the nearly exhausted embassies 
August 14, 1900. The Chinese Govern- 
ment had at the outset merely connived 
at the excesses of the "Boxer" chiefs, 
but later had made common cause with 
them. Accordingly, the powers deter- 
mined to exact not only a suitable 
money indemnity, but sufficient guar- 
antees for the future and full material 



SIXTH PERIOD McKINLEY'S ADMINISTRATION 



31S 



reparation for the wrongs perpetrated 
l)y the Dowager Empress and her chief 
functionaries, who had sought safety 
in the West on the approach of the 
allies. Some of the aggrieved nations 
were disposed to place so high a price 
on. their wrongs and their vindication 
that it could have been paid only by 
seizing and administering the revenues 
of the entire Empire for years to come. 
It was seen that this would eventually 
result in the dismemberment of the 
Empire, and finally, at the instance of 
the United States, the other powers 
reduced their demands, so that the 
whole indemnity was fixed at 450,000,- 
000 tads ($338,000,000). In addition, 
the chief authors of the outrages were 
beheaded or banished to Turkestan, and 
expiatory monuments were erected in 
each of the desecrated foreign ceme- 
teries. The formal evacuation of 
Peking, in accordance with the terms 
of the peace protocol, was completed 
September 17, 1901. It is noteworthy 
that the American, British and Japanese 
troops showed themselves more amen- 
able than the others to military disci- 
pline and the laws which govern mod- 
ern warfare. 

Many believed that our participation 
in this punitive expedition, following 
so closely upon the annexation of 
Hawaii and our acquisition of the 
Philippines, Porto Rico, Guam and a 
part of the Samoan group — all widely 
separated island possessions — com- 
mitted us to a policy of expansion. 
This charge of "imperialism" (ta use 
the term of those favoring the opposite 
policy) was thought by some to be 
confirmed by the tacit, if not formal, 
assurance given by the United States 
early in 1902 that it would support in 
the East the alliance between Great 
Britain and Japan, the two nations 
acting in the interests of the "open 
door," or equal commercial opportuni- 
ties, in Manchuria, which had been 
threatened by Russian encroachments 
in that country. Freedom of commerce 
was in reality all that the United States 
showed any desire to attain. Far from 
seeking territory in China, as other na- 
tions were doing, this country exhib- 



ited and counseled leniency in dealing 
with that Empire after the Boxer out- 
break, and was so greatly in favor of 
an early evacuation of the Chinese 
capital that General Chaffee was or- 
dered to withdraw his forces without 
waiting for similar action by the allies. 
Throughout this unhappy aft'air the 
United States showed friendliness to 
and consideration for China, with none 
of the self-seeking greed manifested 
by several of the other powers. 

The troops sent to Pekin in 1900 
were withdrawn from the Philippines, 
where the military strength of Aguin- 
aldo and his army had been so reduced 
that they could be spared. On March 
23, 1901, Aguinaldo was captured by 
a ruse adopted by General Funston, 
and he subsequently declared his al- 
legiance to the United States, thus 
removing the most serious factor in the 
Philippine problem. Guerrilla warfare 
continued for some time longer, but 
the main portion of the people were 
soon pacified, and in the few following 
years opposition was completely over- 
come. 

This cessation of hostilities was fol- 
lowed by the replacement of military 
by civil government, the purpose of the 
United States being to fit the natives 
for self-government by means of good 
schools, impartial courts of justice, and 
wise legislation. A special Philippine 
Commission was appointed, headed by 
Judge William H. Taft. By this a close 
examination was made into the state 
of afifairs on the islands, and on July 
I, 1902, an act was passed by which 
military rule in the Philippines was 
terminated, and civil government es- 
tablished, Judge Taft being made the 
first Governor. On his resignation, in 
December, 1903, to enter President 
Roosevelt's Cabinet, Luke E. Wright 
succeeded him as Governor. Seven 
commissioners were appointed as execu- 
tive officials, four of them Americans 
and three Filipinos. A police system 
was also established, consisting of a 
native constabulary under American 
control, and governors and courts were 
given to the several provinces of the 
islands. 



3i6 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



A census of the Philippines was taken 
in 1903, the population returned being 
7,635,426. Of these nearly 7.000,000 
were in a greater or less degree civil- 
ized, the remainder being wild tribes, 
some of them complete savages. The 
islands contain thirty distinct races, 
with different languages or dialects. 
Education has been reorganized and 
the schools are attended by more than 
800,000 students, under 6,000 teachers, 
four-fifths of whom are educated 
Filipinos. English is very generally 
taught, but there has been no inter- 
ference with religious faith, the popula- 
tion being practically all Catholics. As 
a result of peaceful conditions, the 
products of the islands are rapidly in- 
creasing and commerce is steadily 
growing, while the people are being 
fitted for self-government. This it is 
proposed to give them when they be- 
como suited to its exercise, and even- 
tually the islanders will be practically 
permitted to govern themselves. 

As regards the other insular posses- 
sions of the United States, there are 
only two of political importance, 
Hawaii and Porto Rico. In the former 
a new territorial government was in- 
augurated at Honolulu June 14. igoo. 
A census taken the same year showed 
a population of 154,001. Porto Rico 
has not advanced to territorial dignity, 
but is controlled by a Governor and 
Cabinet appointed by the President of 
the United States. It has a Legisla- 
ture, consisting of an "Upper House," 
composed of the Cabinet officials and 
fi\'e citizens appointed by the President, 
and a "Lower House," elected by the 
people. This state of affairs is not 
satisfactory to the citizens of the island, 
an acti\e political excitement being kept 
up in favor of territorial or Statf or- 
ganization. Free trade with the United 
States exists, and prosperity is in- 
creasing. 

The relations of Cuba to the United 
States since the war with Spain ha\e 
been highly interesting. The close of 
the war left that island in the military 
occupancy of the United States, but 
under the express understanding that 
independence should be granted to its 



people. In consequence, steps towards 
the establishment of an independent 
nation, under a stable system of gov- 
ernment, were gradually taken. Gen- 
eral Wood, appointed Military Gov- 
ernor in December, 1898, immediately 
selected a Civil Cabinet composed of 
natives, a movement towards self-rule 
which was quickly followed by others. 
A constitutional convention began its 
sessions on November 5, 1900, and a 
Constitution was adopted on June 12, 
luoi, the form of government being 
republican, with a President and \'ice- 
President, a Senate and House of 
Representatives. The L^nited States 
was in full accordance with this action, 
though it demanded certain limitations, 
mainly intended to secure the new 
Republic from danger of insidious or 
open attempts by European nations to 
endanger its liberties. These were em- 
bodied in the so-called Piatt Amend- 
ment, introduced in Congress March 
2, 1901. By this it was required that 
Cuba should never make a compact 
with any foreign power that might 
impair its independence, or permit any 
such power to obtain control of any 
part of its territory in any manner. 
It should contract no public debt too 
great to permit the ordinary revenues 
of the island to pay the interest, and 
provide a sinking fund for the eventual 
extinguishment. It should give satis- 
factory attention to the sanitation of its 
cities, so as to prevent the danger to 
the L^nited States likely to arise from 
the outbreak of infectious diseases. It 
should permit the United States to 
intervene for the preservation of its 
independence and the maintenance of 
a government adequate for the protec- 
tion of life, property and individual 
liberty. And to enable the United 
Slates to do this it should agree to the 
establishment of coaling or naval sta- 
tions at certain specified points upon its 
soil. 

There was much opposition in Cuba 
to this act of legislation, of which the 
more significant items are above given, 
and a delegation of prominent citizens 
was sent to Washington to confer with 
the President and his advisers. They 



SIXTH PERIOD^ROOSEVELT'S ADMINISTRATION 



317 



were well received, the purpose of the 
United States was made clear to them, 
and on their return to Havana on May 
16 they reported in favor of accepting 
the I'latt Amendment. This was ac- 
cordingly done, and the only obstacle 
to the establishment of the new Repub- 
lic removed. 

The election of a President for the 
Republic of Cuba was next in order, 
and T. Estranda I 'alma, the most promi- 
nent candidate, was elected without 
opposition, December 31, 1901. Thus 
all the steps necessary for the launch- 
ing of Cuba upon the world, with the 
exception of the withdrawal of the 
troops of the United States from its 
soil, were taken, and this final step 
soon followed. Under a call issued by 
Governor Wood, the Cuban Congress 
held its first meeting on May 5, 1902, 
and on May 20 the new Government 
was formally inaugurated. President 
Palma taking the oath of office. Amid 
the salutes of cannon, the American 
flag was lowered from the public 
buildings in Havana, and the Cuban 
flag rose in its place. Within an hour 
the last Ignited States troops left the 
soil of Cuba, and General Wood em- 
barked on the cruiser "Brooklyn" for 
his return homeward. Cuba was left 
a free nation, under the independence 
won for her by the arms of the United 
States. 

A lamentable event took place on the 
6th of September, 1901, President Mc- 
Kinley being shot by an Anarchist 
while on a visit to the Pan-American 
Exposition at Pjufifalo, N. Y. The 
assassin approached the President in a 
line of visitors advancing to shake 
hand." with him and shot him while 
he was extending his hand for this 
purpose. He was immediately seized 
by the bystanders, who would have torn 
him to pieces but for the officers of 
tlie law. He was tried and executed 
in the following month. The President 
died from his wound on the 14th of 
September, and five days after was 
buried with impressive ceremonies at 
Canton, Ohio. The feeling of grief in 
the country was intense, and vast num- 
bers of the people crowded to witness 



the funeral cortege as the body was 
borne solemnly through the country. 

Vice-President Roosevelt succeeded 
the murdered President, announcing 
that he would maintain the policy of 
his fallen chief, a declaration which was 
received with high satisfaction. His 
first message to Congress, in December, 
1901, was an able and strong document, 
showing a sound knowlefige of the 
country's needs and giving forcible ex- 
pression of his opinion upon many 
public questions. He entered office free 
of obligation to politicians and party 
leaders, and began his career with a 
rigid adherence to the principles of the 
Civil Service Commission, of which 
he had been a member, refusing to ap- 
point any man to office on any standard 
but that of merit. He soon showed 
that he was a man of very strong char- 
acter, firmly set in his opinions, rigid 
and determined in action, and so full 
of vigor and energy that he quickly be- 
came known as the "Strenuous" Presi- 
dent. By his independence of spirit 
and action he won the applause of the 
people at large, irrespective of party, 
and grew to be a general favorite. 
Among the principal events of his ad- 
ministration was the settlement of the 
question of the Panama Canal, already 
spoken of, and the great strike of the 
anthracite coal miners in 1902, which 
left millions of people largely destitute 
of coal in a severe winter. It was 
finally settled through the influence of 
the President. A new department, that 
of Commerce and Labor, was added to 
the government in 1903, George B. 
Cortelyou. private secretary to Presi- 
dents McKinley and Roosevelt, being 
appointed its first Secretary. He be- 
came a ninth member of the Cabinet, 
and was subsequently appointed Post- 
master-General. In 1904 St. Louis was 
the seat of a great International Ex- 
position, in honor of the Louisiana 
Purchase of a century before, 1,180 
acres being provided and twelve im- 
mense buildings constructed. The 
display was of extraordinary extent and 
variety, the scenic effects were beauti- 
ful, and it was viewed with satisfaction 
by millions of people. 



3i8 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



In 1904 the most prominent candi- 
date for the presidency was Theodore 
Roosevelt, who had won support from 
the Democrats, as well as from his own 
party, during his three years in office. 
The Democratic party had no espe- 
cially strong man to offer as a candi- 
date, and the nominee, Alton B. Parker, 
was decisively beaten at the November 
election. President Roosevelt and 
Vice-President Charles W. Fairbanks 
were duly inaugurated on March 4, 
1905, and the President entered upon 
his new term of office more strenuously 
than ever. In the summer of 1905 he 
won the plaudits of the world by tak- 
ing steps which led to a peace confer- 
ence between the warring nations, Japan 
and Russia, and the final conclusion 
of a treaty of peace at Portsmouth, 
N. H. 

An interesting event of the year 1905 
was an International Exposition held 
at Portland, Oregon, as a centennial 
recognition of the Lewis and Clark 
expedition of a century before. The 
period in question was also notable for 
serious disasters. In February, 1904, 
a conflagration swept through the busi- 
ness section of Baltimore, destroying 



property to the value of $70,000,000. 
A far more frightful disaster took 
place in April, 1906, an earthquake, 
followed by a fire, destroying the 
greater part of the city of San Fran- 
cisco, the total loss being estimated 
at $300,000,000, and 200,000 people be- 
ing left homeless and dependent upon 
charity for support. 

The year 1905 was one of remarkable 
prosperity in the country, and was 
equally remarkable for a great reform 
movement, made especially notable in 
Philadelphia by the overthrow of the 
powerful political ring in that city, but 
showing itself in almost every large 
city of the land. In addition, a spec- 
tacular examination was made of the 
affairs of the great insurance companies 
of New York, which proved that they 
had been permeated by fraud and led 
to the enforced retirement of their 
chief officials. As a result of the var- 
ious exposures made, the United States 
entered the year 1906 freer from pub- 
lic and private venality than it had been 
for many years preceding, and with a 
degree of material prosperity almost 
unprecedented in its history. 



BOOK II 
BIOGRAPHY 



(SKE ALSi) INDEX) 



GEORGE WASHIN'GTOX. 

1/3-2— 1/99 

Father of His Country. 

Until the Father of His Country had 
finished life, it was not known that 
human nature could produce political 
careers so unselfish. Poets and drama- 
tists had not even planned them, so 
truly is the human imagination har- 
nessed to the low-rolling car of Reality. 
It was thought that sane and powerful 
men, when they could, would grasp and 
hold power and found dynasties. 
When Robespierre watered the tree of 
liberty with the blood of tyrants ; when 
Danton threw at the feet of his enemies 
the head of a King — they had but risen 
from learning the lesson taught by the 
living Washington. They might have 
read hints of that lesson in the books 
of Rousseau, but they had seen it in 
full with their own eyes in the life of 
Washington. 

Why is General Washington greater 
than Samuel Adams and Benjamin 
Franklin? Because men recognize but 
one law — force. They all reason, 
argue, convince, submit, after they 
must, after they feel compulsion. He, 
therefore, who uses the ultima ratio — 
lie who relies wholly upon force — will 
ever be first. It is the law of gravity. 
We do not complain that the heaviest 
weight sinks to the bottom. A man 
may be a genius in bringing on the 
fight ; he may be without peer in har- 
vesting the rewards of a victory: if he 
cannot, did not, lead the battle and win, 
he must righteously give way to the 
captain who did. 

Granting that General Washington 
could have been king, and chose rather 
tlie glory of being father of a dem- 
ocracy, thus leai)ing to the front place 
in human interest, why, then, was he 



not merely fortunate in receiving the 
nomination of Commander-in-Chief 
from John Adams, rather than to see 
that nomination go to John Hancock, 
or Gates, or Greene, or Knox, or Ethan 
Allen, or Joseph Warren? To this, the 
testimony is direct from all surround- 
ing points that any other commander 
would have failed. General Washing- 
ton was the one calm man who could 
understand the situation, keep his 
temper, keep the British from splitting 
the Union in twain and hold the hills 
till the French came. 

General Washington, as a captain, 
resembled Marshal Daun, Maria Ther- 
esa's beloved leader. He took few 
risks. The Duke of Wellington in 
Spain seems to have copied General 
Washington's methods. General Grant 
certified to General Washington's skill 
when General Lee's army was held to 
be in itself the Great Rebellion, and 
all other matters — cities, railroads, 
ports, crops — were forgotten. General 
Washington gave up New York and 
Philadelphia willingly rather than to at- 
tempt to defend them. The British 
took the cities and waited for General 
Washington to sue for mercy. When 
the French arrived, the British them- 
selves surrendered. This, barring Bur- 
goyne's capitulation to General Wash- 
ington's subordinate at Saratoga, is the 
main part of the story. The fact that 
o\ er seven years elapsed between Bun- 
ker Hill and Yorktown, and over eight 
years between Bunker Hill and peace, 
may be taken as a measure of the pov- 
erty and lack of public spirit mani- 
fested by the colonies and exemplified 
in their Congress. But it also meas- 
ures General Washington's patience. 

Augustine Washington married Jane 
Butler, who died, leaving him three 
sons and a daughter. He then mar- 



319 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



ried Mary Ball, who bore him four 
sons and two daughters. Mary was 
the mother of George Washington, and 
he was her first child. He was born 
February 22, 1732, at Bridges Creek, 
Virginia. The old-style-date of those 
days was February 11. The birthplace 
was afterward burned. The family 
then went to live in a large house, with 
two great chimneys, overlooking the 
Rappahannock River, near Fredericks- 
burg, which lay across the stream. In 
1743 Augustine Washington died, leav- 
ing his widow with ten children. 
George was sent to Fredericksburg to 
learn his alphabet and arithmetic 
from one Hobby, sexton of the parish ; 
next he went to live with his half- 
brother, Augustine, at Bridges Creek, 
v.-here }ilr. Williams kept a school 
which George attended, fie was a tall, 
muscular boy, and a leader of his play- 
mates. His moral education had been 
rigid, and accorded well with a highly 
practical and severe turn in his own 
nature. He took nearly everything in 
earnest, and early set out to coin money 
and good repute from the wisdom of 
his stern mother's maxims. Tales of 
his moral sentimentalism are as in- 
credible as they appear to be unsound 
in history and tradition. 

Mr. \\'illiams taught his pupil arith- 
metic, perhaps geometry, and certainly 
trigonometry, with the practical addi- 
tion of surveying. We must consider 
^"irginia as largely a wooded country 
watered by many rivers. English lords 
had acquired this country by gift or 
purchase, and had settled the river re- 
gions with friends, retainers, or pur- 
chasers of land ; vast areas remained 
for sale : much was still unsurveyed. 
The profession of surveying was the 
best one a young man could follow, 
and this pupil was fitted by nature for 
the hardships of the task. It is thought 
he owned a little book called "The 
Young IMan's Companion." Out of 
this, when he was only a lad, he copied 
or digested over one hundred rules of 
etiquette and moral conduct. He con- 
sidered them so good that he would do 
well to adopt them. '"Labor to keep 
alive in your breast that little spark 



of celestial fire called conscience." 
These rules — how and when to take 
the hat off, how to act at table, how 
to keep the conscience keenly alive — 
were to be carefully studied, along 
with the surveying. He was very con- 
fident that all depended on him, and 
that nothing could be more just. Such 
are the traces which the early papers 
of the Father of His Country have left, 
showing the sane, sensible, docile ten- 
dencies of this muscular son of the 
silent imperious woman who bore him. 
The half-brother of George Wash- 
ington, Lawrence, fourteen years older, 
was no inconi?iderable figure. Law- 
rence went abroad as a sailor, entered 
the British navy, fought with Admiral 
^"ernon at Carthagena, and, returning 
to ^'irginia, built a house on the Po- 
tomac River, which he gratefully 
named Mount ^'e^non — in honor of his 
commander — -a mansion sometime to be 
the Mecca of democratic faith. At fif- 
teen George \\'ashington was a visitor 
at Mount Vernon. Lawrence mean- 
v.hile had married the daughter of 
William Fairfax, who was agent for 
the Fairfax estate, one of the vast 
grants of which we have spoken. Lord 
Fairfax, himself chief of the house, 
inheritor of the grant, then sixty years 
old, was in America inspecting the 
property, and desirous to learn how 
much of it there might be. Lord Fair- 
fax took a deep and generous interest 
in George ^^'ashington on seeing him. 
The twain went fo.x hunting together, 
and after the young man had mastered 
the art of surveying. Lord Fairfax 
commissioned him to go with George 
Fairfax, William's son, over the Blue 
Ridge IMountains, and come back with 
a survey of the ultra-montane acres of 
the Fairfax estate that lay in the wil- 
derness. In March, 1748, George Fair- 
fax and George Washington set forth, 
through Ashly's Gap into the valley of 
the Shenandoah River, went on their 
way up to the Potomac River, in spring 
floods, surveyed the region in the 
South Branch of the Potomac : met a 
party of Indians, who celebrated tlieir 
acquaintance with a war dance; met a 
train of German emigrants ; slept out- 



BIOGRAPHY— GEORGE WASHINGTON 



321 



doors all the time, and got back to 
Mount Vernon somewhat speedily, 
April I2th. Careful entries were made 
in a diary. Lord Fairfax was well 
pleased to hear he had so many acres 
in such a garden spot, and procui"ed 
the appointment of public surveyor for 
George, so his surveys would have 
authority. This gave to the young man 
some three years more of the same kind 
of work. 

In 175 1 Lawrence Washington was 
sb ill with consumption that it was 
thought best for George to go with him 
to Barbadoes, in the West Indies, 
iWhere George caught the small-pox, 
recovered, and was back at Mount Ver- 
non in February, 1752. In July Law- 
rence died, leaving George guardian of 
a daughter, and heir to the estate if 
the daughter should die without issue. 
Lawrence, with the advice of Lord 
Fairfax, had become a great land spec- 
ulator on the Ohio River, and had long 
seen that he must fight to preserve the 
rights or arrogations of his land com- 
pany against those of the French. 
With good military sense he had shel- 
tered at Mount Vernon two brave 
soldiers of Carthagena, Adjutant Muse, 
a Virginian, and Jacob Van Braam, a 
L")ulch soldier. These two men formed 
the college of war by which America 
learned to be free. Adjutant Muse 
taught George Washington the manual 
of arms, tactics, and the art of war. 
Jacob Van Braam instructed his pupil 
in the exercise of the sword. The 
learner was then appointed Adjutant- 
General for Northern Virginia, with 
the rank of Major. The Governor at 
Williamsburg, Dinwiddle, desired to 
deliver a message to the advancing 
Frenchmen that they were encroaching 
on Virginia plantation. He therefore 
commissioned Major Washington, 
\Nith Yon Braam, servants and horses 
(October, 1753), to go to the Ohio 
River, under guidance of the frontiers- 
man Christopher Gist and make known 
the views of the English. His desire 
was to conciliate the Indians and ally 
them against the French. Major 
Washington was received politely at 
French Creek on the Ohio River, and 



brought back a vague answer from 
the French commandant. He returned 
to Williamsburg already a hero, as he 
had attended many a perilous war 
dance of the Indians, and had suc- 
ceeded where other Virginians had pre- 
viously turned back in fear. His per- 
sonal report was that war could not 
be avoided. 

Colonel Fry was put in command, 
with Washington Lieutenant-Colonel, 
and the latter recruited two companies 
at Alexandria and hurried forward in 
advance of Fry to protect the frontier. 
He had not gone far before he was con- 
vinced that there was a state of war 
already. He reached the Monongahela 
River, and there made a protest to the 
Governor because of the inadequacy 
of supplies and men. Coming up with 
a small body of French soldiery, he 
surprised, surrounded and fired on 
their camp. Ten French were killed, 
twenty-one captured, and one escaped. 
Colonel Fry died, but the rest of the 
regiment advanced and met Colonel 
Washington. The "massacre," as it 
was called, had roused the French and 
they came on, four '..o one. They sur- 
rounded Colonel Washington and made 
him agree to march off and not come 
back for a year. The Indians, his al- 
lies, and critics, said he showed little 
military skill, and ordered them around 
very harshly, but the French they de- 
nounced as cowards. He had written 
a boastful letter about loving to hear 
the bullets whistle, and now with the 
"massacre" and surrender on his hands, 
he did not figure heroically at Paris 
when the news got there. The fact, 
however, that Colonel Washington had 
ofl'ered battel in the open field before 
he agreed to march away was gratify- 
ing to the Virginia Assembly, and they 
voted him thanks, with a Colonel's pay. 
At this critical juncture the English 
Government issued an order that any 
officer bearing the King's commission 
should outrank any officer not bearing 
such paper. When General Sharpe 
asked Colonel Washington to join him, 
the Colonel indignantly refused, as any 
sub-lieutenant from England might 
outrank him. General Braddock ar- 



322 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



rived with two regiments or regulars, 
and hearing of Colonel Washington, at 
once offered him a staff position as 
Colonel, where nobody could give him 
orders but his General. Colonel Wash- 
ington gladly accepted, early in 1755. 
In Pennsylvania E^.enjamin Franklin be- 
gan bargaining for Braddock's Quaker 
wagons, on his own bond. Who could 
believe that these Frenchmen, now 
swooping in on all sides, were to help 
free America, losing it first them- 
selves ? 

Braddock was hot and fiery. The 
dignity of the provincial "Estates" net- 
tled him. He rebuked Colonel Wash- 
ington when he spoke of the savages 
as warriors, and, after many delays, 
reacher Fort Duquesne (Pittsburgh). 
Before that French stronghold, July 
8, 1755, "Braddock's defeat" took 
place, with Colonel Washington push- 
ing to the front, though ill. Six hun- 
dred Indians and 200 French killed 
or wounded 700 English. Sixty-two 
out of eighty-six English officers were 
killed or wounded. Colonel Washing- 
ton had two horses killed under him. 
and four bullets went through his 
clothes. General Braddock himself 
was mortally wounded, and Colonel 
Washington buried him four days 
afterwards, reading the funeral servce 
at the grave. He led back his little 
band of defeated soldiers, and sol- 
emnly pondered on the reasons of their 
disaster and retreat. He was appointed 
to command the \'irginia frontier, and 
passed twenty months in that region, 
with the episode of the trip to Boston, 
which we will describe. A Captain 
Dagworthy appeared on the scene with 
a King's commission, and thought to 
take Washington's command. On this 
Colonel Washington, in buff and blue 
un.iform. with a white and scarlet cloak 
over his shoulders and a sword knot 
of red and gold, with an aide on each 
side and servants following in the rear, 
set out for Boston to protest to Gov- 
ernor Shirley, the Commander-in-Chief. 
The Colonel s horse was a good one, 
caparisoned in the finest London hous- 
ings, with "livery lace" and the Wasli- 
ingfton coat of arms. His cavalcade 



made a stir wherever it went. The 
Colonel's journey was a complete suc- 
cess. Captain Dagworthy and his 
thirty men were put to the rearward 
by Governor Shirley, and Colonel 
Washington attended several balls, and 
looked well over Puritan Boston. 
Again Colonel Washington returned to 
the frontier, leading a dull life, till the 
spring of 1758. when, on a journey to 
Williamsburg, he stopped to dine with 
his friend Major Chamberlayne at Wil- 
liam's Ferry. There he met Martha 
Dandridge. the young, rich and hand- 
some widow of Daniel Parke Custis, 
who lived at the White House, near 
by. On his return he called there and 
made an offer of marriage, which was 
duly accepted. The French Fort Du- 
quesne fell, and he at once resigned 
his commission and hurried home to 
prepare for a brilliant wedding. Colonel 
Washington was now an important per- 
sonage in \'irginia. He owned many 
acres of Western lands that were 
secure. He had the military dignity 
of a Colonel ; he had traveled to the 
\\'est Indies and Boston ; he had been 
in battle; he had a family connection 
with Lord Fairfax ; he secured his 
position as tobacco planter by wedding 
a lady with a fortune of her own. He 
had been elected a member of the 
I louse of Burgesses (Legislature), and 
now removed to Williamsburg. When 
he took his seat the Speaker paid him 
a high compliment, in the Virginian 
fashion. The Colonel rose to reply, 
but stool stammering and blushing. 
"Sit down. Colonel Washington," said 
the Speaker, "your modesty equals your 
valor, and that surpasses the power of 
any language I possess." 

At thirty he was owner, by inher- 
itance, of Mount Vernon, where he 
lived. He was a successful tobacco 
raiser. 

He was hot-tempered — a soldier's 
mettle. He wrote to a Major in an- 
swer to an impertinent letter: "I would 
not have taken the same language from 
you personally without letting you feel 
some marks of my resentment." 

By this time political excitement had 
reached a high stage at Boston. The 



BIOGRArHY— GEORGE WASHINGTON 



323 



Stamp Act had been passed by Parlia- 
ment, and Patrick Henry, a new and 
almost unknown member of the \'ir- 
ginia House of Burgesses, had oft'eretl 
resolutions that were considered very 
radical. Colonel Washington had voted 
for these resolutions, but did not fore- 
see war. Some years later, when the 
colony had determined to refuse to im- 
port the taxed articles, he had strictly 
upheld this course, using none of the 
articles under the taboo. When next 
Colonel Washington sat in the Legisla- 
ture, the port of Boston had been sealed 
by England. June i, 1774, was ap- 
pointed a day of fasting, humiliation 
and prayer in \"irginia out of sympathy 
with Boston. Lord Dunmore, the Gov- 
ernor of \'irginia, at once prorogued 
the Legislature because it had so voted. 
Colonel Washington dined with Lord 
Dunmore, but nevertheless fasted on the 
day appointed. A town meeting at 
Boston was directing the policy of the 
colonies ; the tobacco nobility of the 
\^irginia rivers was going along leis- 
urely toward rebellion. 

The Fairfax County meeting sent 
Colonel Washington to Williamsburg 
August I, 1774. He rose in the Vir- 
ginia Convention and said : "I will 
raise a thousand men, subsist them at 
my own expense, and march them to 
the relief of Boston." He had care- 
fully considered the case, and he was 
at once as clear as Samuel Adams. 
There was not a moment of indecision, 
for it was his profession as a soldier 
and his desire as a brave man to lead 
the fight, if there were to be any. 

Virginia sent six delegates to the first 
Continental Congress. Colonel Wash- 
ington, Patrick Henry and Edmund 
Pendleton traveled together. Congress 
sat in Carpenters' Hall, Philadelphia. 
Here Samuel Adams met Colonel 
Washington. Both men had little to 
say on the floor during the fifty-one 
days of the session. Patrick Henry 
said: "If you speak of solid informa- 
tion and sound judgment, Colonel 
Washington is unquestionably the great- 
est man on the floor." This Con- 
gress did little, following the Quaker 
policy at Philadelphia, Colonel Wash- 



ington returned to Mount \'ernon and 
drilled troops, a company at a time. 
Soldiers began to arrive. May 10, 
1775, when he next appeared at the 
Second Continental Congress, he was in 
his bufif and blue uniform. Thus two 
men — Franklin and Washington — made 
their attire reveal their sentiments, as 
the Indians put on their war paint and 
head dresses. Colonel Washington was 
chairman of the military committee. At 
Boston Samuel Adams had left Joseph 
Warren in charge, and his army (out- 
side Boston) was now surrounding 
Gage in Boston. June 15, John Adams 
at Philadelphia, forcing Congress to 
act, nominated Colonel Washington to 
be Commander-in-Chief. 

Again Colonel Washington — now 
General Washington — rode forth, but 
this time at the head of a brilliant 
troop of officers, bound for Boston. 
The news of Bunker Hill came to him 
only twenty miles out. "Did the 
militia fight?" he asked. He was over- 
joyed to hear they had done nobly. He 
left General Schuyler in charge at New 
York, and took General Lee on to 
Cambridge. He was with his army of 
Bostoneers Jvfly 2. The next day, un- 
der the Cambridge elm, he drew his 
sword against King George. 

With headquarters at the Wads- 
worth House, he counted 14,000 raw 
recruits. Entrenchments were thrown 
up, and rules separating officers from 
men, after the Old-World military 
fashion, were enforced. After he had 
brought order to his military republics, 
he advised with thirteen Governors and 
Assemblies and Congress. He sought 
for powder. He sent expeditions into 
Canada. He addressed Gage in Bos- 
ton, and Gage, in the King's name, 
talked to him about "rebels," "crimi- 
nals," "cords." He, like Benjamin 
Franklin, was constituted a prize or 
admiralty judge, and was harassed 
with petty marine details. 

March 4, 1776, at night, however, he 
took possession of Dorchester Heights, 
and made Boston untenable. Lord 
Howe had assumed command in Bos- 
ton, and on the 17th he evacuated with 
12,000 troops, leaving cannon, but pil- 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



laging the city. General Washington 
made a glowing report of what he had 
done without powder. He was now 
forced, as he saw the English going 
from Boston harbor to New York har- 
bor and southward, to consider the de- 
vastation of his own home. He wrote 
letters hoping the patriots would bear 
up, and he became bitter against Tories. 
Howe had 30,000 men. General 
Washington, as a military necessity, 
ought to burn New York and retire. 
The provincial tax-payers demanded a 
battle, at any odds, in front of New 
York, and no evacuation by the Fed- 
erals. He stayed on Long Island — in 
Brooklyn. His General Sullivan was 
surrounded, and his own main works 
were reached. The loss was 2,000 men. 
Nine thousand Continentals were left 
in a critical position. Out of this di- 
lemma General Washington escaped on 
the night of August 29, 1776, and re- 
treated up Manhattan Island. The 
militia began to fade away, and to talk 
about Braddock's defeat, listening to 
industrious Tory recollections, all of 
which tended to discourage the spirit 
of independence alike in soldier and 
civilian. The English next made a 
dash in on the Americans at Kip's 
Landing, where Washington, with his 
own eyes, saw the cowardice of his men 
at the mere sight of red-coats. This 
rendered him furious. In his anger he 
struck the fleeing men with his sword. 
He retreated swiftly to King's Bridge, 
with 12,000 men, 25,000 British coming 
up slowly after him. The British lost 
six days in advancing and General 
Washington got up the Hudson River to 
White Plains on strong ground. Gen- 
eral Howe came up and drove General 
Washington's forces into . a still 
stronger place. Howe now prepared 
to winter at Dobb's Ferry. General 
Washington, against his own wishes, 
had left two forts down the river oc- 
cupied with his troops. Both fell to 
the British. Fort Washington, the 
second, was carried by storm and 2,600 
Continentals with munitions were cap- 
tured. With this deplorable loss. Gen- 
eral Washington began to fall back into 
New Jersey, and Lee was defeated 



through neglect of orders. December 
2, 1776, General Washington, with 3,- 
000 raggea men, was at Princeton, 
New Jersey. There was a growing 
feeling of discouragement in his army. 
The New Jersey militia would not turn 
out. Howe's amnesty was circulated 
everywhere. As the troops neared 
Philadelphia, the signers of the Decla- 
ration voted to die at their posts, and 
then adjourned to Baltimore. 

General Howe did not press on : he 
went back for Christmas-tide at New 
York City. Now, if General Washing- 
ton could have received some aid from 
Congress, it would have been well. He 
wrote them how his life was at stake, 
his character was to be lost, his estate 
was to be confiscated ; could they not 
then, see that his advice must be for 
the best? But they considered that 
they must debate it. At Christmas, as 
Howe and his red-coats were under the 
mistletoe, General Washington pre- 
pared to strike the British with his six 
little groups, or detatchments. He 
would fall upon the English at Trenton, 
across the Delaware River. Gates, 
Ewing, Putnam, Griffin, Cadwallader, 
all should cross the Delaware in mid- 
winter with him, and surprise Trenton. 
Orders were given. Gates simply 
would not do it. Griffin met the enemy 
and retreated. Putnam and Ewing be- 
lieved they could do it. Cadwallader 
started to do it, and the broken ice de- 
terred him. General Washington ar- 
rived at the river, to do his part, with 
2,400 men. It was not too bad for him. 
He went over in boats, on a terrible 
night. From the landing it was a nine- 
mile march in a sleet-storm to Trenton. 
"Our arms are wet," Sullivan sent 
word. "Then tell your General to use 
the bayonet, for the town must be 
taken."' The town was taken. The 
Hessians threw down their arms and 
fled, at seeing an invading army come 
in out of the storm. A thousand of 
them were captured. General Wash- 
ington returned to his old position. If 
all had obeyed him, New Jersey would 
have been taken. Congress at once 
gave him almost dictatorial powers. 
From that moment, George Washing- 



BIOGRAPHY— GEORGE WASHINGTON 



32s 



ton lias been statuesque, incomparable, 
in American minds. 

CornwalHs now came out of New 
York to recapture Trenton. He 
marched past Princeton, leaving three 
regiments. He came up with General 
\\'asnington across a river, as night 
was falling. Leaving his camp-fires 
burning on the river, General Washing- 
ton fell on Princeton, and, himself be- 
tween the lines, came off unscathed and 
put the three regiments to flight. The 
Piritish thought fit to retire to New 
York and wait for campaigning 
weather. The American soldiers had 
left the bloody tracks of their bare feet 
in the snow. At this price, and on this 
slight thread of Washington's high re- 
solve, did Liberty depend this wmter. 
The patriotic spirit revived on sight of 
such personal valor, and men said one 
to another that they must be led by a 
prophet. 

The exact personal appearance of 
General Washington at this time has 
been described. Ackerson commanded 
a company of patriots. It is three days 
before crossing the Delaware. Acker- 
son writes to his son, in 181 1: "In 
military costume, Washington was a 
heroic figure, such as would impress 
the memory ever afterward. Pie had 
a large thick nose, and it was very red 
that day, giving me the impression that 
he was not so moderate in the use of 
liquors as he was supposed to be. I 
found afterward that this was a pecul- 
iarity. His nose was apt to turn scarlet 
in a cold wind. He was standing near 
a small camp-fire, evidently lost in 
thought, and making no effort to keep 
warm. He sccincd six feet and a half 
in height, was as erect as an Indian, 
and did not for a moment relax from 
a military attitude. His exact height 
was six feet two inches in his boots. 
He was then a little lame from strik- 
ing his knee against a tree. His eye 
was so gray that it looked almost white, 
and he had a troubled look on his color- 
less face. He had a piece of woolen 
tied around his throat, and was quite 
hoarse. Perhaps the throat-trouble 
from which he finally dierl had its ori- 
gin about then. Washington's boots 



were enormous. They were number 
thirteen. His ordinary walking-shoes 
were number eleven. His hands were 
large in proportion, and he could not 
buy a glove to fit him, and had to have 
his gloves made to order. His mouth 
was his strong feature, the lips being 
always tightly compressed. That day 
they were compressed so tightly as to 
be painful to look at. At that time he 
weighed 200 pounds, and there was no 
surplus flesh about him. He was tre- 
mendously muscled, and the fame of 
his great strength was everywhere. 
His large tent, when wrapped up with 
the poles, was so heavy that it required 
two men to place it in the camp-wagon. 
Washington would lift it with one hand 
and throw it in the wagon as easily as 
if it were a pair of saddle-bags. He 
could hold a musket with one hand an?; 
shoot with precision as easily as other 
men did with a horse-pistol. His lungs 
were his weak point, and his voice was 
never strong. He was at that time in 
the prime of life. His hair was a chest- 
nut brown, his cheeks were prominent, 
and his head was not large in contrast 
to every other part of his body, which 
seemed large and bony at all points. 
His finger-joints and wrists were so 
large as to be genuine curiosities. As 
to his habits at that period, he was an 
enormous eater, but was content with 
bread and meat, if he had plenty of it. 
But hunger seemed to put him in a 
rage. It was his custom to take a drink 
of rum or whisky on awakening in the 
morning." 

Nor had he lost his hot temper, 
though it was nearly always well under 
control. He told an officer to cross the 
river and bring back some information. 
He was pacing his tent with the flannel 
on his sore neck when the officer re- 
turned. "What did you learn?" The 
officer related that he had found the 
night dark and stormy and the river 
full of ice. Therefore he could not 
cross : therefore he had learned nothing 
that General Washington did not know 
already. The fire flew from Washing- 
ton's eyes now, and the Chief, uttering 
an oath, hurled a leaden inkstand at 
the officers head. "Be off ! and send me 



326 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



a 7iwn." The officer found the river 
very easy to cross, and the storm less 
furious than the one he had called up. 
He returned with valuable news. 

The New Jersey Building at the 
World's Fair of 1893 was a replica of 
the house in Morristown at which Gen- 
eral Washington made his headquarters 
in the early months of 1777. Here the 
Chief was again compelled to act as a 
recruiting-officer, a drill-sergeant, so 
loath were Americans to make war. 
There were few re-enlistments, and the 
terms of service were ridiculously 
short. It was at this house that a 
horde of foreign officers began to come 
in on the Commander-in-Chief. In 
Paris, in 1871, a regiment was made up 
of officers, but the scheme was un- 
known in earlier days. Lafayette and 
Steuben visited him here. General 
Washington hoped that Howe would 
go south against Philadelphia ; he 
feared the British Commander might 
go north and join the forces of Gen- 
eral Burgoyne. The enemy did not 
move till very late in the season, and 
then came south with 18,000 men, 
landing from ships in Chesapeake Bay, 
near Philadelphia. Washington 

marched his army of 11,000 men 
through the Quaker City, to meet Sir 
William Howe, late in August. The 
two armies met at the Brandywine, and 
Howe won the battle, Sullivan again 
being outflanked and driven in, as at 
Brooklyn. General Wayne led 1,500 
men to harass the British rear, and was 
worsted a day or so later. Howe now 
took peaceable possession of Philadel- 
phia, and chose ground at Germantown, 
a suburb. Here General Wasliington 
attempted a surprise with about 11,000 
men at daybreak, October 4, 1777, and 
was again defeated, and forced to with- 
draw ; but the enemy did not pursue 
him. General Washington lost about 
1,200 men. 

At this sad moment came the cheer- 
ing news that Burgoyne had surren- 
dered to Gates at Saratoga, with 5,752 
soldiers, 39 cannon, and 5,000 stand of 
arms. Burgoyne had previously lost 
3,000 men in various ways. With this. 
N'ergennes, Minister of Foreign Affairs 



at Paris, let Franklin know that France 
was ready to make a treaty of alliance 
with the United States of America 
against England. Meanwhile, Howe 
tried to lure General Washington out 
to fight him again, but the American 
Commander could not be drawn out of 
the hills which he held, and Howe went 
back into Philadelphia. "Philadelphia 
has taken Howe," said Dr. Franklin, at 
I'aris. 

John Adams, who had urged Gates 
for a command, seems to have receded 
from his support of General Washing- 
ton as soon as Gates succeeded. A cabal, 
headed by an Irish soldier named Con- 
way, was formed to get Gates in chiei 
command. General Washington would 
not resign, as the plotters had hoped, 
although they were able to sting his 
pride. He wrote Patrick Henry that 
the brave New Englanders were 
prompt to fly against Burgoyne^ while 
there was no such stufif in the hearts of 
the Friends along the Delaware. 

While General Washington was 
building huts at his winter cantonment 
of Valley Forge, and his men, barefoot, 
were standing about the fires for lack 
of blankets to lie down in, the Pennsyl- 
vania Legislature, evidently in retalia- 
tion, passed a resolution asking him to 
go on fighting in the winter. At this 
nioment he was compelled to forage 
on the nearest Quakers for food, so 
little had they done for his army. He 
wrote indignantly to Congress, calling 
its attention to the resolution, and re- 
marking that his army was "occupy- 
ing a cold bleak hill, and sleeping under 
frost and snow, without clothes or 
blankets." 

It was not long, however, ere the 
conduct of the Legislatures became 
more obedient and helpful to General 
Washington ; the Conway cabal was ex- 
posed to the attention of the fighting 
classes, who at once showed their in- 
dignation, and the Commander-in- 
Chief, with all his misfortunes, was 
clearly seen to be the hope of the colo- 
nies. He set Baron Steuben in charge of 
drill and discipline; be put Greene in 
as Quartermaster ; he hafi a better army 
in the spring than in the autumn before, 



BIOGRAPHY— GEORGE WASHINGTON 



3^7 



and Howe gave way to Clinton in 
Philadelphia as commander of the 
British army, which was to be taken as 
an indorsement of Washimjton's cam- 
paign. Howe had regarded the patriot 
army as so many fugitives in the hills, 
who could not be caught, and Clinton 
Ciid not reverse his policy. The country 
must be tranquillized in other ways, the 
English thought. Therefore the spring 
was lost, talking of peace ; then Clinton 
sent 5,000 men to the West Indies and 
3,000 to Florida. He actually reduced 
liimself to 10,000, while General Wash- 
ington had kept 13,000 together. The 
efiFect of the French alliance led the 
Ministry at London to believe that it 
would be wise to concentrate nearly all 
their troops at New York City. Clin- 
ton accordingly prepared to evacuate 
Philadelphia, and General Washington 
set out to strike him on the rear guard 
of his army. Lee did not approve the 
move, because he thought the Conti- 
nentals ought to build a golden bridge 
for their enemy to fly by. General 
\\^ashington put Lafayette in charge; 
therefore Lee grew jealous and de- 
manded the command, so he was sent 
out. May 27, 1778, with Generals 
Wayne and Lafayette under him. He 
was ordered to strike the rear guard at 
once ; the next day he was sure the 
British soldiers would defeat his new 
recruits. He lost so much time that 
Clinton got his baggage to the front 
and was able to march Cornwallis with 
a large force back where they could 
make a good defense ; thus the British 
advanced on a General (Lee) who had 
feared all along he was going to be de- 
feated. The subordinate Generals had 
sent for General Washington in hot 
haste. But as General Washington 
came forward he met returning strag- 
glers and then regiments, and then Lee, 
all in pell-mell retreat. General Wash- 
ington was in a towering rage, and 
frightened Lee. Pie sent Lee to court- 
martial and dismissal. He rallied Lee's 
troops, joined the main body to them 
as it came up, advanced in battle to 
the field held by Lee in the morning, 
lay down in possession, and in the 
morning Clinton was on the march to 



New York. This was the battle of 
Monmouth, where the British lost 500 
men in killed and wounded. It m- 
creased the belief of the people that 
Washington was a fighting General, if 
he had troops that would not flee, and 
it ruined Lee, who, because he had 
fought in Europe, had carried many a 
council-of-war the wrong way. 

The rest of 1778 was spent in at- 
tending upon the French. General 
Washington was still plagued with for- 
eign officers. "I do most devoutly 
wish," he wrote, "that we had not a 
single foreigner among us except the 
Marquis de Lafayette." In another 
letter to the same purpose. General 
\Vashnigton hopes he is somewhat a 
"citizen of the world." Yet he had 
near him on his stafif, Alexander Ham- 
ilton, still more of an anti-Gallican. 
The Chief was of that proud spirit that 
accepted aid with sorrow, and could 
not pledge himself to be grateful. Con- 
gress had moved back to Philadelphia. 
As 1779 grew old, General Washington 
was in attendance on that body, ob- 
taining pay for mutinous troops, giv- 
ing advice, deploring the stock-jobbing, 
gambling, and other concomitants of 
war. He wishes he "could bring those 
murderers of our cause, the monopo- 
lizers, forestallers, and engrossers, to 
condign punishment. I would to God 
some of the most atrocious in each 
State was hung in gibbets upon a gal- 
lows five times as high as the one pre- 
pared by Haman." "Idleness, dissipa- 
tion and extravagance seem to have 
laid fast hold of the people, and 
"speculation, peculation and an insati- 
able thirst for riches seem to have got 
the better of every other consideration, 
and almost of every order of men ; 
party disputes and personal quarrels 
are the great business of the day." He 
did much letter-writing that autumn 
and winter while the French fleet was 
in New England waters, and the Amer- 
ican General Gates, in connnand of 
Boston-region, was afraid Clinton 
might strike at him. Savannah had 
fallen to the English. General Wash- 
ington, with headquarters at Newburg, 
set to work to hold the Hudson River 



328 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



and hem in Clinton, believing that the 
Hudson was the line that would, if 
taken by the British, divide the colonies 
and no other. He wished to send 
Greene south, but Congress chose 
Gates, who later was badly defeated, 
with the French as auxiliaries. The 
English raided both New En^^Iand and 
A'irginia, and the \'irginian Governor 
was unable to gather the militia or 
make a defense. 

The spring of 1780 was coming on 
badly enough, with General Washing- 
ton bound to hold the Hudson, at least, 
when the French came to Newport 
with 5,000 men, and Gates set out to 
mend things in South Carolina. But 
General Rochambeau and General 
Washington did not agree. The 
Frenchman thought he must wait till 
more ships came. The summer went 
on and Gates was fearfully defeated 
at Camden. The South was lost. Next 
came the treason of Benedict Arnold, 
who, to loosen General Washington's 
grip on the Hudson, had sold West 
Point, and was about to deliver the 
stronghold to Major Andre. General 
AVashington had gone to meet Rocham- 
beau at Hartford. The people had 
hailed him as F.\ther, and their feel- 
ing were so affectionate toward him, 
after coming out of the atmosphere of 
\ alley Forge and the Hudson, that he 
was in high spirits. Arnold made his 
hair-breadth escape from the very 
grasp of General Washington, and, a 
few minutes later, was on a British 
man-of-war. "Whom can we trust 
now?" cried the Chief, and then was 
silent. He hanged the spy Andre who 
had come to get West Point. 

The winter of 1780-81 was another 
\'alley Forge of difficulties. Even the 
American troops rebelled. Pennsyl- 
vania made terms with its regiments, 
but when the New Jersey men fol- 
lowed. General Washington hanged two 
mutineers. How many more winters 
the great man would have endured at 
Newburg cannot be conjectured. His 
own State was still being ravaged. But 
Greene, in the South, turned the day. 



as Gates had once turned it in the 
North. By a series of brilliant opera- 
tions Cornwallis was obliged to march 
toward the Chesapeake, and all the 
marauding British parties were massed 
with him. He was ordered, from Lon- 
don, to establish a base on the Chesa- 
peake, and Clinton, at New York, be- 
gan to grow jealous of him. General 
Washington alarmed Clinton into the 
belief that he was surely to be attacked, 
so Clinton was not willing to go south- 
vvard. The French fleet blocked the 
Chesapeake, and landed 3,000 men un- 
der Lafayette. General Washington 
prepared to strike at Cornwallis, leav- 
ing Heath at New York with enough 
force to keep Clinton on the defensive. 
Congress took little heart in General 
Washington's plans, and debated cut- 
ting down his army at the moment he 
was trying to show the French he had 
an opportunity to win. He could get 
no money, for the French were just 
now spending their own appropriations, 
and seeing that Dutch contractors did 
not get all the money. While the army 
of General Washington went by water 
to Yorktown the General, with Roc- 
hambeau, visited Alt. Vernon and 
Williamsburg. He had been gone six 
years. Cornwallis was now within 
strong lines at Yorktown, with a 
French fleet outside and a larger Am- 
erican army surrounding him. The 
siege began September 28th. Corn- 
wallis surrendered, October 19, I78i,his 
ships and seamen to DeGrasse, the 
French Admiral ; his army and impedi- 
menta to General W^ashington. There 
were 7,073 of the red-coats whom Gen- 
eral Washington took. General Alex- 
ander Hamilton distinguished himself 
in the final assault. As the troops 
scaled the works General Washington 
said : "The work is done, and well 
done. Bring me my horse." 

Nothing happened at Newburg while 
he was away, and Congress grew more 
compliant. Yet when Vergennes, at 
Paris, demanded that the man who 
needed the money (Washington) 
should disburse the last French subsidv 



BIOGRAPHY— GEORGE WASHINGTON 



that Franklin had induced him to be- 
stow, Congress objected, and Franklin 
had to audit bills, as of yore. 

There was one late episode of the 
war that should be noted. A troop of 
armed Tories in the I'ritish service un- 
der one Lippencott had captured an 
American captain, and hanged him as a 
traitor to their King. General Wash- 
ington demanded the surrender of the 
Ivnchers. Sir Gu)' Carleton, in com- 
mand at New York, refused, but tried 
Lippencott by court martial, who es- 
caped on a technicality. 

In May, 1782, the fears of the demo- 
ciatic-republicans took shape in a letter 
by Colonel Xicola, representing a 
large party in the army, reciting the 
weaknesses, follies and jealousies of 
Congress, and begging General Wash- 
ington to assume the dictatorship by 
force. General Washington's answer 
was noble and straightforward. He 
"viewed the letter with abhorrence," 
"reprehended it with severity." He 
said, beautifully and truly: "If I am 
not deceived in the knowledge of my- 
self, you could not have found a per- 
son to whom your schemes are more 
disagreeable." 

Nations do not spring full-armed 
into existence. The land of George 
Washington was a weakling in its in- 
fancy. Long after Yorktown, a newly- 
recruited regiment had the audacity to 
again frighten the Quakers and drive 
Congress out of Philadelphia to Prince- 
ton. General Washington put down 
this mutiny, and was angry, because 
the upstarts had never seen battle, and 
he thought — considering how much he 
had endured from raw troops — that 
they were imposing even on themselves. 
The Newburg addresses by the military 
were of the same order with Nicola's 
letter, and caused General Washington 
as much chagrin. Peace came none too 
soon, for such was the inchoate con- 
dition of things that another year of 
X'alley-Forging might have resulted in 
anarchy. 

General Washington's last months 
with the army were spent in various 
trips through New York, in advising 
Congress at Princeton, and in prepar- 



ing addresses to Governors and the 
army. As preparations for the evacua- 
tion of New York City progressed, he 
moved to Harlem, and on November 
-5' ^7^3> two long years after York- 
town, accompanied by Governor Clin- 
ton, made his entry into the chief city. 
There had been a conflagration that had 
destroyed 300 houses while he was 
gone. He was ready to resign his com- 
mission. At Fraunces' Tavern, Decem- 
ber 4th, he assembled his officers. Lift- 
ing a glass of wine he said: "With a 
heart full of love and gratitude, I now 
take leave of you, most devoutly wish- 
ing that your latter days may be as pros- 
perous and happy as your former ones 
have been glorious and honorable." "I 
shall be obliged," he said, "if each of 
you will come and take me by the 
hand." Tears were in his eyes. He 
said no more, but embraced them one 
by one, in the fashion of partings in 
those days. They went with him to the 
wharf. They felt very lonesome and 
fatherless when he had disappeared. 

He adjusted his accounts at Phila- 
delphia, but charged no salary for all 
those years. He had disbursed about 
$75,000 in all sorts of ways, and much 
of this he had advanced. He appeared 
at noon of December 23d before Con- 
gress. The members were seated, with 
hats on, to represent the sovereign 
power. The spectators stood, uncov- 
c'cd. The President of the Congress 
slated that the L^nited States, in Con- 
gress assembled, were prepared to re- 
ceive the communication of General 
\\'ashington. He then rose and read 
his farewell, the noblest document re- 
cording the deeds of men. He drew 
his spectacles, saying, "You see, I have 
grown old in your service." He sub- 
mitted his resignation and asked to be 
retired to private life, his country be- 
irig no longer harassed by considerable 
foes. His resignation was accepted, he 
walked out of the hall, and the group 
of law-makers once more looked about 
them and found everybody small but 
him ; there was even no elder brother 
to guide them. 

His trustful leaving of the service 
of the new natfcn at the time it had 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



shaken off Great Britain was typical of 
his grand and simple nature. But noth- 
ing was less likely than that he could 
be spared. The people had heard he 
was extremely desirous to see a Union 
of States well established, and they now 
set out to do as he had advised them. 
They thought the Chief must be left 
a time in peace. How did he pass his 
time meanwhile? Lafayette sent him a 
pack of French wolf-hounds, but there 
was no hunting. Still he was in the 
saddle a good deal, thinking. Every 
painter and historian visited ]\It. \'er- 
non. The great man found he must 
have a secretary. He went to see his 
mother and she blessed him. Then he 
rode away to the Ohio. He came back 
and wrote letters, showing his extreme 
solicitude. "'My sentiments and 
opinions have been neglected," he says, 
"though given as a last legacy, in a 
most solemn manner." Thereat the 
people, after he had once more ad- 
vised, hastened to attempt the institu- 
tion of some central offices and powers. 
A Constitutional Convention was 
called. General Washington pleaded 
illness, but went as a delegate for Vir- 
ginia to Philadelphia. The bells rang 
when he arrived. The Convention met. 
He was installed as President of the 
body. After four months of labor, on 
September 17, 1787, he affixed his sig- 
nature to the present Constitution of 
the United States, saying: "Should the 
States reject this excellent Constitution, 
the probability is that opportunity will 
never be offered to cancel another in 
peace ; the next will be drawn in blood." 
General Washington went back to 
Mt. Vernon urging the adoption of the 
Constitution; urging the election of 
Federalists, or Constitution men, and 
therefore the Constitution was adopted 
and the Federalists were elected. There 
was to be a President, and that office 
had been fitted to his stature. The 
Chief had not asked the people to make 
anybody else President, so there was 
no vote for anybody else. Unhappy the 
Elector who would have so humiliated 
his people as to put a slight on that 
sanctified and anointed hero, patient as 
the sphinx, unpretent%us as the solid 



monuments of the furthest ages. 

General Washington made a splen- 
did progress to take the Presidency of 
the United States. His barge to Kew 
York City was rowed by thirteen white 
uniformed pilots. The great harbor 
gave him no mean or unbeautiful wel- 
come. The crowds not only uncovered, 
but bowed as their hero went by, in the 
beloved buff" and blue uniform. 

On the 30th of April, 1789, in citi- 
zen's clothes, he appeared before the 
Congress, took the oath, and kissed the 
Bible. The Chancellor who had sworn 
him cried, ''Long live George W'ashing- 
ton. President of the LTnited States !" 
The new President said : "In our prog- 
ress toward political happiness, my sta- 
tion is new ;" therefore the people might 
have seen he did not intend to be king. 
Yet his own peculiar personality de- 
manded some arrangement that it 
would have tasked Jefferson to concede. 
As President he shook hands with no- 
body. He returned no calls. He would 
have felt easier as "His Highness" by 
salutation, because he thought he held 
a sublime office. The French Ambas- 
sador expected to be intimate, but the 
President compelled him to wait on Jef- 
ferson, the Secretary of State. Wash- 
ington could be no more a friend now 
of France than of King George. Yet 
the Chief was glad to appoint Jefferson, 
pupil of Rosseau and Samuel Adams. 
How did Washington come to appoint 
an opponent of Hamilton? Jefferson 
supported the Constitution — that was 
the reason ; those patriots who did not 
(before it was adopted) were left out 
of the Cabinet. All the Supreme Court 
was to be named — all Constitution men. 
Federalists, John Jay at the head. The 
President traveled to Boston, to dine 
with John Hancock, Governor. The 
Governor did not call, as he should 
have done. The President prepared to 
leave Boston. Then Hancock, in flan- 
nel sheets, gouty to the death, had to 
be carried up a pair of stairs — had to 
beg for a half-hour to make his call. 
This precedent soon became doctrine — 
namely, that in the United .States the 
President, representing all the people, 
outranks everybody else. 



BIOGRAPHY— GEORGE WASHINGTON 



When Congress came together Jan- 
uary 4, 1790, in New York City, the 
President approached the hall in the 
following state : A Colonel and a Ma- 
jor on two white horses; the President, 
alone, in his own coach, drawn by four 
horses ; his chariot with his private sec- 
retaries ; a man on horseback ; in three 
coaches, the Chief Justice, the Secre- 
tary of War, the Secretary of the 
Treasury (Jefferson absent, not approv- 
ing this panopoly). In the Senate 
Chamber the President, with his ret- 
inue, passed between all the Congress- 
men and Senators, who stood. He was 
seated beside the \'ice-Presid*nt (John 
Adams). He rose and spoke. This 
was the way the President's Message 
was first delivered. He departed at 
once, as he had come. It will be seen 
that this was exactly as he went to 
Boston — in such state as befitted his 
personal station. The people, too, saw 
no harm in it, so lovingly do they trust 
great leaders, so fortunately did they 
confide in George Washington. 

President \\'ashingfton put down the 
Whisky Rebellion and had Indian wars 
out in (what is now) Indiana. It 
would be the logical act of the new 
nation to ally itself with France against 
the oppressor, but Washington was by 
connection with Lord Fairfax, an Eng- 
lish gentleman. When England and 
France again went to war, it there- 
fore came to pass that the President 
fell slightly out of harmony with the 
American people, and for the first time 
(that is, when George Washington 
could be seen) they looked affectionately 
toward Thomas Jefferson, who had 
written the Declaration of Indepen- 
dence. Now the Chief seemed clearly 
wrong. There could be no mistake, 
they thought. He was catering to the 
British, and ill-treating Citizen Genet, 
Ambassador from France (not Ver- 
gennes' France, not even from Lafay- 
ette's France, but from Robespierre's 
France! — for there had been an awful 
set of changes there). How much 
sympathy had the Chief for the man 
who slew Vergniaud, Brissot, not to 
speak of the bad sense of slaying the 
King and Queen of France? Citizen 



Genet came on like Fouche at Lyons or 
Carrier at Nantes. "Make way for 
Liberty, Equality, Fraternity !" he 
cried. "Organize Jacobin clubs, wear 
red caps, above all attend our admiralty 
court, set up here at Charleston, where 
we bestow prizes and fit privateers!" 
Behold Citizen Genet, carrying Equality 
or Death to George Washington! This 
was perhaps one of the most grotesque 
things in history. At first, of course, 
Jefferson was in close touch with the 
Ambassador from France ; then frantic 
with disgust. George Washington, too, 
was wise in asking Jefferson to him- 
self send away Genet. Especially, 
when Citizen Genet announced that he 
would call an election of the people to 
vote on President Washington. By the 
time Citizen Genet had been recalled at 
Jefferson's demand, he did not dare to 
go back to France. He thereupon be- 
came a quiet and inoffensive inhabitant 
of America. He was weary. He did 
General W^ashington a monstrous 
wrong with his red flag and red night- 
cap. Jay was burned in effigy, Hamil- 
ton was stoned, there was a town-meet- 
ing in Faneuil Hall against the Presi- 
dent's signature to the English treaty 
made by Jay, and much excitement in 
the nation. George Washington dated 
a letter, "United States, July 28, 1795." 
He said he was doing his duty. He 
said, at last, that he was preparing 
his "mind for the obloquy that disap- 
pointment and malice" were collecting 
to heap on him. Again, he could not 
support James Monroe at Paris, and 
or.ce more went against the people's 
ideas of liberty. They could not un- 
derstand that he was a truer friend of 
forceful Liberty than had ever lived, or 
perhaps ever would live again, nor 
could Monroe, so when Washington re- 
called him from France there remained 
one more triumph in store for those 
(not Jeff'erson and ]\Ionroe) who en- 
vied George Washington because na- 
ture had made him grand and simple. 
At last it is possible that Jacobin editors 
thought they would do well to write 
scurrilous articles about "the tyrant 
Washington," and they took up Jeffer- 
son's and Genet's cry of "Monarchists," 



THE HOME AUXn.IARY AND REFERENCE 



"Aristocrats," and "'corrupt squadrons,'" 
tlie latter being Jefferson's way of at- 
tacking Hamilton's financial legislation. 
One editor said Washington "main- 
tained the seclusion of a monk and the 
supercilious distance of a tyrant." At 
last the House of Congress refused to 
adjourn on his birthday for half an 
hour, in order that members might call 
on him and pay their respects. But the 
nation was now made. It had been 
founded. It had elected him twice 
trustingly, it would elect him again, but 
it allowed editors to ungenerously as- 
sail him. He clearly saw his work was 
done. He prepared his farewell ad- 
dress once more, but this time without 
tears. Yet, out of the wealth of his 
love of America, he offered the people 
another legacy from the treasury of a 
freeman's advice: "Let there be no sec- 
tionalism, no North, South, East or 
West. Beware of attacks, open or co- 
vert, upon the Constitution. Do not 
encourage party spirit. Promote edu- 
cation, avoid debt. As a nation, have 
rieither passionate hatreds (of Eng- 
land) nor passionate attachments (to 
France)." 

March 3, 1797, he gave a farewell 
dinner to President John Adams, Vice- 
President Jefferson, and other high of- 
ficers. Compared with the leave-taking 
from his Generals at New York, where 
he had been obeyed, his manner now to 
the statesmen who had underestimated 
him was joyous. He was glad to leave 
one and all. But they were not merry. 
They, again, were lonesome. The next 
day, this phenomenon was to be re- 
corded, namely: The people took back 
their own into the great body of private 
life, and yet there were eyes for no- 
body else. The hall was nearly emp- 
tied when General Washington went 
out ; a multitude followed him to his 
lodgings. And when he saw this once 
more, he turned and bowed very low, 
and tears were in his eyes, for the per- 
sonal trust and love of the people re- 
warded him and exalted him in spirit. 

Beside the fact that President Adams 
made him Commander-in-Chief of the 
provincial army again, there were epi- 
sodes in his life at Mt. Vernon, but 



the casual reader need not be wearied 
with their recital. Yet it cannot per- 
haps be amiss to look in on him once 
with the eyes of the actor Bernard. 

Bernard, on horseback, riding near 
Alexandria, came on an overturned 
chaise which had carried a man and 
woman ; she was unconscious ; the man 
was unhurt ; at the same time another 
horseman rode up. "The horse was 
now on his legs, but the vehicle still 
prostrate, heavy in its frame, and laden 
with at least half a ton of luggage. 
Aly fellow-helper set me an example of 
activity in relieving it of the internal 
weight ; "and when all was clear we 
grasped the wheel between us, and to 
the peril of our spinal columns, righted 
the conveyance. The horse was then 
put in and we lent a hand to help up 
the luggage. All this helping, hauling 
and lifting occupied at least half an 
hour, under a meridian sun, in the mid- 
dle of July, which fairly boiled the per- 
spiration out of our foreheads." The 
chaise went on, after the usual \'irgin- 
ian proffer of civilities. "Then my 
companion offered very courteously to 
dust my coat, a favor the return of 
which enabled me to take deliberate 
survey of his person. He was a tall, 
erect, well-made man, evidently ad- 
vanced in years, but who appeared to 
have retained all the vigor and elas- 
ticity resulting from a life of temper- 
ance and exercise. His dress was a 
blue coat buttoned to his chin and buck- 
skin breeches. Though the instant he 
took off" his hat I could not avoid the 
recognition of familiar lineaments, 
which, indeed, I was in the habit of 
seeing on every sign-post and over 
every fireplace, still I failed to identify 
him, and to my surprise I found that 
I was an object of equal speculation in 
his eyes. 'Mr. Bernard, I believe,' " 
and asked Bernard to go on to his 
house, now in sight. " 'Mt. \^ernon !' I 
exclaimed ; and then drawing back with 
a stare of wonder, 'Have I the honor 
of addressing General Washington?' 
Whh a smile whose expression of ben- 
evolence I have rarely seen equaled, 
he offered his hand and replied : 'An 
odd sort of introduction, Mr. Bernard; 



BIOGRAPHY—BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 



hut I am pleased to find you can play 
so active a part in private, and with- 
out a prompter.' " 

General Washington had seen Bern- 
ard act. This charming host was the 
same person who, when President, as 
I'resident, would not shake hands with 
anybody. They went on, and had a 
pleasant chat. "His eyes burned with 
a steady fire" — they looked "glorious" 
to Bernard, who seems to have been 
a man not easily dazzled. 

When the Bastile was taken, Lafay- 
ette sent its great key to General Wash- 
ington. It hangs at Mt. Vernon. When 
Lafayette went to an Austrian dun- 
geon, General Washington shed tears. 
He educated young Lafayette. 

December 13, 1799, General Wash- 
ington had a sore throat, as of old on 
the Delaware. The next day he was 
choking to death, and died where such 
cases are to-day successfully treated by 
the surgeons. His death was without 
pompous utterance. He said it was 
the debt we must all pay, was anxious 
to leave his affairs in good shape, and 
kept his mind on the estate of i\It. Ver- 
non to the last. He died childless. 
They said, who had escaped slavery 
by his sword, that he was the father 
only of his history. His home, where 
he died, Mt. Vernon, has been visited 
by every lover of liberty and admirer 
of greatness who has journeyed toward 
the Chesapeake. For over forty 
years it has been a museum of national 
character. The State of Virginia, to 
f:imiliarize its form to the entire na- 
tion, copied it for headquarters at the 
A\'orld's Fair of 1893, and the building 
was always overcrowded. 

One critical question may be asked : 
What did the Father and the Chief 
think of Benjamin Franklin? He said 
to Bernard, that day, after exploiting 
the New Englanders, as if to settle it 
all, "Dr. Franklin is a New Englander." 
I le looked on Dr. Franklin with the ven- 
eration that he paid to science and to 
all things good. He thought Dr. Frank- 
lin was one of the few helpful civilians 
ii the war, and loved him for his aid. 
When he went to the Constitutional 



Convention, his first act was to call on 
Dr. I'Vanklin to pay his respects. 

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 
1706—1790 

Gu.VNDSIRE OF THE REVOLUTION. 

It is perhaps the chief boast of the 
proud City of Boston that Benjamin 
franklin was born there, on ]\lilk 
street, near the corner of W^ashington. 
His statue has the place of honor be- 
fore the City Hall. The date of birth 
was January 17, 1706. The father had 
seventeen children by two wives, and 
Benjamin was the eighth of ten chil- 
dren by the second wife. His mother 
was a Folger, and he took his char- 
acteristics from her and her father. He 
desired to be a sailor; his father 
wished him to be a preacher. They 
could not agree, and the father, as a 
medium course, set the son at work in 
a tallow chandler's factory. To escape 
from this fate Benjamin suffered him- 
self to be bound to his brother James 
as a printer's apprentice for a term of 
nine years. James was an editor, and 
angered the press censor. To evade 
the censor, the newspaper was pub- 
lished under the name of Benjamin 
Franklin, the old indenture of appren- 
ticeship was annulled, and a secret one 
was substituted. Thereupon the ap- 
prentice felt safe in running away — 
perhaps safer, for he says in his cele- 
brated autobiography that although a 
lad of only seventeen years, he was 
already "a little obnoxious to the gov- 
erning party," as his "indiscreet dis- 
putations about religion" had caused 
him to be pointed at with horror by 
good people as an infidel and atheist." 
He found no situation at New York, 
and passed on to Philadelphia. A good 
printer who had escaped five years of 
k'ondage need not feel uneasy, and. 
buying three rolls of bread, he walked 
up Market street as far as Fourth, with 
a roll under each arm and munching 
a third. A passage in his autobiog- 
raphy tends to show that little Boston 



THEIHOME AUXILIARY-AND REFERENCE 



aid not practice the gentility of the 
great City of Philadelphia, for he says : 
"I passed by the door of Mr. Read, 
my future wife's father; when she, 
standing by the door, saw me, and 
thought I made, as I certainly did, a 
most awkward, ridiculous appearance." 
He soon got work and became ac- 
quainted with Sir William Keith, who 
was Governor of the Province of Penn- 
sylvania for the two sons of William 
Penn, who owned the charter. Keith 
persuaded Franklin to go back to Bos- 
ton and try to get his father to invest 
the capital necessary for a newspaper 
at Philadelphia. But the son's lux- 
urious appearance on his return to Bos- 
ton did not move the father of seven- 
teen children, who would not invest, 
and thought Keith must be a foolish 
man. Keith then advised Benjamin to 
go to London, England, choose a 
"dress" and outfit, and Keith would 
himself furnish the funds. Keith 
would seem to have had a secret de- 
sire to get Franklin out of Philadel- 
phia, and therein he was certainly a 
good servant of the Penns, as events 
proved. Franklin got on board a ves- 
sel, still waiting for his bill of ex- 
change, and went to sea before he really 
knew he had been deceived. Even then 
he did not lament his fate, but set out 
to see the world at London, and was a 
wild young man for some time. Fi- 
nally he reformed, became a teetotaller 
for life, and was again able to interest 
rich gentlemen in his welfare. A Phila- 
delphia merchant offered to take him 
back as confidential clerk, and the twain 
sailed home, reaching Philadelphia Oc- 
tober II, 1726. But the merchant and 
the young printer were both seized 
with illness, and the benefactor died. 
Benjamin Franklin, at twenty, was so 
sick that he thought he would die, and 
prepared his epitaph, now so famous: 

THE BODY OF 

EENJ.XMIN FR.XNKLIN 

(like the cover of an old book. 

its contents torn out, 

AND STRIPT OF ITS LETTERING AND GILDING). 



THE AUTHOR 



Bradford and Keimer were the rival 
printers in the city. It was Keimer 
whom Franklin had worked for. Brad- 
ford was Postmaster, and naturally 
hated Franklin as Keimer's man. When 
Franklin started in business for him- 
self with a partner, he had both the 
old men bitterly against him ; but 
Keimer soon sold out. Then Bradford 
would not let his postmen carry Frank- 
lin's paper, which was eventually called 
the Pennsylvania Gazette. Franklin 
was a consummate editor. Richard 
Steele, the earliest of editors, knew 
nothing about advertisements and a job 
office, but Franklin regarded these ad- 
juncts as mainsail and rudder to his 
ship. He was an advocate of paper 
money, and worked so hard for the 
cause that he secured the job of print- 
ing the currency. It was a Quaker 
town, and Franklin soon put on sober 
garments (which he wore all his life 
afterward), and let the wise Philadel- 
phians know that he was saving money. 
He now offered to marry a young 
woman if her parents could dower her 
with $500, and "civilly suggested a 
mortgage"' on the paternal mansion for 
the purpose. This negotiation failed. 
But in these recitals at the expense of 
Franklin, made in his Autobiography 
at the height of his fame, we must 
somewhat consider the tendency to 
humor, for which the writer would sac- 
rifice many attending circumstances. 
He says he made other ineffectual ad- 
vances on a commercial basis before 
he thought of the young woman he saw 
when he first arrived in Philadelphia. 
By this time she was divorced from a 
husband. She would marry Franklin, 
but he, instead of receiving a dower, 
might be compelled to pay the run- 
away husband's debts. It seems that 
by this time Franklin's marital self-im- 
portance had dwindled, and he was con- 
tented to run all risks, if, in his turn, he 
could bring home his natural son Wil- 
liam. The daughter of ]\Ir. Read and 
Benjamin FYanklin were thereupon 
married September i, 1730. The wife 
took the child William and nursed it 
as her own (William turning out in 
the end a Tory, who hated his 'father 



BIOGRAPHY— BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 



as the arch-rchcl). Reside this good 
nature, the wife clothed her husband, 
head to foot. These affairs he told, 
revealing the perfect knowledge which 
Franklin, as author, possessed, touch- 
ing the likes and dislikes of humanity. 
He now began to practice some of the 
metropolitan arts of diplomacy that had 
ojierated so effectually upon himself in 
Boston Philadelphia and London. He 
learned, he says, that he could do al- 
most anything he thought to be feasible 
if he would go about saying "a num- 
ber of his acquaintances had asked him 
to forward the project." In precisely 
this way, he says, a number of his ac- 
quaintances were desirous that he 
should start a subscription library, and 
the first American enterprise of this 
kind had its origin. But it soon fol- 
lowed that a considerable body of best 
people would gladly indorse almost any 
public act of Franklin, for he was a 
valuable and enterprising citizen. 

The role of frugality was kept up in 
the issue of "Poor Richard's Almanac," 
which was printed for twenty-five 
years, and ran in circulation as high as 
10,000 copies. It was a literature fitted 
to oak and hickory openings, log-piles, 
charcoal kilns, worm-fences, and the 
battle with rugged nature. "Keep thy 
shop and thy shop will keep thee." 
"Plough deep while sluggards sleep." 
"Three removes are as bad as a fire." 
"There never was a good war or a 
bad peace." "He had paid dear, very 
dear, for his whistle." "Do not squan- 
der time, for that is the stuff life is 
made of." No man's shaving-cup was 
in fashion without a maxim of Frank- 
lin illustrated upon its outside. No 
book presented to a child was wisely 
given until it carried an inscription on 
a fiy-leaf of one of Poor Richard's say- 
ings. The name first adopted was 
"Richard Saunders." This Almanac 
was one of the great things accom- 
plished by Franklin. He fitted a liter- 
ature to the axe, the saw, the splint, 
the log-house. He was one of the 
greatest moral law-givers of the ages, 
and succeeded among a people who 
daily held the Bible in their hands, 
ilany of his sayings are supposed to 



be Bible doctrine by the devout. He 
has but one exemplar in modern times 
— Jean Jacques Rousseau. He finally 
adopted Rousseau's religion of a Su- 
preme Being, first, however, coming out 
of a state of atheism. 

The young husband, editor, librarian, 
etc., was about six years making his 
way into politics. He studied French, 
Italian and Spanish, he formed debat- 
ing circles, and, as his newspaper was 
powerful, he was gi\en the office of 
Clerk of the General Assembly in 1736, 
and added to it the Postmastership in 
1737- One might now suppose that 
such a young man, so well supplied 
with office, would lose all notion of re- 
form and become the most pliant sub- 
ject the Penns could have in the colony. 
Yet we shall eventually see a long 
m.emory in Benjamin Franklin, and it 
is not impossible that, in all this time, 
he was only waiting to pay off the 
score of the London wild-goose chase 
on which Keith had once sent him. He 
took no small revenges. He could have 
boycotted Bradford's newspaper, but 
he let it go out with the rest of the 
mail. 

He invented a stove, which he called 
"the Pennsylvania fireplace." This 
was the first of the easily-portable fire- 
places, which have mitigated the terrors 
of the North American winter ever 
since. He did not patent it. A Lon- 
don manufacturer took out a patent and 
made money. Franklin studied nitrates 
and prosphates. His theory that plaster 
of paris was a fertilizer was doubted. 
He therefore wrote, in a field with plas- 
ter, "This has been plastered." The 
brilliant green and superior height of 
the growing crop were seen to be an 
ingenious demonstration of the truth 
of his argument. 

He had by this time thrown off or 
outworn all the ill effects of his early 
foibles. He had succeeded in getting 
the University of Pennsylvania under 
weigh, but was not a director. The 
Board was composed of one representa- 
tive of each sect that had contributed 
funds. The Moravian director died, 
and his colleagues agreed to have no 
more Moravians. "On this," says 



336 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



Franklin, "I was mentioned as being 
merely an honest man, and of no sect 
at all." This betrays his favorite form 
01 humor — not without a sting, too. He 
organized the first fire brigade in Amer- 
ica. On a panic resulting from a belief 
that the French and Indians would at- 
tack the colony, Franklin went to New 
York to borrow money, and prepared 
for a lottery, all of which found him 
friends, even among the Quakers. It 
seems true that the people like a man 
who takes an interest in their affairs 
with a collateral view of not making 
himself any the poorer; that man is dis- 
liked who attends strictly to his own 
business; while the man is pitied and 
finally denounced who impoverishes 
himself in behalf of the public. Frank- 
lin had been eighteen years a married 
man, twelve years a public functionary 
with several salaries, twenty-two years 
an editor and job-printer, when he con- 
cluded the time had come to cease ac- 
quiring money, as a main ambition. In 
this resolution and in his subsequent 
career, he has ever since commanded 
the enthusiastic applause of the world. 
He therefore took for partner David 
Hall, a journeyman printer, and hoped 
to give all his time to philosophy. But 
the community which he had so inge- 
niously cultivated for a quarter century, 
now in its turn, showed him a little of 
the wisdom of the world itself. If he 
were a man of leisure, there could be 
no injustice in making him a commis- 
sioner of the peace ; also an alderman ; 
likewise a Burgess in the Assembly. 
And here, too, the really good man 
found it a greater pleasure to be him- 
self wrought on, than to work others 
to his advantage. A passage in his Au- 
tobiography at this stage in his career 
purrs with so much satisfaction that 
the world has long enjoyed it. Dr. 
Bond wanted to found his hospital : 
"At length," says the venerable Doctor 
Franklin, "he came to me, with the 
compliment that he found there was no 
such thing as carrying a public-spirited 
project through without my being con- 
cerned in it. 'For,' says he, 'I am often 
asked by those to whom I propose sub- 
scribing. Have you consulted Franklin 



upon this business ? And what does he 
think of it ? And when I tell them that 
I have not (supposing it rather out of 
your line), they do not subscribe, but 
say they will consider it.' " 'Tt is sur- 
prising," comments Worse, with charm- 
ing wit, "that this artful and sugar-ton- 
gued doctor, who evidently could read 
his man, had not been more success- 
ful with his subscription list. With 
Franklin, at least, he was eminently 
successful, touching him with a con- 
summate skill, which brought prompt 
response and co-operation." Fie was 
a busy man in the Council, with new 
pavements, street lamps, and street- 
sweepings. He next, with William 
Hunter, farmed the post-offices, and 
made so much money that the Crown 
at home thought the place worth giv- 
ing out to some Englishman, where- 
upon it ceased to pay expenses, which 
did not displease the complacent Ben- 
jamin Franklin. This matter of the 
post-office of the colonies, and the visits 
to New York, and above all, the Penn- 
sylvania Gazette, had spread his fame, 
and Yale and Harvard Universities 
both found it prudent to make him a 
Master of Arts. "Thus, without study- 
ing in any college, I came to partake of 
their honors. They were conferred in 
consideration of my improvements and 
discoveries in the electric branch of 
natural philosophy." 

Let us behold this busy Quaker 
about this time, or a year or so earlier. 
He was pouring, as editorials, into the 
backwoods, articles which read well to- 
day — masterpieces of convincing legible 
English ; he was beginning hospitals, li- 
braries, university, lottery, armory, fire 
department, night watch, street lights, 
pavements ; he was reforming the post- 
office, studying the peace, the Indians, 
making laws for the Assembly — bring- 
ing London's customs over to the 
colony — and, as a recreation, he began 
to debate the phenomena of electrified 
bodies — two kinds of electricity, or two 
exhibitions of its influence. He set the 
world talking of positive and negative 
currents, and Franklin's Pane. The 
people, even in the backwoods, read his 
scientific articles, and they affected the 



BIOGRAPHY— BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 



professors as Dr. Roentgen's discov- 
eries did in 1896. He noted the po- 
tentiality of points — how the point of 
anything was more electric than its 
body. He, with other philosophers, 
believed the thunder-clouds were some- 
times giving down electricity, at other 
times sucking it up — as the photograph 
has since shown. He waited a long 
time for a projected church-spire to be 
built, and it is a wonder he did not, in 
true Franklinian method, go around 
with subscription paper to get the 
temple in order to use the steeple. 
Presently he bethought himself of the 
kite. He made a kite of a cross of 
cedar sticks and a thin silk handker- 
chief. A tail and string were attached, 
and. out of the top of the cross, a 
sharp-pointed wire was made to project 
a foot or more from the wood. The 
string ended at the earth in the ring 
or handle of a door-key, and to this 
nng a silk ribbon was also' tide, so that 
the electricity would not come down 
beyond the key without meeting great 
resistance. Now, he had to wait for 
the first thunder-storm, as he had 
waited for the steeple, but it came in 
June of 1750. His son helped him to 
get the kite to fly. As it was raining, 
he must stand inside a door to keep 
the silk dry, so it would resist — he did 
not know and could not then guess how- 
much electricity might come down, and 
he might get killed. The clouds rolled 
by. but his key was not emitting light- 
ning, as he expected. Finally, however, 
when the string became wet, the elec- 
tric spark came. He set alcohol aflame, 
charged a storage-battery, and made all 
the demonstrations which had formerly 
Iieen performed only with natural or 
carefully-electrified bodies. At his next 
thunder-storm, he demonstrated the pos- 
it i\e and negative action of clouds, and 
perfected the theory of the lightning- 
rod. These matters took the general 
name of "The Philadelphia experi- 
ments." Kant called Franklin "the 
I'rometheus of modern times." The 
action of the colonial universities was 
perhaps their first opportunity to honor 
a colonist who had won world-wide at- 
tention. The mother country was last 



to recognize the value of the demon- 
strations, and the English scientists 
were compelled, several years after 
everybody else, to correct their proceed- 
ings by reprinting old matter and get- 
tnig a record at any expense to their 
pride. 

In 1754 the Lords of Trade at Lon- 
don ordered an Assembly of the Col- 
onies at Albany to confer with the Six 
Lidian Nations, in order to prepare for 
war with France. At Albany Frank- 
lin, who was a delegate, prepared a 
scheme for the union of the colonies. 
■'Its fate was singular," says Franklin, 
reflectively ; "in the colonial assemblies 
it was condemned because there was 
too much prerogative (King's power) 
ii' it. The Board of Trade in Eng- 
land scouted it because it had too much 
of the democratic." Here we see Ben- 
jamin Franklin penning the first formal 
document looking to the United States 
of America. This was June 24, 1754. a 
little over twenty-two years before the 
Declaration of Independence. Already 
the Home Government, doubtless in- 
spired by the Penn brothers at London, 
looked upon the colonists as people who 
were too outspoken. Accordingly, in- 
stead of calling into service an army of 
natives, who might become dangerous 
enemies, General Braddock, with his 
regular army, was sent to fight the In- 
dians and French. When this high- 
spirited commander came near to the 
Quakers' country, they were alarmed, 
and sent their ablest man, Benjamin 
Franklin, to eat and chat with him. 
Here the philosopher first met Colonel 
Washington. The result of Franklin's 
mission was highly peaceful. The 
Pennsylvania farmers were to hire out 
wagons, horses, and drivers to Brad- 
dock, receiving seven days' pay in ad- 
vance. The people, however, made 
Franklin sign a bond. Braddock's de- 
feat swallowed up $100,000 worth of 
this kind of impedimenta. Franklin 
was on the bond, and got off. only with 
some loss and a thorough alarm. He 
now became Colonel Franklin, and 
went on west to build three forts. The 
region of Pittsburg had then seen two 
Colonels — George Washington and 



338 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



Benjamin Franklin — on whom tlie in- 
dependence of the United States en- 
tirely depended, although in two en- 
tirely different ways. It is to be said 
to the testy Braddock's credit, that he 
admired both his aides. 

This war made additional expense. 
The two Penns owned a landed cor- 
poration in which there were now 200,- 
000 white inhabitants to whom land had 
been sold in fee simple. The Penns 
appointed the Governor. This Gov- 
ernor received his salary from the As- 
sembly, but he had to give bond to the 
Penns that he would keep their income 
(about $100,000 a year) intact by pre- 
serving the legal status quo. If he did 
not veto obnoxious measures he must 
pay in cash the cost to the Penns. Un- 
der the charter, their waste lands were 
untaxable. It was the habit of the 
Quakers to call themselves poor and 
industrious ; the Penns rich and indo- 
lent. They made such complaint that 
out of $300,000 to be raised for the 
year of the war, the Penns voluntarily 
contributed $30,000. But dissatisfac- 
tion grew. Franklin had cultivated this 
spirit assiduously. At last he was sent, 
with his son as secretary, to London, 
to pray that the king reassume the char- 
tei (as he could do, on payment of 
money) in order that Pennsylvania 
might no longer remain the fief of ab- 
sentee landlords. England, meanwhile, 
was becoming jealous of the colonial 
assemblies, and Parliament had recently 
passed resolutions hostile to the intent 
of Franklin's mission. The Penns 
avi-aited their enemy with no regret. 
He came on to certain defeat. 

Yet, in a word, the rest of Frank- 
lin's long life-work was to lie on that 
side of the water, and because he could 
not carry back news of a king's charter, 
he went elsewhere, and finally returned 
home with a treaty acknowledging the 
first considerable democratic republic 
of modern times. 

Franklih was five years upon his first 
errand. Lord Granville, Prime Min- 
ister, when the Pennsylvanian arrived, 
lectured him well as the representative 
of seditious subjects, who could not 
loyally understand that the king had 



deputed his royal power to the Penns. 
The Penns' lawyer at London was so 
angry already with the astute Phila- 
delphian that it was soon unsafe to 
let him come near the man of peace. 
^^'illiam Pitt was too busy to see the 
unknown agent of disgruntled colon- 
ists, and Franklin, when he landed, 
found that reputation among profes- 
sors of physics did not carry him far 
through the ante-rooms of the nobles 
whom he must conciliate. The Min- 
isters told him his people must not ex- 
port grain or cattle to starving French- 
men on the American Continent, and 
Franklin reiterated that the king, if that 
were to be law, would do well to send 
transports from England to bring back 
his unhappy subjects. The Penns sent 
word to the Philadelphia Assembly to 
displace this Franklin, who was "rude," 
but the provincial Assembly retorted by 
levying the tax on waste lands. The 
Lords at last passed the order that the 
Penns desired, but Franklin, humble as 
he was, managed in some way to get 
it reviewed, whereupon an almost ex- 
actly opposite mandate issued from the 
same quarter. At the end of three 
years he had secured the recognition of 
the principle that the Penns ought to 
pay their proportion of the expense of 
protection against common dangers that 
threatened the settlers. The king, how- 
e\er, would not take up the charter. 

As time went by Franklin got ac- 
quainted with Hume. Burke, Robert- 
son, Kames, and Adam Smith. Honor 
v/as paid to him at Edinburg. The 
L'niversity of St. Andrews and the Uni- 
versity of Oxford made him a Doctor 
of Laws, and he ever bore this title. 
His wife was afraid to cross the ocean, 
and it is possible that this fact alone 
prevented him from making his home 
in the mother country, as many flatter- 
ing invitations were extended to him. 
Writers on the Revolution always stop 
at this point to exalt Mrs. Franklin's 
patriotic horror of the deep. 

It stands to reason that all Dr. 
Franklin's scientific and social successes 
with the Edinburg scholars, and what- 
ever triumphs he had scored against 
the Penns, were one and all duly ex- 



BIOGRAPHY— BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 



ploited in the columns of the Frank- 
lin newspaper at home, while Bradford 
and the Penns, in their turn, faithfully 
called attention to the small value at- 
tached to such glory. They did this 
latter so well that Dr. Franklin did not 
expect the flattering reception which 
awaited him on his return to Phila- 
delphia. He found himself doubly cele- 
brated. He had seen Europe, and yet 
was a colonist. He was the only colon- 
ist who had made an impression on the 
Old Country. His house was full of 
callers from morning to night. The 
Assembly voted him $15,000 for his 
five years' expenses. His son William 
was appointed Governor of New Jersey 
by the English Government. This 
made many enemies for Franklin ; par- 
ticularly, for one, the son himself, who 
became a loyal subject of the king and 
drew a pension long after his duties 
as British Governor had ceased to be 
required. The old families denounced 
the act of their Government as a truck- 
ling to demagogy, and a defiance of 
morality. It did nobody any good ex- 
cept the younger Franklin. 

Dr. Franklin was now fifty-six years 
old, and it was well along in 1762. He 
next traveled 1,600 miles, inspecting 
postoffices, and thereafter became im- 
broiled in a serious local Indian trouble. 
The Penns had sent over as Governor 
a nephew, and, for a while, this 
nephew, named Penn, had gotten along 
under Dr. Franklin's own tutelage. A 
reckless gang of outlaws, known as 
"the Paxton boys," massacred an In- 
dian village, and marched on Phila- 
delphia to demand the surrender of 
certain Indian refugees that had fled 
thither. In ending this afi'air Dr. 
Franklin took the front place, the Goa'- 
ernor staying at Dr. Franklin's house. 
Dr. Franklin went forth among the out- 
laws alone, and argued them into a 
peaceful settlement. But it ended 
somewhat to the discomfiture of the 
peacemaker, and, after Penn had be- 
come alienated, the anti-Franklin polit- 
ical forces agreed that the time had 
come to oust him from the Assembly. 
-Accordingly an exciting political cam- 
paign was waged, and an election was 



held, in which the lame, the halt, the 
sick, were brought to the polls and Dr. 
Franklin was beaten by a few votes. 
Scarcely were the rejoicings of the 
■'loyalists" over when the old question 
reasserted itself — that his majesty 
ought to rule his colony through his 
Assembly, and Dr. Franklin was again 
mentioned as the only fit person to be 
Agent to go to London. Dickinson 
made a fervent speech against "this 
man, most obnoxious to his country," 
but it turned out that Dr. Franklin's 
enemies had gotten the best of him only 
by concentrating in his district, and he, 
popular at large, was easily elected 
Agent. He started for England in 
twelve days. A troop of 300 mounted 
citizens rode sixteen miles down the 
river with him, and when news of his 
safe arrival in England reached Phila- 
delphia the colonists kept the bells 
ringing till midnight. He settled in 
London in December, 1764. 

The Seven Years' War to retrieve 
Silesia from Frederick the Great was 
over. England had paid vast sums of 
money on each side of the question, and 
must recoup with new taxes. What 
was there new to tax? The colonies 
in America. George Grenville, in the 
Treasury Department, had the same 
views as Lord Granville. Accordingly, 
the Stamp bill was steadily grinding 
its way into law at the Parliament 
buildings. Dr. Franklin was not slow 
to file expressions of repugnance, which 
were as rapidly filed in the waste-paper 
departments of his majesty's govern- 
ment. He looked ruefully on the power 
of the mother country, and her ob- 
vious ill-will toward her American 
children. When Americans called 
on him he said significantly : "Go home 
and tell your countrymen to get chil- 
dren as fast as they can." But he did 
not believe men in America would be 
so "foolhardy" as to defy England. At 
this time, he lacked a knowledge of 
European politics and French influence. 
The Stamp law, which passed in 
1765, was merely a new Tariff act, 
worse than the old one. The old law 
compelled the colonies to restrict their 
exports entirely to England. No for- 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFEREXCE 



eign ship could enter a colonial har- 
bor. No ship, boat or carriage could 
cross a colonial boundary line with 
wool on board. A British sai.lor, in 
colonial ports, could only buy to the 
extent of $5 in woolens. No Bible 
could be printed in America. The mak- 
ing of hats was seriously discouraged 
by legal restrictions. Iron forges were 
prohibited as "nuisances". The slave 
tr?de was encouraged. To these inhibi- 
tions against the manufacture and sale 
of goods, the Home Government now 
added the Stamp Tax, to make pur- 
chases equally troublesome. A duty 
was to be collected on nearly every- 
thing that was bought abroad. If there 
should be infractions or disobedience, a 
court of vice-admiralty, without a jury 
and with a single judge was to deal 
forth severe penalties, both fine and 
imprisonment. While the sparse popu- 
lation, the town meetings, and the fre- 
quent petty elections in America had 
cultivated a disputatious spirit, it must 
be admitted that they now had plenty 
to complain of. The excitement at Bos- 
ton, under the agitation of James Otis 
and Samuel Adams, was intense. Yet 
Dr. Franklin had not the shadow of 
a suspicion that the Stamp Act was the 
last straw on the camel's back. When 
Grenville asked him to nominate a good 
man for Revenue Agent at Philadel- 
phia, he unhesitatingly named Htighes, 
and Hughes was appointed. This, the 
Ministry took care to state, was on the 
motion of Dr. Franklin. 

The Stamp Act exploded in America 
like a bomb. A mob started for the 
new house in which Dr. Franklin had 
left his wife in Philadelphia. Brad- 
ford's newspaper had a picture of the 
devil whispering in Dr. Franklin's ear : 
"Ben, you shall be my agent through- 
out my dominions." It is clear that 
Dr. Franklin's absence from America 
had in this case bereft him of all 
prophetic instincts. Yet his constant 
good fortune saved him from ruin. 
He was as yet on the safe side. His 
recall would have been an act of re- 
bellion, and he himself might have 
been appointed Governor or Judge. 
The great boycott of luiglish goods 



which the colonies one and all set up 
was the most convincing of arguments 
to Englishmen, and soon their own 
quarrels led the English politicians to 
take sides on "the American troubles," 
with Pitt laying down as common law 
that the settlers could not be taxed 
without their consent. In the Parlia- 
mentary hearings for repeal of the 
Stamp Act, Dr. Franklin appeared, 
and, as soon as his testimony could be 
published in America, his position was 
seen to be safe and patriotic. He even 
tickled the ears of the poorest patriots 
at home by saying: "I have some little 
property in America, but I will freely 
spend nineteen shillings in the pound 
to defend my right of giving or refus- 
ing the other shilling. And, after all, 
if I cannot defend that right, I can re- 
tire cheerfully with my family into the 
boundless woods of America, which 
are sure to afiford freedom and subsis- 
tance to any man who can bait a hook 
or pull a trigger." Dr. Franklin was 
by this time a wonderful diner-out, an 
American lion, a boon companion at 
the coffee-houses. America, instead of 
Frederick, was the fashion, and the 
Doctor knew the fashionable subject of 
America better than any other colonist. 
It was known that Dr. Franklin was no 
agitator of the kind that had arisen out 
of the dragons'-teeth sown by the 
Stamp Act. His firm statement that 
the colonies had begun a boycott which 
they could keep up, and that England's 
course, if continued, would cut oft' its 
own market, acted with force on 
British merchants, now thoroughly 
alarmed, and they surrounded the 
Parliament House when, on February 
21, 1766. the Stamp act was repealed, 
showing their influence. The King un- 
willingly signed the repeal a little later. 
News of the repeal was received in 
Philadelphia with rejoicings. Each 
colony indulged in the fancy that its 
own refractory course had alarmed the 
King, and a barge or float forty feet 
long named Franklin paraded the 
streets of Philadelphia, firing salutes 
and driving away all recollections of 
the great man's sad connection with 
Hughes, the satrap of the oligarchy. 



BIOGRAPHY— BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 



In the early stages of the Revokition, 
the Assemblies of the colonies were 
jealous only of Parliament. They de- 
sired "to govern with the King.'' We 
are now reaching the point where 
George III was to be regarded as a 
tyrant. Dr. Franklin was still Depvity 
Postmaster-General of the Colonies, 
his son was Governor of New Jersey 
(King's man), his tastes were becom- 
ing metropolitan. He was beset by 
small enviers like Arthur Lee, who 
craved his office as Agent, and yet he 
was held in an esteem so high that 
each side of almost any controversy 
desired to reckon him in its party. No- 
body but the King could really see that 
Dr. Franklin was the worst rebel of 
them all — not even Samuel Adams, 
who looked on Dr. Franklin with pa- 
triotic suspicion. Samuel Adams was 
so far above selfish common sense — he 
was so firm a believer in altruism — 
that he could not understand the 
natures of patient, tactical, provident 
men like Dr. Franklin and General 
Washington. And it took all kinds of 
patriots to found the United States of 
America. 

From 1/66 until 1773 was a period 
in which Dr. Franklin was strengthen- 
ing his personal power. Few students 
of social forces have lived who could 
so soon lay hold upon the sources of 
power in society ; and had England pos- 
sessed a king like Frederick of Prussia, 
Dr. Franklin would have been the royal 
favorite. His son in New Jersey read- 
ily secured the New Jersey agency at 
London for the father, and (Georgia also 
sent credentials to Dr. Franklin. When 
Massachusetts Bay came to think of 
putting the Assembly's interests in 
charge of Dr. Franklin there was bitter 
opposition by Samuel Adams. Thus 
when the Massachusetts agency was 
added to the dignities of Dr. Frank- 
lin, it came with the blighting fact that 
the very greatest of the American se- 
ditionaries opposed such a commission. 
Still it was Dr. Franklin's good for- 
tune that the opposition of Samuel 
Adams gave the pleasant elderly 
Quaker so much the better standing at 
London. He had need of a Torvish 



reputation, for the Ministers now in 
power and coming into power were vin- 
dictive foes of America, and highly dis- 
trustful of even the most placid of pa- 
triots. Tovvnshend, the original sug- 
gester of taxes, was next in office, with 
George HI highly satisfied to hear him 
speak. When Townshend delivered his 
address on the new taxes about to be 
levied. Colonial Agents and merchants 
were alike barred from the House of 
Commons. The duties proposed were 
highly objectionable, and, besides, the 
salaries of the colonial governors were 
assumed by the home government, so 
that there should no longer be any rea- 
son for fearless action by England's 
agents. The second tax bill passed in 
June, 1767. In September Tovvnshend 
died. The boycott again began in 
America, and the "Sam Adams regi- 
ments" went to Boston to make the 
Governor feel more secure in the col- 
lection of taxes. The Boston shooting 
happened March 5, 1770, and the South 
Carolina rebellion in May, 1771- There 
followed after Townshend. in the Col- 
onial office at London, a pestiferous 
Lord Hillsborough, and it is one of 
those delightful episodes abounding in 
Dr. Franklin's life of general good-will, 
that this high and mighty noble at last 
met a simple and unostentatious enemy 
who could destroy him. Hillsborough 
assumed the right to name the Colonial 
Agents, and he did not want Dr. Frank- 
lin among them. On Dr. Franklin's 
first visit to His Lordship, to hand in 
his credentials as Agent for Massachu- 
setts Bay, the visitor was informed that 
Assemblies could not alone appoint 
Agents ; that Dr. Franklin was not 
Agent ; Governor Hutchinson had ve- 
toed the bill appointing him. This 
news was conveyed in a mean and con- 
temptible way, the Minister accompany- 
ing his statements with many expres- 
sions of scorn, notwithstanding the civil 
remonstrances of Dr. Franklin, who 
was wholly taken by surprise. At last, 
the American gathered his papers and 
made his exit, saying, with deliberation, 
"It is, I believe, of no great impor- 
tance whether the appointment is ac- 
knowledged or not. for I have not the 



342 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



least conception that an Agent can, at 
present, be of any use to any of the 
Colonies." The Minister who had in- 
vited his bad feeling was nevertheless 
quick to complain in London that the 
American Agent had been "extremely 
rude and abusive." "I find he did not 
mistake me," said Dr. Franklin. 

Now the clever Dr. Franklin began 
uridermining the ill-won fame of Hills- 
borough. This captious Minister was 
a shining mark for criticism. With the 
many influences that Dr. Franklin 
could command, it soon became the 
opinion of all who had property-stakes 
in the colonies that Hillsborough was 
an unsafe man. Later, on the interior 
barrier question, Dr. Franklin opposed 
Hillsborough before the Privy Council, 
and they, to anger Hillsborough, 
adopted Dr. Franklin's scheme, when 
his Lordship resigned in anger, and was 
let go. Dr. Franklin went to call on 
the noble earl, and finally was asked 
to cease paying those tributes of af- 
fection. "I have never since," he said, 
"been nigh him, and we have only 
abused one another at a distance." To 
complete Dr. Franklin's victory, he 
was asked what English statesman 
would be most acceptable to America, 
and chose Lord Dartmouth as Hills- 
borough's successor, who was ap- 
pointed. Dr. Franklin was at once 
recognized as Agent for Massachusetts 
Bay, and he and Lord Dartmouth set 
out hopefully to stem the advancing 
tide of the Revolution. He was now 
well on his way to undo Hutchinson, 
for Dartmouth thought the Massachu- 
setts Governor was "perniciously 
loyal." The effect, too, of Grenville and 
Townshend's taxing acts had been 
ridiculously inadequate. The collectors 
had spent $60,000 and extorted $7,500. 
The East India Company had lost $10,- 
000.000 by the boycott of its goods. 

Dr. Franklin was complaining, one 
day, of the expense and folly of send- 
ing the "Sam Adams regiments" to 
Boston, when "a friend at court" re- 
marked that the Ministers had only fol- 
lowed the advice of the Americans 
themselves, and he at once produced to 
Dr. Franklin the original letters of 



Hutchinson, Oliver and other natives 
of Massachusetts Bay, asking for the 
troops. The addresses had been cut 
from the letters, but they were other- 
wise unmutilated — the signatures were 
intact. Dr. Franklin, thus armed with 
a weapon showing the un-American 
spirit of Hutchinson, at once trans- 
mitted the letters to Boston, covering 
his operations with the thin veil usually 
afforded by pledges of inviolable se- 
crecy. The Assembly at Boston, eager 
to make wider use of the documents, 
invented the fable that authenticated 
copies of the same documents had also 
arrived from England, and publication 
was at once made of the "authenticated 
copies." The effect in the northern 
colonies was such as to render the 
writers furious, as the letters had been 
secretly written to W'illiam Whatley, 
who was now dead. They did not 
know on whom to let their wrath des- 
cend, for Dr. Franklin's hand had not 
yet appeared. The betrayal seemed to 
lie between Temple and Thomas What- 
ley, the dead man's brother and execu- 
tor, and these two men, on being ac- 
cused by each other, fought a bloody 
duel in London. Dr. Franklin did not 
hear of this duel till it happened, and 
as another hostile meeting was ap- 
pointed, he was forced to publish the 
fact that neither man was guilty, but he 
(Dr. Franklin) as Agent, had trans- 
mitted the letters as a matter of busi- 
ness, as soon as he came across them. 
Who really gave the letters to Dr. 
Franklin has never transpired. Trouble 
and plenty of it was now brewing for 
the Agent. 

The Massachusetts Bay House of 
Representatives forwarded a petition to 
the king, stating in effect that they had 
seen the letters of Hutchinson and 
Oliver, Governor and Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor, and humbly prayed that the 
twain be removed from their posts. 
This petition laid on the table of the 
Ministry until the appearance of Dr. 
Franklin's public explanation, made to 
prevent the second duel, when, unex- 
pectedly, on a Saturday, the Agent re- 
ceived notice that the Lords of the 
Committee for Plantation Aft'airs would 



BIOGRAPHY— BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 



hear him at the Cockpit on Tuesday 
noon. Late Monday lie was warned 
that jNIauduit, Agent for Hutchinson 
and Ohver, would be represented by 
legal counsel at the hearing. He then 
sought Bollan, Agent for the Council 
oi Massachusetts Bay, who advised 
that it was useless to employ barristers 
in colony cases, for the eminent ones 
did not desire to offend the Court. But, 
although Bollan had been summoned, 
when he rose to speak he was told by 
the Lords that the Council was not a 
party to the hearing. Dr. Franklin 
spoke, renewing the prayer of his 
clients, and asking for more time. 
Hearing was postponed till January 
29, 1774, but the Lord Chief Justice 
declared that inquiry would be made 
to learn how the Assembly obtained 
the letters. 

Whatley now sued Dr. Franklin at 
law, the newspapers unceasingly de- 
nounced the American savant as a med- 
dlesome person in incendiary desigtis, 
the Court was said to be in a rage, and 
there were rumors of arrest and seiz- 
ure of papers. Dr. Franklin had sent 
a kite into the storm-clouds this time 
that was bringing down plenty of 
lightning. He was in deep distress, 
ar.d, listening to Mr. Bollan's revised 
advice, employed two eminent legal 
advocates, and instructed them without 
ceasing. 

Dr. Franklin, now 68 years old, had 
attained that venerable and peaceful ap- 
pearance with which an equally com- 
placent world, from China to Peru, in 
spirit, now views him. He came be- 
fore a notable assemblage of bitter and 
malevolent enemies, in a full dress of 
spotted Manchester velvet, in which he 
was doomed to pass the most cruel 
moments of his existence ; therefore, 
he preserved the suit for correspond- 
ing heights of joy in later years. There 
were thirty-five Privy Councillors pres- 
ent, all anti-American and anti-Frank- 
linian in sentiment, and doubtless the 
friends and companions of Lord Hills- 
borough were not lax in their service 
to him on this occasion. Dr. Frank- 
lin stood immovable before the fire- 
place, showing a degree of control over 



his features that astonished all who 
were not wholly blinded by rage. His 
own advocates were ineffective. Wed- 
derburn, Solicitor-General, was the ad- 
vocate of Hutchinson and Oliver. This 
Wedderburn was a master of low in- 
vective. To the satisfaction of the 
Court and all the American-haters, he 
poured forth his billingsgate without 
a restraining frown from the Chief 
Jiastice. "Nothing," said this he-fish- 
wife, "will acquit Dr. Franklin of the 
charge of obtaining the letters by 
fraudulent or corrupt means, for the 
most malignant of purposes, unless he 
stole them from the person who stole 
them." "I hope, my Lords, you will 
mark and brand the man, for the 
honor of this country, of Europe and of 
mankind." "Into what companies will 
he hereafter go with an unembarrassed 
face, or the honest intrepidity of virtue ! 
j\Ien will watch him with a jealous eye; 
they will hide their papers from him, 
and lock up their escritoires. He will 
henceforth esteem it a libel to be called 
a man of letters." "He not only took 
away the letters from one brother, but 
kept himself concealed till he nearly oc- 
casioned the murder of the other. It 
is impossible to read his account, ex- 
pressive of the coolest and most de- 
liberate malice, without horror. Amidst 
these tragical events — of one person 
nearly murdered, of another answer- 
able for the issue, of a worthy Gov- 
ernor, hurt in his dearest interests, the 
fate of America in suspense — here is 
a man who, with the utmost insensi- 
bility of remorse, stands up and avows 
himself the author of all." "The 
bloody African is not surpassed by the 
coolness and apathy of the wily Amer- 
ican." 

Dr. Priestly, who was present, be- 
lieved that the Court had no other ob- 
ject in the hearing than to insult the 
calm old man with benignant face who 
stood stoically before the fireplace. The 
speeches were soon finished. Dr. Frank- 
lin was fruitlessly asked to reveal the 
person who gave him the letters, and 
the sitting closed. Report was made 
the same day, denying the petition of 
the Llouse of Massachusetts Bay, and 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



also stating, by v^y of insult to Dr. 
iM-anklin that the conclusion of the 
Lords was that "The charge of sur- 
reptitiously obtaining the letters was a 
true one." On the following Monday 
morning he was notified that he was 
no longer Deputy Postmaster General 
in North America. His good name, a 
thing precious to him, momentarily 
seemed gone. The Lord Dartmouth, 
whom he had advanced, had turned a 
cruel enemy. IMassachusetts rebuked 
him (who had sent the letters) with 
being lax, Arthur Lee, who was to suc- 
ceed him, was full of venom, and Lon- 
don was agog with disturbing inquiries 
whether or not Dr. Franklin were to 
go to the Tower under arrest for trea- 
son. Governor Hutchinson avowed 
that it would be wise to prevent the 
return to America of Dr. Franklin, who 
was now publicly named as "The great 
fomenter of the opposition in America." 

When Dr. Franklin put away the 
spotted velvet suit, it is likely he pre- 
pared his papers for seizure. His true 
friends considered his further stay in 
England as prejudicial to his personal 
safety, but he, probably feeling that 
he was better represented by himself 
than he could be by anybody else in 
his absence, merely ofifered to resign. 

In February, 1775, in the House of 
Lords, Lord Sandwich was speaking 
against a measure of conciliation witli 
America under discussion. He looked 
full at Dr. Franklin, who was stand- 
ing well in view. The bill. Sandwich 
said, deserved only contempt. No peer 
did it. "It appears to me to be rather 
the work of some American. I fancy 
I have in my eye the person who drew 
it up, one of the bitterest and most 
mischievous enemies this country has 
c\er known." Lord Chatham instantly 
replied that the plan was entirely his 
own, but he would have been glad to 
have the aid of the great American, 
"one whom all Europe ranks with our 
Boyles and Newtons, as an honor not 
to the English nation only, but to hu- 
man nature." 

This praise, while it was welcome to 
Dr. Franklin at this time, was not pal- 
atable to Arnericans, and he seems to 



lia\e felt the fact, for, on hearing his 
people abused as cowards, sneaks, 
cheats, and heretics, in the prevailing 
English fashion of Parliament, he 
drew up an indignant letter, which 
Walpole, a friend, was able to induce 
him to suppress. Walpole did not con- 
ceal his opinion that Dr. Franklin ought 
to leave England forthwith. The Min- 
istry made an abortive attempt to bribe 
him, which rendered his position still 
more perilous, and he placed the 
Agency in the hands of Arthur Lee, 
who had long waited for it with impa- 
tience. Dr. Priestly spent a sad after- 
noon with his departing friend, who 
had, above most men, the quality of 
evoking the love of his fellows, ana 
saw him off somewhat hurriedly. Dr. 
Franklin arrived in Philadelphia, sixty- 
nine years old. May 5, 1775. His wife 
was dead. His daughter was married 
to a stranger. Just at the hour when 
he might, in the course of nature, ex- 
pect to rest in peace for the remainder 
of his life, Lexington and Concord 
were fired upon. He no longer com- 
plained. He sat down and wrote to 
Strahan, Member of Parliament at 
London, who had voted for military 
suppression : 

"You have begun to burn our towns 
and murder our people. Look upon 
your hands ; they are stained with the 
blood of your relations! You and I 
were long friends ; you are now my 
enemy, and I am 

"Yours, B. FRAXKLIX." 

He loved a pun. When he became 
Postmaster-General ($5,000 a year), 
dn-ectly afterward, he changed the 
franking formula on his letters, "Free: 
B. Franklin," into "B. Free, Franklin." 

Five days after his return, the Sec- 
ond Continental Congress met, and Dr. 
Franklin had already been elected to it. 
Bunker Hill was fought, and General 
\\'ashington, of \'irginia, was sent to 
Cambridge to take command of the pa- 
triot army outside of Boston. 

Dr. Franklin now established the pa- 
triot postal service, invented an ob- 
struction for the river, and drew up a 
scheme for union of the colonies. Wed- 



BIOGRAPHY— BEX TAMIN FRAXKLIN 



derburn had cured him of his loyahy 
to King George, and when the phil- 
osopher was elected to the Pennsyl- 
vania Assembly, he refused to take the 
oath of fealty, and stayed out of his 
seat. He was already chairman of the 
Local Committee of Safety. With all 
his sorrows at London, and his widow- 
erhood, his witty sayings, says Parton, 
were "the circulating medium of Con- 
gress." 

In September, 1775, Dr. Franklin 
was sent at the head of a committee of 
three to confer with General W'ash- 
ington at Cambridge. General Greene 
writes how he "looked on that very 
great man with silent admiration." 
The illustrious Abigail, wife of John 
Adams, had been taught from infancy 
to venerate Dr. Franklin, and she now 
read in his countenance "patriotism in 
its full luster, blended with every virtue 
of a Christian." 

Early in 1776 the aged Doctor wa^ 
sent to Montreal on a needless errand, 
trying to his health. Returning, he pre- 
sided over the body to make a Consti- 
tution for the independent State of 
Pennsylvania. The Quakers were too 
slow, and Dr. Franklin felt that he 
might have to move to Boston and set 
up the insurrection hand in hand with 
Samuel Adams and General Washing- 
ton. These three men must now perish 
if the new nation were not established. 
The tide of opinion turned, and Dr. 
tranklin was one of the Committee of 
Five to draw The Declaration of In- 
dependence. As Harrison, of \'irginia, 
signed it, he said: "We must all hang 
together." "Yes," said Dr. Franklin, 
as he signed, "or we shall all hang 
separately." So he now had company. 

When General ^^'ashington had been 
driven out of Long Island, Howe, the 
British Admiral, Dr. Franklin's erst- 
while friend, sought to treat, and Dr. 
Franklin, John Adams and Rutledge 
went to see him. .At lunch he declared 
if America should fall he would feel 
it like the loss of a brother. "My 
Lord," said Dr. Franklin, "we will use 
our utmost endeavors to sa\e your 
Lordship that mortification." 



lie wrote to Dr. Price: "Britain, at 
the expense of $15,000,000, has killed 
150 Yankees this campaign, which is 
$100,000 a head; and at Bunker Hill 
she gained a mile of ground, half of 
which she lost again by our taking post 
at Ploughed Hill. During the same 
time 60,000 children have been born in 
America. From these data a mathe- 
matical head will easily calculate the 
time and expense necessary to kill us 
all and conquer our whole territory." 

At the age of seventy Dr. Franklin 
was called upon to go to France. He 
turned his fortune into patriot bonds, 
and arrived at Xantes, France, as the 
chief .'Kmerican Ambassador to Europe. 
It is believed that history does not re- 
cord of any other man an act so daring 
and unselfish at an age so near the na- 
tural term of life. In France, the as- 
tonishing Beaumarchais, fomentor of 
two Revolutions, author of "The Bar- 
ber of Seville," was doing all he could 
to aid .'\merica. The troupe of Amer- 
ican Ambassadors sent to Europe was 
like Falstaft'"s soldiers. The most they 
could do generally was to solicit money 
of Dr. Franklin and send home dis- 
couraging reports of business and criti- 
ci.sms of their great colleague. The 
English were awakened to the danger 
of having "the old arch-rebel" at Paris. 
France was warned to refuse him shel- 
ter, and Lord Stormont, English Am- 
bassador at \'ersailles, threatened to go 
at once. But the American Rebellion 
was highly popular in Paris, and Dr. 
Franklin, with fame already great, was 
received in person with increasing de- 
light. His white flowing hair, without 
wig, his brown Quaker raiment over 
spotless white linen, his "idyllic sim- 
plicity," the re-incarnation of the sages 
of Athens — all this kind of comment 
became aliuost universal, because the 
ambassador made a most artistic figure, 
and because "perfidious Albion" was in 
tiouble. IMirabeau repeated Turgot's 
epigram that Dr. Franklin had wrested 
the lightnings from heaven and scep- 
ters from tyrants. This is the most 
spectacular point in the great man's 
long career. In the tunndt of popu- 



346 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFEREXCE 



larity he calmly gathered such stores 
of power as lasted him until Yorktown 
came. 

Officers, "brave as their swords," 
now fell upon Franklin like a swarm of 
locusts, and he penned the following 
model letter of recommendation, which 
the confiding Frenchmen hugged to 
their breasts. 

"Sir: The bearer of this, who is 
going to America, presses me to give 
him a letter of recommendation, though 
I know nothing of him, not even his 
name. This may seem extraordinary, 
but I assure you it is not uncommon 
here. Sometimes, indeed, one unknown 
person brings another equally unknown 
to recommend him, and sometimes they 
recommend one another. As to this 
gentleman, I must refer you to himself 
for his character and merits, with which 
he is certainly better acquainted than 
I can possibly be. I recommend him, 
however, to those civilities which every 
stranger, of whom one knows no harm, 
has a right to, and I request you will 
do him all the good offices and show 
him all the favor, that on further ac- 
quaintance, you shall find him to de- 
serve. I have the honor to be, etc., 
"B. Fr.-'iNklin." 

Marie Antoinette and the king never 
sympathized with Franklin in politics. 
The king and the Count of Provence, 
his brother, were both of a highly phil- 
osophical mind, but his majesty readily 
understood the meaning of Dr. Frank- 
lin when he said the American cause 
was "The cause of all mankind." Had 
Marie Antoinette come high into favor 
a little earlier, it is not probable that 
Dr. Franklin would have secured an 
alliance. 

Our amiable doctor now set up as 
Lord Chief Justice of the High Court 
of Privateering on the High Seas. It 
will be remembered that John Paul 
Jones' ship, "Bon Homme Richard," 
was named after Poor Richard. 

Dr. Franklin took up his abode at 
the then suburb of Passy, not far from 
Versailles. His communications with 
the Court were at first made through 
Le Ray de Chaumont, with whom he 



lived, who was an ardent foe of Eng- 
land and friend of America. All the 
work of his office was performed by 
himself and two grandsons who had 
come with him. What with his priva- 
teers, his remonstrances when these 
cruisers were stopped in French ports, 
his pleas for money, his learned essays, 
his encouragement of the advance of 
liberty in France, and his comptroller- 
ship, it seems incredible that he should 
have got through without outside cleri- 
cal aid. 

The year 1777 grew darker and 
darker. Howe had not only chased 
General Washington out of Long Island 
and New York, but he had taken Phila- 
delphia. "No, sir," said Franklin, 
"Philadelphia has taken Howe." At 
last, in the nick of time, "General Bur- 
goyne surrendered to ]\Ir. Gates," at 
Saratoga, and Beaumarchais broke his 
arm hurrying to spread the good news 
at Paris. Dr. Franklin accomplished 
the wonderful feat of dispatching the 
messenger Austin, whom Congress had 
sent to him with the Saratoga news, 
into the heart of the Opposition No- 
bility at London, and was soon in pos- 
session of the opinion of all classes of 
people in England. There the friends 
of Dr. Franklin begged him, for Eng- 
land's sake, to make no treaty with 
France ; meanwhile England was hir- 
ing Hessians. Dr. Franklin operated 
with this lever on Vergennes, and that 
Prime Minister met him in the forest 
near Versailles and as good as made 
the French treaty with America secure. 
The two envoys gave Dr. Franklin 
much trotible and little aid, but finally 
the French treaty was ready to be 
signed. Dr. Franklin went to Passy, 
took out the spotted velvet suit which 
he had worn when Wedderburn abused 
him, and, thus attired, put his signature 
to the second great document in the his- 
tory of the freedom of America. 

Lord Stormont, English Ambassador, 
now left Paris, the Marquis of Noailles, 
French Ambassador, left London, and 
Gerard, who had drawn the treaty with 
the Americans, left Paris for Philadel- 
phia as the first Minister accredited to 
the new nation. What was better, 



BIOGRAPHY— BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 



347 



though less portentous, was the sail- 
ing of D'Estaing's French fleet from 
Toulon to -America. Deane went back 
with Gerard. Lee's private secretary 
was thought to be an English spy, and 
when the French had matters of high 
importance they trusted only Dr. 
Franklin. This confidence in Dr. 
Franklin increased as the years went 

\ oltaire made his triumphal entry to 
Paris in April, 1778. At the Academy 
I of Sciences, before a distinguished au- 
dience, Franklin and \'oltaire, "Solon 
and Sophocles," embraced each other, 
whereupon the audience did likewise 
one with another. 

Gerard at Philadelphia defeated the 
Lee-Izard cabal against Dr. Franklin, 
and John Adams came to Paris as spe- 
cial envoy. He found financial afl^airs 
and accounts in confusicwi, but soon 
agreed that they could not be disen- 
tangled. The fault-finders were the 
ones who had spent the most money 
for their personal uses. Adams got 
in a quarrel with \'ergennes and passed 
on to Holland. Dr. Franklin had been 
the Navy Department, Prize Court, Se- 
cret Service, Consul-General, Financial 
Agent and Foreign Department of 
America, with two clerks in all, and 
Congress, on its side, had been lax in 
attending to such business as Dr. 
Franklin had been able to keep straight. 
As Dr. Franklin was the only solvent 
Paymaster of the United States, all 
foreign-American quarrels finally came 
up to him for review, making hiin new 
enemies. "It is hard," he wrote, "that 
I, who give others no trouble with my 
quarrels, should be plagued with all the 
perversities of those who think fit to 
wrangle with one another." 

The prudent Dr. Franklin never let 
go of a dollar that was foolishly paid 
Vv^ithout writing a long letter of regret, 
announcing his early ruin, but Con- 
gress found it hard to bankrupt him. 
and soon became thoroughly hardened 
to his cries. When he first went to 
France, shiploads of indigo and tobacco 
were to be sent to him, which would 
provide him with funds. The English 
captured some of the ships ; the rest 



were claimed by Beaumarchais, pos- 
sibly with justice. Vergennes in the 
end was the sole source of Dr. F"rank- 
lin's funds. Congress was to borrow 
$5,000,000 and Dr. Franklin, through 
\'ergennes, guaranteed the interest. 
Congress at once drew on this money 
for all purposes, and General Wash- 
ington did not obtain enough of it. 
France lent America $600,000 when 
General Burgoyne surrendered, and 
Spain would have lent as much more if 
Arthur Lee had not boasted of the loan 
a little too soon. As 1779 passed, and 
Turgot at Paris became influential, the 
prodigal policy of Vergennes was 
brought under criticism, and while Dr. 
Franklin was meekly begging for more 
money he was told that France itself 
was $4,000,000 short. He wrote to 
John Paul Jones, who must scrape his 
bottoms : "For God's sake, be spar- 
ing." He wrote to Congress, asking 
that body to order agents in Europe 
not to draw on him. But whenever 
they heard he had money, the Con- 
gressmen themselves made haste to 
send him a bill to pay. Jay wrote from 
Sixain — he had gone thither to raise a 
great loan : "We should indeed have 
been greatly distressed, had it not been 
for your kind offices," The good but 
sufl:'ering doctor admonished the pa- 
triots as a whole in the style of Poor 
Richard. Said he: "A small increase 
of industry in every American, male 
and female, with a small diminution of 
luxury, would produce a sum far su- 
perior to all we can hope to beg or bor- 
row from all our friends in Europe." 
He had lent his own fortune; he was 
giving his time; now he offered the 
people his counsel. In return, they 
drew new bills. Public wealth actually 
increased during the years General 
\\'ashington was in his cheerless camps 
and Dr. Franklin was soliciting with 
all his earnestness — so true is it in so- 
ciety that some must suffer for the rest, 
or all will sink together. Patriot Laur- 
ens, sent as Minister to the Hague, 
landed at the Tower of London. Con- 
gress drew bills even on him, and the 
sympathetic Dr. Franklin accepted 
them, for all bills would finally come 



348 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



to Passy. It is a marvel how the fame 
of a paymaster who pays will spread 
among collectors. He must have signed 
the acceptance of i,ooo bills in January, 
1781, and 990 of them were for ex- 
penses that did General Washington 
little good, in Dr. Franklin's opinion. 
At last, after almost unfriendly pres- 
sure on \'ergennes, P'rance lent about 
$2,000,000 it could not spare, on condi- 
tion that General Washington should 
draw the bills. Congress was insulted. 
Dr. Franklin disbursed the money, and 
it was gone before General Washing- 
ton knew anything about it. Then Dr. 
Franklin persuaded the Minister 
Necker to guarantee a loan of about 
$180,000 in Holland. In the Ameri- 
can haste to get this money. Dr. Frank- 
lin was left with legitimate bills un- 
paid. "I see nobody cares how much I 
am distressed, provided they can carry 
their own points," he wrote in des- 
pair. The Holland money had not been 
spent for French goods, and Dr. Frank- 
lin felt bitterly ashamed. The goods 
themselves got into a lawsuit, and even 
John Adams, in Holland, had to draw 
on Dr. Franklin, who, vowing he could 
ne'er disburse, disbursed. In 1781 
Congress benignantly declared it would 
draw on no other l\Iinisters without 
funds, but would draw on Dr. Franklin 
funds or no funds. When the mir- 
aculous doctor agreed with Vergennes 
to accept no drafts drawn later than 
IMarch, 1781, he patriotically winked at 
the invention of Congress whereby 
IMarch, 1781, to judge by the bills, was 
very slow coming, while the bills came 
all the faster. An American agent im- 
plored Dr. Franklin to help him to 
some $8,200 at once, as it was plain 
the paymaster would soon be worse off. 
In March he got $4,000.000 : the next 
year he got $4,000,000 in a lump sum. 
It is usually said that nearly $6,000,000 
of the French loans and gifts to Dr. 
Fi'anklin were the results, pure and 
simple, of his personal influence. No 
other Minister — John Adams worst of 
all — could make friends with the 
French Ministers. All Europe came to 
look upon Dr. Franklin as the respon- 
sible head of American things in 



Europe — the man who really sympa- 
thized with General Washington — the 
person to be addressed when bills were 
to be collected or peace to be sug- 
gested. 

Lord North, English Prime Minister, 
received the news of Yorktown No- 
vember 25, 1781, "as he would have 
taken a ball in his breast." He sent 
his man Digges to Dr. Franklin in Paris 
and Adams in Holland, to see if he 
could not split France and America. 
"The greatest villain I ever met with," 
writes Dr. Franklin of Digges. March 
22. 1782, Dr. Franklin, foreseeing that 
his old friend Lord Shelburne must 
come into office, threw out a friendly 
letter, hoping for a general peace, so as 
to release France also from the war. 
Shelburne sent Oswald to Paris, who 
talked matters over with both Dr. 
Franklin and Vergennes. Various 
other conferences, in other quarters, 
were going forward, so there was a 
good chance for misunderstandings. 
Dr. Franklin trusted \^ergennes, who 
had saved America, and \'ergennes was 
now trying to retrieve Canada and pro- 
tect Spain. Jay and Adams naturally 
were glad to oppose the interests of 
France, especially as they found Yer- 
gennes playing false to Dr. Franklin. 
Thus matters dragged till Shelburne 
became full Prime Minister, with Fox 
out. Vergennes had sufficient influence 
with Congress to order the Paris Com- 
missioners to favor France. Adams 
and Jay, in session, outvoted the doctor, 
and he, true to the majority, agreed to 
their plan, and the three outwitted Ver- 
gennes at his own game, though it ap- 
pears somewhat a lamentable triumph 
over the nation that ruined itself for 
our making. 

When Vergennes learned of the pro- 
tocol, he wrote to Dr. Franklin : "You 
are wise and discreet, sir ; you per- 
fectly understand what is due to pro- 
priety ; you have all your life per- 
formed your duties ; I pray you con- 
sider how you propose to fulfill those 
which are due the king of France." It 
was only a few weeks since Vergennes 
had given Dr. Franklin money, and let 
some of his own bills go to protest. 



BIOGRAPHY—REN lAMIN FRANKLIN 



The doctor heard the Adams faction in 
America denouncing him for his Can- 
adian views, and he listened to the 
just charges of duplicity leveled against 
him at \'ersailles. It is not known that 
he was actually aware of the simul- 
taneous duplicity of \'ergennes, but it 
seems likely he would be told of it by 
Jay. He accordingly began some of 
the most conciliatory letter-writing of 
his life, and at last even Vergennes de- 
clared: "I accuse no person, not even 
Dr. Franklin. He has yielded too easily 
to the bias of his colleagues." 

When the day came at Versailles to 
sign the preliminary treaty with Great 
Britain recognizing the independence 
of the United States, Dr. Franklin ap- 
peared in his suit of spotted velvet, al- 
though the court was in mourning. 
There was a delay, the Doctor went 
home, and, on a later date, arrived and 
signed the paper clad once more in the 
celebrated habit. He never boasted or 
admitted his revenge, but it is believed 
by his biographers that he thus assu- 
aged the hurts that Wedderburn had 
inflicted on his pride at London. 

Dr. Franklin had long asked to come 
home. "The blessing promised to the 
]ieacemakers," he said, "relates, I 
fancy, to the next world, for in this 
they seem to have a greater chance of 
beeing cursed." But Congress, when it 
rebuked him, calculated to draw upon 
his unexhaustible fund of good humor, 
and did not, until March, 1785, resolve 
that Dr. Franklin "might return as 
soon as convenient," antl Thomas Jeff- 
erson might succeed him. 

The good Doctor was now old and 
infirm. Jefferson says that on the day 
the aged American left Passy, "it 
seemed as if the village had lost its 
patriarch." The King's people lent him 
a royal litter to bear him to the sea. 
The complimentary portrait of the 
King given to the departing Minister 
had a double circle of 408 diamonds. 
He was reconciled to his son at Ports- 
mouth, and signed a peace with that 
somewhat unlovely Tory. For Frank- 
lin, as thoroughly as General Washing- 
ton, had hated Tories. It is not de- 
moralizing to read the invectives which 



both these great souls poiu'cd on their 
illogical foes. 

September 13, 1785, an old man of 
seventy-nine walked up the streets of 
Philadelphia — we hope in his spotted 
velvet suit. Little children were 
brought out that they might say they 
had looked upon a man so noble and 
so perfect. He came like a father. He 
came, too, like a freeman, to die not on 
the tyrant's scaffold, to be buried un- 
der no common jail, to be pictured in 
no prison calendar. Beneath those 
white hairs lay a brain that for fifty 
years had not rested in the work of 
liberation. 

He took no salary while in France, 
and received back only a portion of his 
own money. He was at once elected to 
office, and thereupon did not neglect 
to make a mot. "They engrossed the 
prime of my life," he said. "They 
have eaten my flesh, and seem resolved 
now to pick my bones." In May, 1787, 
the Constitutional Convention added 
him to its number, so that if General 
Washington should be called away 
from the chair, there might be some 
one upon whom all could agree. He 
was essentially with Jefferson, and 
against Hamilton, in principle. He 
thought a salary should not pertain to 
high office, for then "men of indefatig- 
able activity in their selfish pursuits" 
would push aside the wise and moder- 
ate. A peculiar episode is mentioned 
in the Convention. The skeptical Dr. 
Franklin moved that the sessions open 
with prayer ; the devout Hamilton op- 
posed it. Dr. Franklin wanted equal 
suffrage, a President not re-eligible, to 
serve seven years, subject to impeach- 
ment: no absolute veto. He was 
warmly for Washington for first Presi- 
dent. 

He was confined to his bed the last 
two years of his life ; still his mind was 
keen. "I seem to have intruded my- 
self into the company of posterity." 
"People that will drink to the bottom 
of the cup must expect to meet with 
some of the dregs." "I have received 
more blame, as well as more praise, 
than I deserved." "Having seen a 
good deal of this world, I feel a grow- 



350 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



ing curiosity to be acquainted with 
some other." His last considerable act 
was a memorial against the slave trade 
which he had always utterly denounced. 
When the French Revolution broke out, 
he said the people of France, having 
served an apprenticeship to liberty in 
America, had now "set up for them- 
selves." Presently, he thought, a lover 
of liberty could find a country in any 
Christian nation. 

"A dying man can do nothing easily," 
he said, late on the night of April 17, 
i/QO, and soon sank into a lethargy, 
and ])assed away. He was burieil with 
such prudent splendor as the Quakers 
could summon for a memorable ob- 
sequy, and the frugality of the city of 
Philadelphia restrained it from at- 
tempting any notable memorial. He 
was plain in life. He would prefer the 
deep gratitude of the generous few 
who closely study his career, to the 
light comment of the passing crowd 
who might be awed by the grandeur of 
a suitable monument. 

Mirabeau, before the French As- 
sembly, delivered an impassioned elegy 
on Dr. Franklin, and the Deputies wore 
mourning for three days. A great fu- 
neral was held in Paris itself, the citi- 
zens each wearing a badge. The Revo- 
lutionary clubs pondered affectionately 
on his writings. .A street of Paris (in 
Passy ) received his name. The books 
of science were everywhere opened and 
his death faithfully recorded. 

JOHN PAUL JONES. 
1 747- 1 792 

John Paul Jones (1747-1792) was 
born July 6, 1747, on the estate of Ar- 
bigland, in the parish of Kirkbean and 
the stewartry of Kirkcudbright, Scot- 
land, where his father, John F'aul, was 
gardner. At twelve he went to sea as 
apprentice to a merchant of White- 
haven, in whose ships he visited 
America several times. He became a 
skillful sailor and was for some time 
mate of a slaver in the West Indies. 
On his way back to England, after 
leaving the slave trade in disgust, the 



captain and the mate in the ships in 
which he was both died ; and the skill- 
ful manner in which Paul Jones 
brought the ship safely into port in- 
duced the owners to appoint him cap- 
tain. In 1773, having for some un- 
known reason assumed the cognomen 
Jones, he settled in \'irginia, on a prop- 
erty which had fallen to him on the 
death of an elder brother. When the 
American War of Independence broke 
out two years later Jones took up arms 
for the Colonies, and accepted com- 
mand in the navy of the new Republic. 
He did good service against his native 
land, and in 1777 was sent to France 
to receive a more important command. 
Disappointed in that, he sailed, in 1778, 
to the English coast in his ship Ranger, 
and availed himself of his early knowl- 
edge to land at Whitehaven, where, 
however, he was unsuccessful in his at- 
tempt to fire the shipping. Next year 
he sailed on a similar expedition in the 
Bonhomme Richard, along with other 
vessels, and, steering up the Firth of 
Forth, was only prevented by a strong 
westerly gale from attacking Leith. On 
his way south again he fell in, off 
Flamborough Head, with the English 
ship Serapis, which, after a long and 
bloody combat, he compelled to strike. 
That exploit raised his fame to its 
acme. C3n his return to Paris he was 
feted and carassed by the best society; 
and Louis XVI presented him with a 
gold-hilted sword, and decorated him 
with the Military Order of Merit. 
After some time spent in America, 
where he was much chagrined by the 
neglect that met his boastful requests 
for further employment, Paul Jones re- 
turned to Paris as agent for all prizes 
taken in Europe under his own com- 
mand. While he resumed his efforts 
to pose as a man of ton he attended 
carefully to his duties. A favorable 
report to Congress as to his naval ser- 
vices was followed by a vote of a gold 
medal from that body in 1786. In 1788 
the Chevalier Jones entered the service 
of the Empress Catherine of Russia, 
and became as enthusiastic a Russian as 
he had been an American. He was ap- 
pointed to a command in the Black Sea, 



BIOGRAPHY— JOHN ADAMS 



351 



with the rank of rear-admiral, to act 
against the Turks ; but the jealousy and 
rivalry of the Russian commanders 
brought about his recall in less than 
eight months. Summoned to St. 
Petersburg, on a pretext of receiving a 
post in the North Sea, he was left in 
restless idleness until at last two years' 
formal leave of absence was granted to 
him. On this virtual dismissal, I'aul 
Jones retired to Paris, soured and dis- 
appointed, and after two years spent 
in fruitlessly importuning the Russian 
court, he died in that city on July 18, 
1792. 

Paul Jones is described as a "short, 
thick little fellow^ about 5 feet 8 inches 
in height, of a dark, swarthy com- 
ple.xion." Naval skill and bravery he 
certainly had, but his letters prove him 
to have been boastful and quarrelsome. 
He writhed under the suspicion of be- 
ing an "adventurer ;" once and again he 
eagerly repels the charge. English con- 
temporary accounts generally speak of 
him as a pirate ; and, though he cer- 
tainly ranked as an officer of the United 
States, the independent manner in 
which he cruised might well suggest let- 
ters of marque rather than a Govern- 
ment commission. 

JOHN ADAMS. 

1735-1826 

Second President of the United 
States. 

It was John Adams, of Massachu- 
setts Bay, who rose superior to home 
influences and advocated the election 
of Colonel Washington as Commander- 
in-Chief of the Continental army. 
Without this firm and unselfish action, 
it may be seen that John Hancock 
would have secured the place ; General 
Washington might then have seen fit 
to defend \'irginia rather than the 
Hudson and Schuylkill, and there 
would have been a dififerent war, per- 
haps, with different results. When 
( leneral Washington withdrew from 
public life he considered the Constitu- 
tion and the Government safe in the 



hands of John Adams, and it may al- 
most be said that the Massachusetts 
statesman was the first of the Presi- 
dents, as the Founder seemed of an- 
other order — self-elected and self-dis- 
missed. He had made the nation and 
could have been its king, save that he 
thought the time for kings had gone 
by. and the time for representative gov- 
ernments had come. In this sense, 
therefore, John .\dams was considered 
among the Fathers as the best man for 
the new and distinguished place. Gen- 
eral Washington had done all he could 
to convey his own personal tlistinction 
to the office. His confidence in John 
Adams ; his willingness to have John 
Adams as his Vice-President in the first 
years of the Constitution ; these are 
things which must be said first of the 
subject of this notice. 

John .Adams, who was born at Brain- 
tree, Mass., on October 30, 1735, was 
in his way and after the manner of 
his nature as earnest in self-culture as 
George Washington. The competition 
and pressure around him were more 
noticeable: he was to be self-made, 
showing the angles and harsh places 
that often abound in such characters. 
But he was of an order of men that 
we must admire and approve. It was 
because there was a group so large, of 
men so noble, that we are free, and this 
volume is made. 

It was not unusual for a parent of 
those days to send his eldest son to 
college, and, if he left an estate, to 
divide it among the other children. 
Thus John /Adams, being an elder son, 
went through Harvard University. 
The social distinctions by which pupils 
were marked in graduating, place the 
Adams family on record as having been 
comparatively humble. To all intents, 
we should regard John Adams as a 
self-made man. He graduated in 1755, 
and became master of a grammar 
school at Worcester. A little later, 
with the school on his hands, he be- 
gan the study of law in (General) Put- 
nam's office. 

In October, 1758, the young man of 
twenty-three was ready to seek the 
learned Mr. Gridley, of Boston, 



352 



THE HOME AUXILIARY- AND REFERENCE 



"father" of that bar, who consented to 
recommend the student to the court, 
and the oath was administered. 

When he was twenty-nine, October 
25, 1764, he married Abigail Smith, 
who became the immortal Abigail 
Adams, one of the noblest and most in- 
telligent of women, the wife and the 
mother of a President of the United 
States. By this alliance the young at- 
torney broadened his practice and his 
ambitions. It is difficult to point in 
history to a more intellectual or better- 
mated pair of people. 

He attended the town meeting, which 
was by this time a hot debating club, 
where he was easily first, held little of- 
fices, come to the notice of the English 
Governor, Bernard, and, on the explo- 
sion of the Stamp Act, with the riot 
at Boston, drew up resolutions instruct- 
ing Braintree's delegate to the Assem- 
bly that were taken as a model by forty 
other towns. 

The Stamp Act, and the refusal of 
the colonists to buy stamps, stopped 
legal processes, and Mr. Adams, on 
December 18, 1765, had not drawn a 
writ since November I. Next day he 
was notified that he, with ]\Ir. Gradley 
and James Otis, must represent Boston 
before the Governor and Council ( Sen- 
ate) in support of a memorial praying 
that the courts be opened. A less pa- 
triotic man might have felt that ad- 
vancement at the bar lay on the side of 
the law and the Government ; but John 
Adams did not waver. He spoke first, 
without adequate preparation, as he 
conceived, "on a question that was 
never made before, and he wished he 
could hope it never would be made 
again — that is, whether the courts of 
law should open or not." 

He refused small Government offices 
and perquisities, forseeing trouble, and 
desiring to be free of gratitude. Early 
in 1768 he removed to Boston, taking 
up his residence in the "White House," 
in Brattle Square. There Governor 
Bernard again tried to get John Adams 
to take office — this time the important 
post of Advocate-General in the Court 
of Admiralty. But the lines were 
drawing closer, the "Sam Adams 



Regiments" had come, filling the town, 
and John Adams stood strong for 
liberty. He thought he feared some- 
what, but he was strong. The troops 
were an eyesore ; the populace was tur- 
bulent and disrespectful, teaching the 
boys to act still more inhospitably, and 
the attack on the sentry, with the "Bos- 
ton Massacre" took place. The sentries 
fired, in the end killing five rioters or 
onlookers, and Captain Preston and 
other soldiers were put on trial for 
murder. John Adams was instantly re- 
tained at the head of Captain Preston's 
counsel, and accepted without misgiv- 
ings. In this way Hutchinson, now the 
Governor, silenced t)tf best orator on 
the side of the town meeting (for Otis 
was becoming incapacitated by mental 
disease). The trial of Preston lasted 
six days, and he was acquitted. Two 
of the soldiers, after trial, were 
branded. The opponents of John 
Adams always taunted him with this 
service ; Hutchinson hinted that there 
was a large fee. But the advocate re- 
ceived in all less than $100, and Pres- 
ton never thanked his successful 
counsel. 

He stood so well before Boston in 
this delicate matter that he was at once 
elected delegate to the Assembly, an 
honor, however, that looked like ruin. 

In 1771 he thought his health had 
completely failed him, and, becoming 
exceedingly despondent, moved his 
family back to the town of Braintree, 
liut still practiced law in Boston. He 
Vv-as famous as a "Son of Liberty." 

In June, 1774. while John Adams 
was presiding over town meeting at 
Eaneuil Hall, Samuel Adams was lock- 
ing the doors at Salem and getting 
delegates to Philadelphia appointed be- 
fore the Governor could break in to 
prorogue the rebellious Assembly. 
John Adams was one of the five dele- 
gates so appointed. He who went to 
Philadelphia, as he believed, without an 
idea, was one of the few who arrived 
there with ideas. The first Congress 
did little save indorse the Massachu- 
setts policy of boycott, but John Adams 
was on the chief committees, and was 
an early target for the jealousy and 



BIOGRAPHY— JOHN ADAMS 



envy of other debaters of less skill, in- 
dustry and native courage. The influ- 
ence of the Virginia members was con- 
servative, and much was done to keep 
them in line. The Philadelphians were 
determined to leave no stone unturned 
in the way of loyal petition to the sov- 
ereign in order to escape war. All the 
people who had come with Samuel 
Adams must keep in the background, 
save that Mr. Hancock was supposed 
to be a man with some property-stake 
at Boston. 

When Mr. Adams returned, he was 
summoned for consultation by the 
Provincial Assembly, and set to work 
newspaper writing. When John Adams 
again started for Philadelphia the times 
were dark indeed. He was forced to 
leave wife and small children in a farm- 
house near the seashore, exposed to a 
thousand dangers. But his leonine 
wife bade him go. At Philadelphia he 
now saw Colonel Washington in his 
fighting clothes, and his spirits rose cor- 
respondingly. "I have bought some 
military books," he wrote. 

The Conciliationists were still strong; 
they singled him out as the champion 
of a republic, of the Presbyterians, as 
they called the Bostoneers. He, on his 
side, was determined that Congress 
should adopt the army at Boston, and 
should commission Washington as 
Commander-in-Chief. In this he was 
even ahead of Samuel Adams. 

The action of John Adams in press- 
ing this matter on Congress, and carry- 
ing the day as he did, marks him at 
once as one of the great Fathers of the 
Republic. 

The news from Mr. Adam's home 
was disturbing. An epidemic raged, 
and the members of his family were all 
stricken ; his brother and his wife's 
mother had died. He went home in 
the summer recess of 1775, and, while 
he was gone, the Conciliationists 
seemed to increase in number. The 
most prominent of these was John 
Jay, afterward a leading patriot. On 
his return to Philadelphia. Air. Adams 
set out with renewed vigor to increase 
the feeble flame of Revolution. 

We shall see that John Adams, in 



actual Revolutionary times, was al- 
ways well supported, both by men and 
events. Few statesmen have been so 
clearly able to see the future. To in- 
crease his prestige in Congress, he had 
been appointed Chief Justice of the 
patriot State of Massachusetts, but in 
December, 1775, he considered it wise 
to go back, get in complete touch with 
the people, and, beside, learn what Gen- 
eral Washington most needed from the 
other States. This was a satisfactory 
visit for the Massachusetts delegates 
in Congress were bidden to urge Con- 
gress "to concert, direct, and order 
such further measures as shall to them 
appear best calculated for the establish- 
ment of right and liberty to the Ameri- 
can colonies, upon a basis permanent 
and secure against the power and art 
of the British Administration." 

As the Declaration of Independence 
began to be an assured future event, 
John Adams felt increasing awe. He 
was now unquestionably the leader, par 
excellence, of Congress. Samuel 
Adams was satisfied with obscurity, so 
long as independence was to come. 
Jefferson could not make a striking ad- 
dress ; it does not seem that Patrick 
Henry cared to enter upon the trying 
labors, or displace so sound and good 
a man as John .A^dams. \\'hen it came 
to writing the Declaration, Jefferson 
and John Adams each civilly requested 
the other to make the draft ; but it had 
been tacitly understood that the Vir- 
ginian should have the honor. 

John Adams was connected with 
ninety committees in Congress, but 
seems to have served as a sort of War 
Secretary through the hot summer of 
1776. He was of stout build, and the 
Philadelphia weather nearly prostrated 
him, as he was unused to it. He was 
forced to rest at home in the winter, re- 
turning for another summer of the 
same heavy work, united with the busi- 
ness of foreign relations, especially 
with France. When he left Philadel- 
phia, November 11, 1777. ki company 
with his kinsman, Samuel .\dams, he 
expected another vacation. But De- 
cember 3d he was notified to leave at 
once for France as Commissioner to 



354 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



supersede Deane and to weight his dis- 
patch bags, so that they could be sunk 
in the sea in case of capture by British 
cruisers. Dr. Frankhn was alreaay m 
Paris. Mr. Adams sailed on the frigate 
Boston, in February, taking his son, 
John Quincy Adams (afterward Presi- 
dent), with him. Seventeen days out, 
a British ship-of-war gave chase. Mr. 
Adams urged officers and crew to fight 
desperately, if overhauled, "deeming it 
to be more eligible to be killed on 
board the Boston or sunk to the bottom, 
in her than to be taken prisoner." He 
reached Bordeaux in safety. John 
Adams felt grateful, and be it under- 
stood, ever remained grateful, for the 
friendship of the French at a critical 
juncture. He urged an alliance with 
France. His mission proved to be 
more one of inspection than otlierwise ; 
he found he was not needed, and came 
home August 2, 1779. He then en- 
tered the Massachusetts Constitutional 
Convention. 

In November he was again sent to 
Europe as a special envoy, prepared 
to treat for peace, if England should 
make the proffer. He had a perilous 
passage, and the unseaworthy vessel 
which carried him made no better land- 
ing than the Spanish port of Ferrol. 
Thence to Paris he was compelled to 
make the journey in winter amid severe 
hardships, the worst that attended his 
career. The French Minister, De Ver- 
gennes, would have chosen an envoy 
more docile to French wishes, and soon 
embroiled the outspoken and busy Bos- 
tonian in troubles that led to his disap- 
pointment. The boundaries of the 
United States on the land sides were 
matters of nearly as much importance 
as independence. Spain owned all the 
country west of the Alississippi and 
Florida. Should we obtain Canada? 
Where was the boundary line west of 
the Great Lakes? Should Boston ves- 
sels be allowed to fish in northern 
waters? To John Adams these were 
al) burning questions. \'ergennes, al- 
though he could not overthrow Mr. 
Adams, obtained a Commission for 
Peace, with Franklin. Laurens and Jay 
added. The posture of affairs was pe- 



culiar. The Americans were ordet'ed 
by Congress to act under the guidance 
of X'ergennes, and \'ergennes at this 
moment stood ready to sacrifice Ameri- 
can interests in preference to those of 
France. Yet Congress ever reposed 
perfect confidence in John Adams. H 
he complained, something must be 
wrong, and Massachusetts was particu- 
larly nervous on account of her fish- 
eries. To encourage him, he was made 
Minister Plenipotentiary to the United 
Provinces, and with famous audacity 
pushed the matter of recognition for 
America to a successful vote of the 
constituencies, thereby actually accom- 
plishing what the Citizen Genet after- 
ward threatened to do in America. 

April 19, 1782, Mr. Adams was for- 
mally installed at The Hague as the 
^linister of a new people. \'ergennes, 
from Paris, had secretly opposed this 
action, and Mr. Adams justly consid- 
ered his work the greatest success of 
his life. "I have planted the American 
standard at The Hague. I shall look 
down upon the flagstaff" with pleasure 
from the other world." 

The situation at Paris, when Adams, 
Jay and Franklin met to make peace 
with England, was trying to the spe- 
cial envoy. Vergennes disliked him, 
and had secured the instructions from 
Congress which made PVance the ac- 
tual guardian of American interests. 
Yet Jay and Adams outwitted him, and 
Franklin was so loyal to the majority 
idea that when Jay and Adams out- 
voted him, he did not reveal the Amer- 
ican plans to \'ergennes. In this way 
England secretly made a preliminary 
treaty with America, agreeing to better 
terms than Vergennes would have de- 
manded, because he did not wish to 
magnify .\merica, now that she was 
free. The English came to Mr. Adams 
with an oddly-worded commission. It 
authorized Oswald, its Commissioner, 
"to treat with any Commissioner ur 
Commissioners, named or to be named 
by the thirteen colonies or plantations 
in North America, and any body or 
bodies, corporate or politic, or any as- 
sembly or assemblies, or description of 
men, or any person or persons whatso- 



BIOGRAPHY—JOHN ADAMS 



355 



ever, a peace or truce with the said 
colonies or plantations, or any part 
thereof." John Adams, to start with. 
made the English take all those words 
out, and substitute "L'nited States of 
America." The preliminaries were 
signed January 21, 1783; the definite 
treaties September 3 of the same year. 

He was busy for nearly two years 
negotiating commercial treaties, and 
was seriously ill several times. At last 
he sent for his wife and daughter, and 
the family settled for the summer of 
1784 at Auteruil, near Paris. F'ebruary 
24, 1785, Congress appointed him Min- 
ister to Great Britain, a mark of very 
high honor, which at the time probably 
[ilaced him next to General \Vashing- 
ton in the notice of his countrymen. 

He returned home in April. 1788, and 
was undoubtedly the most impartial 
American there was in viewing Eng- 
land and France. Both nations had 
misused him because he was uncom- 
promisingly true to the United States. 
It wnll be seen that he remained suffi- 
ciently grateful to France, and we may 
easily believe he desired to play no sub- 
servient part toward England. 

He was at once chosen by the friends 
of the Constitution — the Federalists — 
as the proper nominee for ^^ice-Presi- 
dcnt. 

While the \'ice-Presidency appeared 
to him to be "the most insignificant 
office that ever the invention of man 
contrived or his imagination con- 
ceived," it still became highly impor- 
tant in the time of John Adams. Ham- 
ilton now assumed full charge of the 
legislation of General Washington's ad- 
ministration. His measures met so 
much opposition that, on twenty occa- 
sions, the \ice-President, in a tie vote, 
cast the ballot which made Hamilton 
triumphant. This greatly pleased Gen- 
eral Washington. Mr. Adams received 
jy out of 127 votes for \'ice-President 
at the second Presidential election, 
having won the cordial support of 
Hamilton. 

At the third Presidential election. 
General Washington having refused to 
serve any longer, Mr. Adams was log- 
ically the candidate. 



He retired (March, 1801) to his 
pleasant homestead by the roadside at 
Ouincy, Mass. Abigail Adams, his 
wife, died October 28, 1818. He 
watched the rise of his son, John 
Ouincy Adams, to the first office in the 
land. He was a Presidential Elector 
for James Afonroe. He was nominated 
President of the Massachusetts-Maine 
Constitutional Convention when he was 
eighty-five years old. For years he sat 
on his front porch, an honored grand- 
sire, in a region thickly settled with 
kinsmen, who looked upon him as the 
great freeman and patriot he was, and 
were cheered in their pious attentions 
by the approval of a growing nation. 
At sunset on the 4th of July, 1826. 
after he had seen his country declared 
and truly free for fifty years, he whis- 
pered : "Thomas Jefferson still sur- 
\ives !" and gently passed away. Per- 
haps the tumultuous feelings of the an- 
niversary, thronging their venerable 
memories alike, wrought mortally on 
each. 

Thus died a Revolutioniry Father 
who, from the day he joined with his 
kinsman, Samuel Adams, against the 
tyrannies of the English king, never 
allowed personal considerations to 
swerve him one hair's breadth from 
his first conception of the right course 
to pursue. He stood out in front him- 
self, and he forced others to come out 
with him. He made Congress nominate 
General \^''ashington ; he quickened 
Congress in order that General Wash- 
ington's army should not melt away ; 
he forced recognition from Flolland ; 
he made the English Ministry write 
down the word "United States of 
America;" he saved this country from 
a dismal and dishonorable war with 
the nation of Lafayette. Rochambcau. 
D'Estaing and De Barras : he retired 
obediently to private life when the peo- 
ple determined that Thomas Jefiferson 
represented them more certainly on 
minor Constitutional questions. His 
l^rivate fortune sufifered through his 
public services, and he was separated 
for many years from those he loved at 
home. But, in return, he was so highly 
honored by his people that they placed 



3S6 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



him next to General Washington, and 
gave him precedence before Thomas 
Jefferson, author of the Declaration of 
Independence. 

PATRICK HENRY. 

1 736- 1 799 

"Give Me Liberty or Give Me 
De-vth." 

Patrick Henry was born on the 
estate of Studley, in the County of 
Hanover, Virginia, May 29, 1736. He 
was not a brilliant scholar, and left his 
studies at fifteen, first to learn a trade, 
and thereafter to serve as a clerk in a 
country store. At eighteen, without 
means, he married a young woman, 
Sarah Shelton, who was equally im- 
poverished. The parents established 
the headstrong couple on a small farm 
with a few slaves. In two years the 
husband sold the slaves at auction and 
set up a country store. At twenty-three 
he was insolvent. Thomas Jefferson, 
now sixteen, met him, and thought "his 
misfortunes were not to be traced either 
;n his covmtenance or conduct." "He 
attached every one to him,'' says Jef- 
ferson. 

He next concluded he would be a 
lawyer. How he learned his profes- 
sion it has puzzled historians to say. 
Patrick Henry certainly made a march 
into legal practice the swiftest on rec- 
ord. He said he studied a month ; some 
said six weeks ; some dignified the 
period into six months ; men of imag- 
ination said nine months. He arrived 
at Williamsburg, the capital of Mr- 
ginia, almost as soon as Thomas Jef- 
ferson. He was fortunate enough to 
impress the remarkable qualities of his 
mind on John Randolph ( not "John 
Randolph of Roanoke"), and that as- 
tute lawyer secured him the signatures 
of the other legal examiners. Patrick 
Henry related how Mr. Randolph had 
endeavored to out-argue him. after 
practicing all the arts of the attorney on 
the young man. "You defend yourself 
well, sir ; but now to the law and to the 
testimony." Thereupon be went with 



liini to his office, and, searching the au- 
thorities, said to him : "Behold the 
force of natural reason ! You have 
never seen these books, nor this prin- 
ciple of the law ; yet you are right and 
I am wrong. And for the lesson which 
you have given me (you must excuse 
me for saying it) I will never trust to 
appearances again." 

The young man's success as an ad- 
vocate was gratifying, and it was gen- 
erally admitted he had at last discov- 
ered his proper vocation. In about four 
years' time, or late in 1763, he defeated 
the celebrated "Parson's cause" in 
court, and at once became a celebrated 
Virginian. 

In 1764, the seat of a member of the 
House of Burgesses was contested, and 
Patrick Henry went to the colonial 
capital as attorney for the sitting mem- 
ber. "For a day or two before the 
hearing of the case the members of the 
House had observed an ill-dressed 
yoimg man sauntering in the lobby, 
moving awkwardly about, with a 
countenance of abstraction and total 
unconcern as to what was going on." 
He lost the cause before the committee, 
but made a deep impression as an ora- 
tor. 

In May, 1765, he was himself elected 
a member of the House of Burgesses 
(legislature) for a county in which he 
did not reside. A copy of the Stamp 
-Act had arrived from England. On 
the 29th the House went into Com- 
mittee of the Whole, and Patrick 
Henry, a new and imtried member, 
with the foreknowledge of only two 
members, moved the celebrated "Vir- 
ginia Resolves'' — that taxation without 
representation was odious to English 
law and practice, and would have a 
tendency to destroy freedom. The de- 
bate was long and acrimonious. 
"Many threats were uttered, and much 
aluise cast on me." said Patrick Henry. 
"Torrents of sublime eloquence from 
Mr. Henry" are recorded. Reaching a 
climax of invective, he paused, and 
said with solemnity: "Cfesar had his 
Brutus ; Charles the First his Crom- 
well ; and George the Third ('Trea- 
son!' shouted the Speaker of the 



BIOGRAPHY-PATRICK HENRY 



357 



House. 'Treason! Treason!' came 
from all parts of the hall) — and 
Cicorge th° Third may profit by their 
example. If this be treason, make the 
most of it." The resolutions, alter 
two days of debate, passed the Vir- 
ginia House. They had been cut down 
in number, which modified their tone, 
but a manuscript copy of Patrick 
Henry's resolutions soon reached New 
^'ork City, where they "were handed 
about with great privacy." They were 
accounted so treasonable that the pos- 
sessors of them declined printing them 
in that city. They reached Xew Eng- 
land, where the Sons of Liberty were 
prompt to give them wide circulation. 
In the papers accompanying his will, 
Patrick Henry left the original manu- 
script of the "Virginia Resolves." 
"They formed," he wrote, "the first 
opposition to the Stamp Act." "Find- 
ing that no person was likely to step 
forth. I determined to venture ; and 
alone, unadvised and unassisted, on a 
blank leaf of an old law book, wrote 
the within." 

For nine years the troubles of the 
colonies increased. During that time 
Patrick Henry was a member of the 
House, and at last a member of the 
Committee of Correspondence with 
Boston. After Governor Dunmore dis- 
solved the House, Patrick Henry was 
the leader of the revolutionary body. 
George Washington wrote : "He is by 
far the most powerful speaker I ever 
heard. But his eloquence is the small- 
est part of his merit. Pie is, in my 
opinion, the first man upon this Conti- 
nent, as well in abilities as public 
virtues." Late in August, 1774, with 
Colonel George Washington and Ed- 
mund Pendleton, Patrick Henry left 
\'irginia for the First Continental 
Congress. Roger Atkinson, of Peters- 
burg, wrote, describing Henry as a 
delegate: "Patrick Henry is a real 
half-Quaker — your brother's man — 
moderate and mild, and in religious 
matters a saint, but the very devil in 
politics ; a son of thunder. He will 
shake the Senate. Some years ago he 
bad liked to talk treason into the 
House." 



Charles Thomson, Secretary of Con- 
gress, described Patrick Henry as 
"dressed in a suit of parson's gray, and 
from his appearance I took him for a 
Presbyterian clergyman, used to har- 
ranguing the people." In his first 
speech he said : "The distinctions be- 
tween Virginians, Pennsylvanians, New 
Yorkers and New Englanders are no 
more. I am not a \'irginian, but an 
American." 

On the 28th of September began the 
debate on Galloway's plan of reconcilia- 
tion, which was opposed by Massachu- 
setts and Virginia, but defeated by a 
vote of only six colonies to five. 
Patrick Henry made a fierce assault on 
the scheme of quasi-home-rule. As 
they parted from the Congress, John 
Adams read to Patrick Henry the con- 
tents of a letter from Major Hawley, 
of Massachusetts, which concluded : 
"After all, we must fight." Mr. Henry 
had his head down. "He raised his 
head, and with an energy and vehem- 
ence that I can never forget, broke out 
with : 'By G — , I am of that man's 
mind !' " This is the only oath that is 
on record as coming from the lips of 
I'atrick Henry. 

Returning from Philadelphia in the 
autumn of 1774, Patrick Henry, when 
he next appeared before the public, at 
the old church in Richmond, on the 
23d of March, 1775, as a member of 
the Second Revolutionary Convention 
of Virginia, made the immortal speech 
upon which his fame popularly rests. 
This oration, perfectly stationed in the 
drama of bloody events that was to 
follow, ofi^ers almost the only recorded 
example of adequate eloquence outside 
the pages of the sublimest poets. .As 
an actual happening in actual life, it 
will ever thrill the student of history 
and exalt the lover of patriotism. The 
resolutions under debate authorized "a 
well-regulated militia" for the defense 
of the colony. Patrick Henry thought 
there was too much opposition to the 
resolutions and he seems to have 
charged upon that sentiment with the 
very highest powers of his mind. The 
early portion of the speech is full of 
well-turned sentences of indubitable 



358 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



truth and sound sense. "This is no 
time for ceremony," he said. "The 
question is one of awful moment to 
this country" — "freedom or slavery. 
And in proportion to the magnitude 
of the subject ought to be the free- 
dom of the debate." "Should I keep 
back my opinions at such a time, 
through fear of giving ofifense, I 
should consider myself as guilty of 
treason toward my country, and of an 
act of disloyalty toward the majesty 
of Heaven, which I revere above all 
earthly kings." "It is natural in man 
to indulge in the illusions of hope. We 
are apt to shut our eyes against a pain- 
ful truth, and listen to the song of that 
siren till she transforms us into beasts." 

"I have but one lamp by which my 
feet are guided, and that is the lamp 
of experience. I know of no way of 
judging the future but by the past." 
"Ask yourselves how this gracious re- 
ception of our petition comports with 
those warlike preparations which cover 
our waters and darken our lands. Are 
fleets and armies necessary to a work 
of love and reconciliation? Have we 
shown ourselves so unwilling to be 
reconciled that force must be called in 
to win back our love? Let us not de- 
ceive ourselves, sir. These are the im- 
plements of war and subjugation — the 
last argument to which kings resort." 

"Shall we resort to entreaty and 
humble supplication? What terms 
shall we find which have not been al- 
ready exhausted?" "We have peti- 
tioned ; we have remonstrated ; we have 
supplicated ; we have prostrated our- 
selves before the throne, and have im- 
plored its interposition to arrest the 
tyrannical hands of the Ministry and 
Parliament. Our petitions have been 
slighted ; our remonstrances have pro- 
duced additional violence and insult; 
our supplications have been disre- 
garded ; and we have been spurned with 
contempt from the foot of the throne." 

"There is no longer any room for 
hope (of peace). If we wish to be 
free," "we must fight ! I repeat it, sir, 
we must fight ! An appeal to arms, 
and to the God of Hosts is all that is 
left to us." 



To this point in the address, of which 
the above are only striking sentences, 
all was deliberate and self-constrained. 

An aged clergyman related the fol- 
lowing: "Henry rose with unearthly 
fire burning in his eyes. He com- 
menced somewhat calmly, but the 
smothered excitement began more and 
more to play upon his features and 
thrill in the tones of his voice. The 
tendons of his neck stood out white 
and rigid, like whipcords. His voice 
rose louder and louder, until the walls 
of the building, and all within them, 
seemed to shake and rock in its tre- 
mendous vibrations. Finally, his pale 
face and glaring eye became terrible to 
look upon. Men leaned forward in 
their seats, with their heads strained 
forward, their faces pale, and their eyes 
glaring, like the speaker's." The hearer 
felt sick with excitement. 

Patrick Henry continued, with in- 
creasing fury of words : "They tell us, 
sir, that we are weak — unable to cope 
with so formidable an adversary. But 
when shall we be stronger?" "Shall 
we acquire the means of efl^ectual re- 
sistance by lying supinely on our backs, 
and hugging the delusive phantom of 
hope, until our enemies have bound us 
hand and foot?" He next sums up the 
very considerable power of the colonies. 
"P.esides, sir, we shall not fight our 
battles alone. There is a just God who 
presides over the destinies of nations, 
and who will raise up friends to fight 
our battles for us. The battle, sir, is 
not to the strong alone ; it is to the 
vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, 
sir, we have no election. If we were 
base enough to desire it, it is now too 
late to retire from the contest. There 
is no retreat, but in submission and 
slavery. Our chains are forged. Their 
clanking may be heard on the plains 
of I>o.ston. The war is inevitable. And 
let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come! 
It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the mat- 
ter. Gentlemen may cry peace, peace, 
but there is no peace. The war is ac- 
tually begun. The ne.xt gale that 
sweeps from the north will bring to our 
ears the clash of resounding arms. 
Why stand we here idle? What is it 



BIOGRAPHY— PATRICK HENRY 



that gentlemen wish? What would 
they have? Is life so dear, or peace 
so sweet, as to be purchased at the 
price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, 
Almighty God! I know not what 
course others may take, but as for me, 
give me liberty, or give me death!" 

When Patrick Henry sat down, every 
eye yet gazed entranced upon him. It 
is said that he enacted the bent form 
of the slave bearing his gyves and man- 
acles of iron ; that as he closed, he 
straightened his form, threw oiif his 
slavery, and gave the impression of 
having a dagger in his hand, to be 
aimed at his own heart. All the hear- 
ers agreed that the tones of his voice 
were deep with awe and the gaze of 
his eyes full of splendor — something 
altogether different from the most 
highly-excited expressions of other 
men. The effect was complete. Every- 
thing was done by vote that he asked 
for, and he himself was made the chair- 
man, to see that the legislative action 
should be carried into effect. 

"The first overt act of war in Vir- 
ginia," says Thomas Jefferson, "was 
committed by Patrick Henry." He was 
the captain of an independent company 
of militia. Governor Dunmore had re- 
moved some powder. Patrick Henry 
marched on Williamsburg and com- 
[lelled the Receiver General to pay an 
indemnity of $1,650. The Governor 
thereupon issued a proclamation against 
"a certain Patrick Henry and a number 
of deluded followers" who had "put 
themselves in a posture of war. This 
would "call for the vengeance of of- 
fended majesty," and all subjects were 
warned "not to abet or give counten- 
ance to the said Patrick Henry." He 
was now acclaimed as the logical 
leader of the patriots, and nearly every 
company sent him a message of con- 
gratulation touching the powder epi- 
sode. In May, 1775, however, he set 
off for the Second Congress, where he 
took little interest. In August he re- 
turned and was made Colonel and 
Commander of the Virginia troops. 
His relations with the civil committee 
of safetj were unpleasant, and he soon 
resigned, to the great grief of the 



militia, who parted with him as their 
true and rightful leader. Early in 
March, 1776, his wife, Sarah, mother 
of six children, died. He thereafter 
returned to the Third Virginia Con- 
vention. His hope of a French alliance 
was keen from the first, and he urged 
measures to bring it about, or make it 
easy. "May we not lose her?" "The 
French alliance is everything." On 
July 5, 1776, he became the first elected 
Governor of Virginia, and took up his 
residence in the palace that had been 
vacated by Lord Dunmore. He was re- 
elected in 1777, and on the 9th of Oc- 
tober married Dorothea Dandridge, 
who was considerably his junior— he 
was now forty-one. During his second 
term efforts were niade by the secret 
members of the Conway cabal to wean 
Governor Henry away from the sup- 
port of General Washington, who had 
suffered a number of defeats. The 
loj'al action of the Governor, in at once 
sending warning to the General, to- 
gether with the sentiments of his letters 
at that time, reflect tlie highest honor 
upon both his judgment and his affec- 
tion. 

"I really think your personal welfare 
and the happiness of America are in- 
timately connected." "The most ex- 
alted merit has ever been found to at- 
tract envy." To these expressions of 
regard and solicitude General Washing- 
ton responded warmly, and his admira- 
tion for Patrick Henry never lessened. 

Governor Henry was re-elected in 
1778. His third term was disastrously 
marked at its very close by the British 
invasion of Virginia. The Governor 
was an efiicient aid to General Wash- 
ington, whose letters to Patrick Henry 
abound with testimonies of high ap- 
proval and recognition. He declined a 
re-election as Governor, being annoyed 
with long-continued charges that he en- 
tertained an usurper's ambitions. 

He owned a new estate of 10,000 
acres, called Leatherwood, southwest 
from Richmond, along the North Car- 
olina boundary, in the county of Henry, 
named after himself. To this "wild 
and mountainous solitude" he at once 
removed, making it his home for five 



36o 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



years. He wrote to Thomas Jefferson, 
now Governor, in denunciation of 
Tories. They were "miscreants — wret- 
ches who, I am satisfied, were laboring 
our destruction. They should be 
shunned and execrated, and this is the 
only way to supply the place of legal 
conviction and punishment." He was 
elected to the Assembly in 1780, but 
was compelled to leave in poor health. 
He returned for the winter of 1780- 
81, when the Legislature retreated be- 
fore Benedict Arnold, the traitor, now 
making war on Virginia. The mem- 
bers adjourned to Charlottesville, and 
thence actually fled over the mountains 
to Staunton. The traditions of \'ir- 
ginia are illuminated with a well- 
wrought series of stories seemingly 
made at the expense of Patrick Henry, 
yet all reflecting the admiration that 
was everywhere felt for him as the first 
\''irginia patriot. In the head-long 
flight from Charlottesville, the fugitives 
broke into small parties, one of these 
being composed of Benjamin Harrison, 
Colonel William Christian, John Tyler 
and Patrick Henry. Weary with 
travel, late in the day, they halted be- 
fore a hut in the gorge and asked for 
food. An aged woman asked them who 
they were. Patrick Henry answered 
that they were members of the Legisla- 
ture, compelled to leave Charlottesville 
on the approach of the enemy. "Ride 
on, then, ye cowardly knaves," cried 
the ancient dame, in wrath ; "here have 
my husband and sons just gone to 
Charlottesville to fight for ye, and you 
running away with all your might. 
Clear out — ye shall have nothing here." 
"But," expostulated Patrick Henry, "it 
would not do for the Legislature to 
be broken up by the enemy. Here is 
I\Ir. Speaker PTarrison : you don't think 
he would have fled had it not been 
necessary?" "I always thought a great 
deal of Mr. Harrison till now, but he'd 
no business to nm from the enemy" 
(starting to close her door). "Wait 
a moment, my good woman," urged 
Mr. Henry ; "you would hardly believe 
that Mr. Tyler or Mr. Christian would 
take to flight if there were not good 
reason for it?" "No, indeed, that I 



wouldn't." "But Mr. Tyler and Colonel 
Christian are here." "They here?" she 
said, as if in doubt. "Well, I never 
would have thought it ! No matter. 
We love these gentlemen, and I didn't 
suppose they would ever run away 
from the British. But since they have, 
they shall have nothing to eat in my 
house. You may ride along." Now 
Mr. Tyler stepped forward: "What 
would you say, my good woman, if I 
were to tell you that Patrick Henry 
fled with the rest of us?" "Patrick 
Henry ! I should tell you there wasn't 
a word of truth in it !" she replied 
with rising anger. "Patrick Henry 
would never do such a cowardly thing!" 
"But this is Patrick Henry!" said Mr. 
Tyler, pointing to him. The old woman 
started, twitched her apron-string con- 
vulsively, and surrendered: "Well, 
then, if it's Patrick Henry, it must be 
all right. Come in, and ye shall have 
the best Pve got." 

In 1784 and 1785 the favorite son of 
\'irginia was called upon to serve two 
more terms as Governor, retiring on his 
own demand to recuperate his fortune. 
He refused to attend the convention at 
Philadelphia which formulated the Con- 
stitution of the United States, and his 
attitude led General Washington to 
greatly fear that Virginia would reject 
that document. So deep was the an.xi- 
ely of the Father of His Country that 
he sent a copy of the instrument with 
an entreating letter to his old friend. 
But General Washington could not sil- 
ence Patrick Henry's scruples, and it 
was doubtless his valiant opposition that 
led to the first ten amendments. He 
came down to the Virginia convention 
to make a bitter fight against adoption, 
and spoke often on eighteen days of the 
debate. He made one speech seven 
hours long. He made eight speeches 
in one day, five in another. Pie used 
the word "secession," but denied that 
he approved such an act. He wanted 
a new convention. The President, 
Patrick Henry thought, might become 
King. 

Although he was outvoted, and the 
Constitution was adopted by Virginia, 
it was seen that the amendments which 



BIOGRAPHY—PATRICK HENRY 



361 



lie desired must be conceded, for his 
prestige contimied to increase under de- 
feat. He made imperative the de- 
mands of Virginia on Congress. Lear, 
secretary to General Washington, sor- 
rowfully recounted Patrick Henry's 
triumphs at this time ( 1789) : "In 
plain English, he ruled a majority of 
the Assembly : and his edicts were regis- 
tered by that body with less opposition 
than those of the Grand Monarque have 
met with from his Parliaments. He 
chose the two Senators. He divided 
the State into districts" (gerrymander- 
ing so as to exclude James Madison 
fiom Congress). "And after he had 
settled everything relative to the Gov- 
ernment wholly, I suppose, to his satis- 
faction, he mounted his horse and rode 
home, leaving the little business of the 
State to be done by anybody who chose 
to give themselves the trouble of at- 
tending to it." Congress unwillingly 
responded, and the first ten amendments 
stand to-day as the necessary conces- 
sions made to the apprehensive patriot- 
ism of Patrick Henry. 

Through all the years from 1786 to 
1794, when he retired with a compet- 
ence, he was an advocate without peer 
at the bar of \'irginia. He retired in 
1795 to an estate called Red Hill, in 
Charlotte County, and there he spent 
the last four years of his life, the peo- 
ple proud of his fame, and boastful that 
his like had never before lived among 
the eloquent. It was said that he would 
stand on an eminence and give com- 
mands to his servants "in tones as 
melodious as an Alpine horn," his 
enunciation being so clear that he might 
be imderstood in every part of a space 
that would have held 50,000 people. 
He, like Shakespeare, sought rather to 
show his wealth in acres than to receive 
homage for his eloquence. He was 
highly abstemious and religious. It dis- 
concerted and grieved the greatest of 
the fathers to see this giant of liberty 
cold to the new nation, yet, as the 
smaller gentry of critics assembled to 
annoy George Washington, Patrick 
Henry increased his tributes of venera- 
tion for the Father of His Country; 
therefore efforts did not cease to attach 



tlie old wheelhorse to the new car of 
Liberty. He was made United States 
Senator, but declined; Washington 
fruitlessly tendered him the portfolio 
of Secretary of State; later the Father 
offered the great office of Chief Justice 
of the United States. They elected him 
Governor for the sixth time. All of 
these flattering offers Patrick Henry 
put aside. John Adams ascended to 
the presidency, and, casting oft' all party 
ties, nominated Patrick Henry as one 
of the envoys to France, believing the 
French nation must generously welcome 
such a patriot. The health of the states- 
man was too feeble to permit him to re- 
enter public life. But he was at last in 
full harmony with the Federalists, and 
at the personal request of General 
Washington, Patrick Henry, in J\larch, 
1799, went to the hustings and stood as 
a candidate for the Legislature. This 
was an act of extraordinary generosity. 
Vast crowds from all over Virginia 
came forth when it was heard that the 
renowned orator would once more lift 
his voice. He counseled obedience to 
Federal laws, and told the people they 
had planted thorns upon his pillow and 
called him forth from a happy retire- 
ment, to see if he could not prevent 
civil discord. "Where," he asked, "is 
the citizen of America who would dare 
to lift his hand against the Father of 
His Country?" A drunken man cried 
out that he would dare. "No," cried 
the feeble orator, rising once more to 
his full majesty, "you dare not do it. 
In such a parricidal attempt the steel 
would drop from your nerveless arm !" 

The young John Randolph, of Roa- 
noke, followed in a speech, as the candi- 
date of the opposing party. While he 
was speaking Patrick Henry retired into 
the tavern. When the young man re- 
turned to the room where the patriot 
was resting, the latter took him by the 
hand, saying with great kindness: 
"Young man, you call me father. Then, 
my son, I have something to say unto 
thee: Keep justice, keep truth — and 
you will live to think differently." The 
poll resulted in a great majority for 
Patrick Henry. 

It may be believed that the patriotic 



ib2 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



effort of Patrick Henry, to which he 
was moved by the entreaties of General 
Washington, was more than his feeble 
body would bear, and it is probable that 
his infirmity had been courageously 
concealed, even from the Father of His 
Country. Patrick Henry returned to 
his bed and never left it, and died on 
the 6th of June, 1799. 

OLIVER HAZARD PERRY. 

1785-1819. 

Oliver Hazard Perry was born at 
South Kensington, Rhode Island, on 
the 23d of August, 1785. He was the 
son of Christopher Perry, who served 
in the Revolutionary War, first in the 
army and then in the navy. 

As a child, Oliver H. Perry quickly 
made friends with all strangers, show- 
ing a fearlessness of danger. We shall 
see that he kept this same fearlessness 
all through his life. 

He first went to school to a neighbor 
who taught a few children until they 
were old enough to go to school to 
Lower Hill, four miles from the Perry 
home. 

When about seven years of age the 
family moved to Newport, and Oliver 
went to school at this place, where Mr. 
Frazer, the master, took quite an in- 
terest in him. For five years he con- 
tinued his studies, among which was 
navigation. When twelve years old the 
Perrys moved to Westerly, a little vil- 
lage in the southwestern part of Rhode 
Island. 

For five years Oliver had been a 
faithful pupil of Mr. Frazer. and he 
was now far advanced for his years. 

About this time our country having 
trouble with France and England, Cap- 
tain Christopher Perry was given com- 
mand of the new war vessel, the Gen- 
eral Grant, and Oliver, not quite 
thirteen years of age, received an ap- 
pointment of midshipman on his 
father's vessel. It was here that Oliver 
was taught his lessons of naval honor. 
He also applied the lesson in naviga- 
tion which he had learned from Mr. 
Frazer. 

During 1799 and 1800 the General 



Grant cruised to and from the West 
Indies, protecting the American trade. 
Terms of peace having been arranged 
with France, it was decided by the 
Government to dispose of nearly all the 
naval vessels. As a result, many of 
the captains and midshipmen were dis- 
missed. Captain Perry being one of the 
number. 

Fortunately for the country, young 
Oliver was retained as midshipman. 
In 1802, with the squadron commanded 
by Commodore ]\Iorris, sent to the 
Barbary States, was the Adams. On 
this vessel was Oliver Perry as mid- 
shipman. Soon after the arrival of his 
ship in the Mediterranean Oliver cele- 
brated his seventeenth birthday, and he 
was appointed lieutenant on that day. 

When Commodore Morris was re- 
called he returned in the Adams, and 
it so happened that in November, 1803, 
Oliver Perry arrived again in .\merica. 
His father was then living in Newport, 
and Oliver remained at home until 
July of the next year. In September. 
1804, he was ordered to return in the 
Constellation to the Mediterranean. 
The troubles in the Barbary States 
being settled, in October, 1806, Oliver 
Perry returned to America. 

During these times the continued 
depredations of the English upon 
American commerce caused President 
Jefferson, who was a man of peace, to 
call a special session of Congress to 
see if the trouble could not be settled 
without war. As a result of this ses- 
sion, a law was passed known as the 
Embargo Act. In order to enforce this 
law. Congress ordered a number of 
gunboats to be built. These were to 
sail up and down the coast and prevent 
any vessel from entering or leaving the 
ports. 

Lieutenant Perry was ordered to 
superintend the building of a fleet of 
these gunboats at Newport. After they 
were built he was put in command of 
them, and ordered to patrol Long 
Island Sound. 

At this time the Government wanted 
a map of the harbors in the neighbor- 
hood of Newport. On account of his 
standing as a seaman, and of his edu- 



BIOGRAPHY- OLIVER HAZARD PERRY 



363 



cation, Lieutenant Perry was selected 
to visit the harbors and make such a 
map. 

On May 5, 181 r, he was married to 
Elizabeth Champlin Mason. He took a 
wedding journey through New Eng- 
land, visiting the place where his 
Quaker ancestors had lived so many 
years before. 

On June 18, 1812, the formal declara- 
tion of war was declared against Eng- 
land. 

Lieutenant Perry, being in command 
of the flotilla of gunboats on the New- 
port station, offered his services for 
the lakes, and early in February, 1813, 
a letter to him from Commodore 
Chauncey said : "You are the very 
person I want for a particular service, 
in which you may gain reputation for 
yourself and honor for your country." 
That service was the command of a 
naval force on Lake Erie, and on the 
17th of February Perry received orders 
from the Secretary of the Xavy to re- 
port to Chauncey ' with all possible 
dispatch, and to take with him to Sack- 
ett's Harbor all of the best men of 
the flotilla at Newport. He sent them 
forward at once in companies of fifty 
under sailing masters Almy, Champlin 
and Taylor, and followed them in a 
sleigh. He met Chauncey at Albany, 
and they journed together in a sleigh 
through the dark wilderness to Sackett's 
Harbor. ■ A fortnight afterward 
(March, 1813) Perry went to Presque 
Isle (now Erie, Pa.) to hasten the 
construction and equipment of a little 
navy there, to co-operate with General 
Harrison for the recovery of Michigan. 

Four vessels were speedily built at 
Erie and five others were taken to that 
slieltered harbor from Black Rock, be- 
low Buffalo, where Henry Eckford had 
fashioned merchant vessels into war- 
riors. The little fleet of nine vessels 
were all ready at Erie early in July, 
and the flagship was named the Law- 
rence, in compliment to the gallant 
commander of the Chesapeake, who 
had just given his life to his country. 
But men and supplies were wanting, 
and Perry had to wait weeks, in great 
impatience, before he could get out on 



the lake to meet a British squadron 
that was cruising there under Commo- 
dore Barclay. That squadron seriously 
menaced the fleet at Presque Isle, while 
Perry chafed under compulsory idle- 
ness. Late in July he wrote to 
Chauncey: "For (jod's sake and yours 
and mine, send me men and officers 
and I will have them all (the British 
vessels) in a day or two . . . Our 
sails are bent, provisions on board, and, 
in fact, everything is ready. Barclay 
has been bearding me for several days ; 
I long to be at him. . . . Think of 
my situation — the enemy in sight, the 
\essels under my command more than 
sufficient and ready to make sail, and 
yet obliged to bite my fingers with 
vexation for want of men." 

Meanwhile the tardy government and 
stay-at-home citizens were calling 
loudly upon Perry and Harrison to 
"do something," and the former, fretted 
by these implied complaints, having 
been reinforced by about one hundred 
men under Captain Elliot, went out 
upon the lake with his little fleet early 
in August, before he was fairly pre- 
pared for vigorous combat. He de- 
termined to report to Harrison that he 
was ready for co-operation with him, 
and on the 17th day of August, when 
off Sandusky Bay, he fired signal guns, 
according to agreement. Late on the 
evening of the 19th Harrison and his 
suite arrived in boats and went on 
board the Lawrence, where arrange- 
ments were made for the fall cam- 
paign in that quarter. Harrison had 
then about eight thousand militia, 
regulars and Indians, at Camp Seneca, 
a little more than twenty miles from 
the lake. While he was waiting for 
Harrison to prepare his army for 
transportation to Maiden, Perry cruised 
about the lake. Then he lay quietly 
at anchor in Put-in-Bay for a few 
days. On a bright and beautiful morn- 
ing, the loth of September, the sentinel 
watching in the maintop of tlie Law- 
rence cried, "Sail ho !" It announced 
the appearance of the British fleet, 
clearly seen in the northwestern hori- 
zon. The sentinel's cry was followed 
by signals from the Lawrence to the 



364 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



rest of the fleet: "Enemy in sight. 
Get under way," and the shout of the 
boatswains, "All hands up anchor, 
ahoy!" Perry's nine vessels were the 
brigs Lawrence, 20; Niagara, 20; Cale- 
donia, 3. Schooners Ariel, 4 ; Scorpion, 
I ; and sloop Trippe, i ; in all fifty-four 
carriage guns and two swivels. Bar- 
clay's fleet consisted of the flagship 
Detroit, the Queen Charlotte, Lady 
Prevost, Hunter; Little Belt and Chip- 
pewa, carrying six carriage guns, two 
swivels and four howitzers. At the 
masthead of the Lawrence Perry dis- 
played a blue banner with the reported 
last words of Captain Lawrence, "Don't 
give up the ship!" displayed upon it 
in large white letters. 

The two squadrons slowly ap- 
proached each other, and at noon the 
battle began at long range — the Scor- 
pion, commanded by young Champlin, 
then less than twenty-four years of 
age, firing the fir.st shot on the Amer- 
ican side. Nearer and nearer the 
vessels approached each other ; hotter 
and hotter waxed the fight. For two 
hours the Lawrence bore the brunt of 
battle, with twice her force, until, like 
the Guerrieve, she lay upon the waters 
an almost total wreck. Her rigging was 
all shot away; her sails were cut into 
shreds; her spars were battered into 
splinters, and her guns were dis- 
mounted. One mast remained, and 
from it the Stars and Stripes were 
streaming. A less hopeful man than 
Perry would have pulled them down 
and surrendered, for his deck was a 
scene of dreadful carnage. Meanwhile 
most of the other vessels had been 
fighting gallantly excepting the staunch 
Niagara, Captain Elliot, which kept out- 
side and was unhurt. As this lagging 
brig drew near, Perry determined to fly 
to her and renewing the fight gain a 
victory. In token of his faith he put 
on the uniform of his rank, as if con- 
scious he should receive Barclay as a 
prisoner. Then taking down his broad 
pennant and the banner with the stir- 
ring words, he entered his boat with his 
little brother, fourteen years of age, 
and four stout seaman for the oars, and 
.started on his perilous voyage, anx- 



iously watched by Lieutenant Yarnell 
and a few others, who had been left in 
charge of the battered Lawrence. 
Perry stood upright in his boat with 
the pennant and banner partly wrapped 
around him, a conspicuous mark for 
the guns of the enemy. Barclay, who 
was badly wounded, knew that if Perry, 
who had fought the Laivrence so 
gallantly, should tread the decks of the 
staunch Niagara as commander, the 
British would be in danger of defeat ; 
so he ordered big and little guns to 
be brought to bear upon the boat that 
bore the young hero. The voyage lasted 
fifteen minutes. The oars were splint- 
ered, bullets traversed the little vessel 
and round, and grape shot falling near 
covered his oarsm.en with spray. But 
he reached the Niagara in safety. 
Hoisting his pennant over that vessel, 
he dashed through the British line, and 
eight minutes afterward the colors of 
the enemy's flagship were struck, and 
all but two of the fleet surrendered. 
These attempted to escape. They were 
pursued and brought back by the brave 
young Champlin in the Scorpion late in 
the evening. He had fired the first gun. 
at the opening of the battle, and now 
he had fired the last one in securing 
the conquered vessels. The victory was 
complete. Assured of triumph. Perry 
sat down and, resting his naval cap on 
his knee, wrote with a lead pencil on 
the back of a letter, this famous dis- 
patch to General Harrison : "We have 
met the enemy and they are ours ; two 
ships, two brigs, one schooner and one 
sloop. 

"Yours, with great respect, 

O. H. Perry." 

The news of this victory carried joy 
to the hearts of the Americans. The 
lakes had echoed the triumphs of the 
ocean. The name of Perry was made 
immortaJ. His government, in the 
name of the people, thanked him and 
gave him and Elliot each a gold medal. 
States and cities honored him. The 
Legislature of Pennsylvania voted him 
thanks and a gold medal, and they 
gave the thanks of the Commonwealth 
and a silver medal to each man who 



BIOGRAPHY— THOMAS JEFFERSON 



365 



was engaged in the battle. The loss 
of the Americans in the conflict on 
Lake Erie, considering the small num- 
ber engaged, was very severe — twenty- 
seven killed and ninety-six wounded. 
The British lost about two hundred 
in killed and wounded, and six hundred 
made prisoners. Perry's humane con- 
duct toward the captives was such that 
Barclay declared it was sufficient to 
immortalize him. 

On November 29, 1813, he received 
his promotion to the rank of Captain. 
.\t that time this was the highest rank 
in the American navy. 

In August, 1814, he was ordered to 
command a new frigate named the 
Java. He hastened to Baltimore, where 
this vessel was to be launched. Con- 
gress passed a bill to fit out two squad- 
rons of fast sailing vessels. These 
were to cruise near the English coasts 
and destroy the commerce between the 
different ports. 

Captain Perry was ordered to leave 
the Java and command one of these 
squadrons. But before he could sail 
for England peace was declared. A 
treaty with that country was signed 
December 24, 1814. 

The history of Captain Perry from 
now on was uneventful ; he served 
with distinction in the Mediterranean 
against the Barbary powers, returning 
to his home in Newport in March, 1817, 
to live a quiet life with his family. 

On March 31, 1819, he was sum- 
moned to Washington and was given 
command of an expedition to Venezuela 
to present claims to the President of 
that country to recover losses to Amer- 
ican shipping from seizures of Amer- 
ican vessels by Venezuelian privateers. 
He reached the mouth of the Orinoco 
River July 15, 1819. Here he was 
obliged to take the small schooner in 
order to go up the river to reach the 
town of Angostura, which was then 
the Venezuelan capital. 

The weather was intensely hot, and 
many of the crew were taken ill with 
yellow fever, but Perry would not 
leave until his mission was accom- 
plished. After three weeks of delay 



he succeeded in getting the promises 
for which he had come. 

On the return to his flagship he was 
taken with a chill and showed symp- 
toms of yellow fever. Within a mile 
of the John Adams Captain Perry died 
on his thirty-fourth birthday, August 
23, 1819. 

He vi'as buried on the island of 
Trinidad with military honors, and the 
John Adons brought back the sad news 
to the United States. His deatli was 
regarded as a national calamity. The 
Government sent a war vessel to bring 
his body home. He was finally laid 
to rest at Newport, where a granite 
monument marks his grave. 

THOMAS JEFFERSON. 
1 743- 1 826. 

The Ideal Democr.at. 

Thomas Jefferson was born April 13, 
1743, on the estate where he lived and 
died. It was in the end called Monti- 
cello, and lies on the waters of the 
Roanoke. His father, Peter, was an 
original settler. His mother, who was 
Jane Randolph, traced her "pedigree 
far back in England and Scotland, to 
which," says the great Democrat, "let 
everyone ascribe t4ie faith and merit 
he chooses." The son went to English 
school at five, and to Greek, Latin 
and French at nine. His father died 
when he was fourteen, bequeathing to 
Thomas Jefferson the Roanoke River 
estate. After this event the son went 
to study with the Rev. Mr. Maury. 
After two years of preparation with 
Mr. Maury the pupil entered William 
and Mary College, where he studied 
for two years. Here is a day's pro- 
gramme of study, drawn up and recom- 
mended by him : Before 8 a. m., 
physical studies; 8 to 12, law; 12 to i, 
politics; afternoon, history; "dark to 
bedtime," literature, oratory, etc. 

His father's death left him in the 
position of an independent country 
gentleman, with an income of $2,000 
a year. At the time of his admission 
to the bar he was described by his con- 



366 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



temporaries as 6 feet 2 inches in height, 
shm without attenuation, erect as an 
arrow, with angular features, a very 
ruddy complexion, an extremely deli- 
cate skin, full, deep-set hazel eyes and 
sandy hair, an expert violinist, a good 
dancer, a dashing rider, and proficient 
in all manly exercises. He was, and 
continued through life, frank, cordial, 
and sympathetic in his manner, full of 
confidence in men, and sanguine in his 
views of life. 

On the 1st of January, 1772, he was 
married to Martha Skelton, widow of 
Bathurst Skelton, then twenty-three 
years old. She very soon brought to 
her husband a patrimony equal to his 
own, which consequently doubled the 
ease of their circumstances. 

At Williamsburg, Patrick Henry was 
the acknowledged leader of the young 
men, and when Boston port was sealed 
( 1774) the young \'irginians thought 
a day of fasting and prayer would 
arouse and alarm the more lethargic of 
their fellows to a sense of the British 
despotism. A (revolutionary) Conven- 
tion of Virginia was called for August 
I, 1774. Jefferson prepared a draft of 
instructions which he hoped should be 
given to the delegates whom this con- 
vention would send to the Continental 
Congress, but, falling ill, sent a copy 
to Patrick Henry, which he pocketed ; 
another copy went to Peyton Randolph, 
who showed it to the members ; they 
printed it in pamphlet form under the 
title of "A Summary \"iew of the 
Rights of British America." It was 
sent to England, and there became the 
text-book of the Opposition to the 
Government. The name of Jefferson 
was placed on the secret rolls of pro- 
scription, for the document was prac- 
tically another statement of the wrongs 
catalogued two years later in the Decla- 
ration of Independence. 

In June, 1775, the Burgesses sent 
Jefferson to Congress to take the place 
vacated by Peyton Randolph. Jeft'er- 
son returned to Virginia; came again 
in the autumn and went. In the Vir- 
ginian Convention, where Patrick 
Henry pushed the cause of independ- 
ence rapidly forward, Jefferson was in 



highest repute, and when next, in May, 
1776, he traveled to Philadelphia, he 
carried instructions that the \^irginia 
delegates should move that Congress 
declare "the United Colonies free and 
independent States." In the meantime 
two highly important committees were 
formed — one to prepare a Declaration, 
the other to draw up articles of Con- 
federation. The work of the second 
committee was done over again in 1789. 
The perfect labors of the first commit- 
tee have been the theme of Freedom's 
poets from that time on. 

The literary history of the Declara- 
tion of Independence is meager. The 
accounts of both Jefferson and John 
Adams are brief ; Dr. Franklin said 
nothing about it. The other two com- 
mitteemen, Sherman and Livingston, 
did not touch it. Nevertheless, al- 
though Thomas Jefferson was twice 
President of the United States, father 
of Democracy in America, and withal 
a moral teacher of politics without 
equal in the warld, he stands before the 
people, from the time they enter school 
to old age, as the author of the Declara- 
tion of Independence. There can be no 
error, on this account, in reciting all 
that is known touching the composition 
of the original document. 

On June 1 1 Congress balloted for a 
committee of five, and Jefferson led the 
poll, with Adams and Franklin next 
in order. Jefferson and Adams each 
politely asked the other to write the 
manifesto, but it was tacitly understood 
that the honor rightly belonged to Vir- 
ginia, and to the author of the "Sum- 
mary Statement," whose terms were 
now satisfactory to a majority of the 
colonies. The phrases employed by Jef- 
ferson were purposely chosen from 
the accepted sayings of the time, and 
nothing could have given better evi- 
dence of the statesman's genius. In his 
autobiography, beyond submitting the 
facsimile of the original draft, Jeffer- 
son vouchsafes no history of his labor. 
He says: "The committee desired me 
to do it. It was accordingly done, and 
being approved by them, I reported it 
to the House on Friday, the 28th of 
Tune, when it was read and ordered 



BIOGRAPHY— THOMAS JEFFERSON 



367 



to lie on the tabic." 1 te says elsewhere 
that he submitted the draft separately 
to Dr. Franklin and John Adams, each 
of whom suggested a few alterations, 
which were interlined in their own 
hands. The committee adopted this 
draft, whereafter Jeflcrson drew off a 
fair copy for Congress. 

The original instrument is written in 
a very fine hand on four foolscap sheets 
of writing-paper. The Declaration was 
reported by committee, agreed to by the 
House, and signed by every member 
present except Mr. Dickinson. Be it 
said to the honor of the constituents of 
this man, that he misrepresented them, 
and was not allowed to return to Con- 
gress. 

The Declaration of Independence, as 
it stands, is practically the handiwork 
of Thomas Jefferson. 

Satisfied with the honor that had 
come to him in Congress, and feeling 
that the new laws of Virginia needed 
his formative care, Mr. Jefferson re- 
signed his seat at Philadelphia and took 
a laboring oar at Williamsburg in Oc- 
tober. 1776. 

In January, 1779, Patrick Henry had 
reached the limit of his constitutional 
eligibility as Governor, and Mr. Jef- 
ferson was compelled to take his place, 
with the legacy of an invasion by the 
British. Governor Jefferson went out 
of office with \'irginia under the heel 
of the marauding British, and was in 
bitter humor. His wife also was 
seriously ill. He would not return to 
the Legislature, and caused his admir- 
ers, Madison and Monroe, serious mis- 
givings. The death of his wife was 
a blow from which he was slow to re- 
cover, and few husbands have exhibited 
a sense of desolation so poignant. 
While immersed in this grief he was 
thrice appointed to go to Europe as 
commissioner, but declined. In June, 
^7^3' however, he felt it necessary to 
re-enter public life, and carried, as dele- 
gate from Virginia, the deed of that 
colony, presenting all her western lands 
to the ITnited States. He signed the 
treaty ot independence. 

In May, 1784, he was a fourth time 
appointed to a foreign mission, and 



this time he accepted, and sailed with 
his daughter Martha, whom he placed 
in a convent school in France. 

The Constitution had been made be- 
hind closed doors at Philadelphia, and 
Jefferson first saw a complete copy of 
it at Paris. He who had been so alert 
in formulating the laws of his own 
State seems to have regarded the Con- 
stitution of the nation as a matter of 
lesser moment, or at least one tiiat 
could be safely intrusted to the care 
of his friends — Madison and Monroe. 
He praised the instrument as a whole, 
but found articles which he thought ob- 
jectionable. "The absence of express 
declarations insuring freedom of re- 
ligion, freedom of the press, freedom of 
the person under the uninterrupted pro- 
tection of habeas corpus, and trial by 
jury in civil as well as criminal cases, 
excited my jealousy, and the re-eligibil- 
ity of the President for life I quite 
disapprove." He also looked upon the 
all-powerful judicial arm of the new 
Government with undisguised fear that 
therein lay the germ of future dissolu- 
tion, although he did not offer prac- 
tical suggestions looking to a betterment 
of the plan. In the end, feeling that 
amendment would perfect the work so 
well begun, he became an indorser of 
the new Constitution, and thereby won 
a warm place in the esteem of General 
Washington, who regarded the question 
of adoption as quite personal to himself 
and essential to his country. 

It became necessary for Thomas Jef- 
ferson to accompany John Adams to 
the English King's levees at London, 
and there the great Democrat was stung 
with the insulting deportment of the 
monarch and his consort. 

Thomas Jefferson came home, on 
leave of absence, late in 1789, an ardent 
well-wisher of the French patriots, a 
friend of France, to whom, as suc- 
cessor and follower of his revered Dr. 
Franklin, he considered that his own 
nation owed almost its life. General 
Washington had been elected President, 
and practically commanded Jefferson to 
lay aside his foreign mission and ac- 
cept the highest place in the Cabinet — 
the Secretaryship of State. 



368 



THE HOME AUXILL\RV AND REFERENCE 



The Democratic party had grown to 
such an extent when General Washing- 
ton refused a third term of the presi- 
dency, that the proponents of John 
Adams, in securing to him the first 
place, lost the second to Jefferson. 

In the autumn of 1800 Jefferson 
and Burr won seventy-three electors 
each, and the choice fell to the House 
of Representatives to see which candi- 
date should be President. After a 
violent strain on the then clumsy Con- 
stitution, Jefferson was named, Hamil- 
ton making it possible (greatly to his 
credit). The balloting lasted seven 
days. John Adams, outraged in every 
fiber of his being, appointed Federalists 
till midnight of Jilarch 3, 1801, and 
then took horse to escape from an at- 
mosphere which for so many coming 
years was to be Democratic. Wash- 
ington was dead. There was no other 
person for whose personal feelings 
Thomas Jefferson was willing to waive 
certain forms of Democracy which he 
desired to see established. 

Dressed in plain clothes, he rode to 
the capital on horseback, without guard 
or servant, dismounted and hitched his 
horse to the fence. 

At the end of four years he regret- 
fully announced his candidacy for a 
second term. He was re-elected by the 
astonishing vote of 162 to 14 electors. 
He longed for private life, and though 
five States requested him to serve a 
third term, he firmly rejected the pro- 
jiosal, offering instead the example of 
himself and General Washington as 
likely to supply a defect of the Consti- 
tution and preserve the nation from the 
ambition of a would-be usurper. 

There followed in the life of this 
sage seventeen years of old age at Mon- 
ticello, during which time his beloved 
pupils were Presidents of the United 
States, and the Government was car- 
ried on, as he would have it, in the 
best interests of the masses. That 
trust which the great plain people had 
so confidingly reposed in the Father of 
His Country while he lived, was placed, 
with even a still warmer and keener 
affection, in Thomas Jefferson, and he 



remained till' death the chief man in 
the Republic. 

His health broke rapidly in the win- 
ter of 1826, his eighty-third year. In 
the middle of ^larch he made his will 
and prepared the original draft of the 
Declaration of Independence for pos- 
terity. Later he read the Bible and 
the Greek tragedies. He expressed a 
desire, as he grew very feeble with old 
age, to survive till the Fourth of July, 
and the friends around his dying bed 
awaited the dawn of that celebrated 
day with affectionate anxiety, seeming 
to burden themselves only with this 
sacred hope of the grandsire. His wish 
was gratified, but he had sunk very 
low, and expired at i o'clock in the 
afternoon, preceding John Adams but 
a few hours in his exit. 

JAMES MADISON. 

1751-1836. 

Father of the Constitution. 

James Madison was born March 16, 
1 75 1, at Port Conway, King George 
County, \'irginia, while his mother was 
visiting her parents. His father was a 
planter, and dwelt on the estate called 
Montpellier, which afterward became 
the home also of the son, who was the 
first-born of seven children. James 
went to a school under the mastership 
of Donald Robertson, a learned Scotch- 
man. The clergyman of the parish, the 
Rev. Thomas Martin, of Xew Jersey, 
was a member of the Madison family, 
and as tutor prepared James for Prince- 
ton College, to which he was doubtless 
recommended by the clerical gentleman. 
James entered Princeton at eighteen, 
and, by unusual and unhealthy applica- 
tion, compressed the studies of two 
years into one, taking an extra year in 
Hebrew. In 1771 he was given the 
degree of Bachelor of Arts, and re- 
turned to the Rappahannock River 
broken in health and crippled in ambi- 
tion. Theological studies had taken 
possession of his intellect, and, many 
years after Patrick Henry had forced 



BIOGRAPHY— JAMES MADISON 



369 



the Virginia Resolves on the House of 
Burgesses, James Madison was more 
interested in rehgious controversies 
than in taxation without representa- 
tion. 

He regarded his election as a dele- 
gate to the \irginia Convention of 
1776 as his first entrance into public 
life. Here Jefferson had become the 
dominating force. Beside ordering the 
V irginia delegates in Congress to vote 
for a Declaration of Independence, the 
home convention made a Bill of Rights 
and a Constitution. Into the Bill of 
Rights Madison entered religious free- 
dom as a "right" and not a "privilege 
tolerated." He was elected to the first 
Assembly, but because he did not stand 
for office in the customary fashion, by 
"treating" and public solicitation at the 
market price, he was defeated for the 
second Assembly. But already his fame 
as a learned man — for he could study 
twenty out of twenty- fotir hours, even 
exceeding Jefferson's assiduousness — 
had recommended him to the Revolu- 
tionists, and they appointed him one of 
the State Senate, where for two years 
he took a prominent part, and was then 
sent as a delegate to the Congress of the 
Confederation at Philadelphia, where 
he arrived in 1780. 

A study of the inherent weakness of 
Congress, together with the lessons en- 
forced by great personal inconvenience, 
caused ]\Iadison to look further — that 
is, toward some system of Federation 
that would cause the States, acting as a 
whole, to be able to confer on their 
representatives a respectable authority. 
He prepared an Address to the States, 
which was considered unusually able 
and valuable, asking that Congress be 
given the power to levy an import duty 
for the period of twenty-five years. 
His numerous references in debate and 
by writing, to the schemes of govern- 
ment and administration that had found 
favor in other ages and administrations, 
drew attention to his learning in that 
direction, and he soon became recog- 
nized as an expert in organic law. 

As little could be accomplished by 
one man at Philadelphia, Madison, like 
Jefferson, determined to at least estab- 



lish a working democracy in Virginia, 
and transferred the scene of his labors 
to the Legislature of that State. 

As a Virginian Madison now set out 
to give the other colonies examples of 
submission to the Union. It was here 
that such proffers must originate, for 
the Northern States considered that 
they had more valuable rights to cede, 
as they were trading communities. The 
effort to regulate commerce in Vir- 
ginia, so that it could be taxed with- 
out a wasteful number of custom 
houses, led to a conference between 
the Chesapeake States. It was soon a 
matter of discernment for a constitu- 
tional scholar like Madison to note that 
a meeting of the thirteen States might 
be expected to produce a practical com- 
pact. A call was made upon the States 
to accredit new delegates to a conven- 
tion which should meet at Philadelphia 
in May, 1787, "to devise such further 
provisions as shall appear to them 
necessary to render the Constitution 
of the Federal Government adequate to 
the exigencies of the Union." Vir- 
ginia was the first to conform to this 
request, and General Washington and 
James Madison were among the dele- 
gates. Twelve States, all but Rhode 
Island, sent delegates. 

Had the matter waited but a little 
longer, the two confederacies of 1861 
would have been precipitated in 1787 
or thereabouts, for the Northern and 
Southern interests were then as well 
marked as at any time during the ex- 
istence of slavery. It was this institu- 
tion that gave to the Union such a 
complex machinery of government, and 
it was Madison's mechanical ability that 
was able to set that machinery in opera- 
tion. 

Madison's original plan for a Union 
was somewhat as follows : A House 
of Congress wherein the population 
was represented, rather than the States, 
with necessary modifications, so that 
the body should not be unwieldly and 
yet each State should have at least one 
representative; all general laws to be 
passed by Congress ; a comparatively 
permanent Senate with power to veto 
all State laws ; the nation to have all 



370 



THE HOME AUXH^IARY AND REFERENCE 



the judiciary and troops ; a national 
executive power (not named in detail) ; 
a ratification of the plan by the people 
at the polls. Madison deplored the 
mention of force as a compelling cause. 
The convention sat with closed doors 
till September 17, 1787, and evolved, 
on the whole, a more democratic in- 
strument than Madison's. More self- 
government was left to the States, both 
in their laws and their judges. The 
debates, apart from "the peculiar in- 
stitution," evolved a new fabric, where- 
in the aristocratic features of the 
English Government were omitted, and 
the rights of local government carried 
down as far as the town meeting, 
which was an adjustment to the New 
England form. ^ladison was at first 
disappointed — no better pleased than 
Hamilton. A little later he learned 
than Patrick Henry and Samuel Adams 
were almost up in arms against the 
compact, and that General Washington 
looked to him to support the Federalist 
contest in Virginia. He prepared the 
first ten amendments to the Constitu- 
tion, making that instrument tolerable 
to Patrick Henry. He offered twelve, 
but two failed of adoption by the 
States. 

For ten years after the making of 
the Constitution the history of Madison 
is essentially like that of Jefferson — 
active hostility to everything advocated 
or done by Hamilton as Secretary of 
the Treasury. 

Madison left the House when Gen- 
eral Washington laid down the presi- 
dency. He was the acknowledged 
leader of a rapidly growing party of 
opposition. About this time he mar- 
ried a widow, Dorothea Payne Todd 
(the daughter of a Quaker), who was 
only twenty-six. She became the 
"Dolly Madison" celebrated in the an- 
nals of the White House as one of the 
most famous of its mistresses. She 
survived her husband thirteen years, 
and her bust, after she had arrived at 
jnore mature years, is familiar in the 
engravings of to-day. Mr. Madison 
built a new house at Montpellier, and 
Jefferson and Monroe personally aided 
him in getting things set to rights. 



When Jefferson became President he 
at once called Madison to be Secretary 
of State, and here the lieutenant passed 
eight cheerful and easy years, safe 
under the shadow of a master, with 
an increasing popularity registering on 
all political doctrines for which he 
stood. 

In 1809 he became fourth President 
of the United States by a large major- 
ity. Madison, as President, induced 
Erskine. English Minister, to agree to 
a fair treaty that was at once repudi- 
ated at London. The anti-English 
party that had followed Jefferson 
docilely began to push its own course 
upon Sladison, and, as the price of re- 
election, he was forced to declare war 
on Great Britain, a course amply justi- 
fied by all considerations save the one 
of prudence, which alone withheld 
Jefferson. 

The War of 1812 developed the fact 
that Madison was a poor wai" President. 

He retired to MontpelH^r in 1817, 
and the succession was given to James 
Monroe, according to the plans of 
Thomas Jefferson, entered on years be- 
fore. Josiah Quincy called Madison 
and Monroe James I and James H. 

For nearly twenty years Mr. Madi- 
son lived in high honor at Montpellier, 
a planter who lost interest in neither 
history nor government. He was justly 
considered as the only great authority 
on the Constitution, and succeeding 
statesmen strove, with his interpreta- 
tion of its meaning, to keep within 
the scope of its provisions. 

The whole nation mourned in his last 
days, and he died full of honors June 
28, 1836, and was buried at Montpellier. 
"Mr. Madison," said the faithful slave 
who attended him, "was, I think, one 
of the best men who ever lived." 

ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

1 757- 1 804. 

Founder of the Treasury Dep.art- 

MENT. 

Alexander Hamilton was born ob- 
scurely on the very small English 



BIOGRAPHY— ALEXANDER HAMILTON 



3/1 



island of Nevis, near St. Christopher's, 
in the West Indies, January ii, 1757. 
Hamihon, a lad of fifteen, remark- 
able for his precocity, arrived at Boston 
in October, 1772, and went thence to 
Xew York, where he was put in a 
suburban grammar school, friends hav- 
ing interested themselves in his educa- 
tion. He then entered King's College. 
His dark skin proclaimed a tropical 
birth, and he was called "the young 
West Indian." In 1774 he visited Bos- 
ton, where he gathered his first ideas 
of "sedition" — for New York was a 
Tory town. The opponents of the 
English policy in New York were of 
the poorer classes, and Hamilton first 
attended their meeting in the fields July 
6, 1774, where he made bold to ascend 
their rostrum and inform the multitude 
as to what was taking place at Faneuil 
Hall and in the Old South Church of 
Boston. In the autumn of that year 
the lad published several patriotic pam- 
phlets and became a voluminous con- 
tributor to the press, with the idea of 
forcing New York into the Continental 
Congress. \\'hen the war began at 
Boston, the student, like Monroe at 
the Williamsburg College, joined a 
military company of patriots, and was 
the hero of a number of exploits that 
reflected credit on his courage, dignity 
and humanity. In 1776 the New York 
Convention gave him permission to 
raise a military company of his own, 
and the captain drilled his men so well 
that he rose to the favorable notice of 
General Greene, who, in turn, intro- 
duced him to General Washington. So 
bravely did Captain Hamilton deport 
himself during the continuous retreats 
of the patriot army, and so marked was 
his facility as a writer, that General 
Washington appointed him one of his 
aides, with the rank of Lieutenant- 
Colonel March i, 1777, when he was 
barely twenty years old. He now took 
charge of Washington's correspond- 
ence, and for years filled the arduous, 
and. as he believed, not sufficiently 
glorious post of military secretary. 
After the great success of General 
Gates at Saratoga Colonel Hamilton 
was sent north to persuade or command 



General Gates to detach some of his 
troops for the succor of the main army, 
and succeeded. He was on other occa- 
sions a trusted messenger and envoy of 
^^'ashington. \Mien Major xAndre fell 
into the toils that sometimes close 
around a spy. Colonel Hamilton ex- 
erted himself to save the unfortunate 
man. 

On February 16, 1781, General 
Washington sent for Colonel Hamilton 
to come to him, and, believing that his 
aide had not hastened, rebuked him for 
a lack of respect to his commander. 
"I am not conscious of it, sir ; but since 
you have thought it, we part." General 
Washington strove to quiet the young 
man's resentment, and ever looked upon 
him with most favoring eye. It is said 
that all the army officers who were 
friendly to Washington, particularly 
the French, were unequivocally fond 
of Hamilton. Doubtless the young 
Colonel desired a command rather than 
a clerkship, and his withdrawal secured 
it, for in the seventh year of the war 
he was in the army again as a General, 
and at Yorktown was given charge of 
the assault on one of the redoubts. 
He went forward impetuously at the 
head of his men, and had possession in 
less than ten minutes of gallant fight- 
ing. The French were not so expedi- 
tious, and the honors of the day went 
to Hamilton, thus contributing greatly 
to his standing in Revolutionary 
councils. 

After his retirement from the army 
he was the author of several striking 
treatises looking to a correction of the 
evils from which he had seen the patriot 
army suffer so cruelly. "We must 
have a government of more power," 
he wrote. "We must have a tax in 
kind. We must have a foreign loan. 
We must have a bank on the true prin- 
ciples of a bank. We must have an 
administration distinct from Congress, 
and in the hands of single men under 
their orders." 

While he was General \v ashington's 
aide, Hamilton married General Schuy- 
ler's daughter Elizabeth, and at the close 
of the war had for his fortune wife, 
child, arrears-of-pay, and ambition. He 



372 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



made a preparation for the bar almost 
as hasty as that of Patrick Henry, and 
was admitted to practice at New York 
in the summer of 1782. At the same 
time his friend Robert Morris ap- 
pointed him Federal Tax Collector at 
New York. Hamilton next attended 
the Legislature at Poughkeepsie, 
argued, lobbied, pleaded and did all he 
could to sweep away the nerveless 
forms of public business, but with little 
success at the time. The Legislature, 
however, appointed him a member of 
Congress, and he resigned hjs Collec- 
torship. In the Congress of 1782 he 
met Madison, his great parliamentary 
antagonist. Through that year and into 
1783 he labored, as he had always done, 
to bring the country to a sense of its 
indebtedness to the army, but the Rhode 
Islanders and others could not see their 
way clear to allow a general or con- 
tinental procedure and were inclined to 
choose repudiation. General Washing- 
ton calmed the army, and doubtless 
moderated the sentiments of his young 
admirer. McHenry wrote to Hamilton 
that if he (Hamilton) were ten years 
older and twenty thousand pounds 
richer Congress would have believed all 
his advice good. The young Congress- 
man retired defeated at every point, 
and attributed his lack of success to 
the existence of thirteen democracies 
that could not long survive under the 
strain of their local jealousies, injus- 
tices and ingratitudes, as expressed 
toward the gallant army that had shed 
its blood so copiously for them. In 
the practice of his profession at Xew 
York he took the case of a Tory who 
had been sued for damages inflicted 
vuider the British occupation of New 
York. The patriots were all on the 
side of the plaintiff, whom Hamilton 
defeated. The Legislature and the peo- 
ple were very angry, and Hamilton, in 
taking the English side of the con- 
struction of the treaty of peace, further 
alienated himself from the favor of the 
masses, for whose opinion he evidenced 
growing indifference. He next pro- 
voked criticism by aiding the formation 
of the Society of the Cincinnati, whose 
members were to perpetuate their asso- 



ciation by inheritence in the first-born 
male descendants. Yet while separating 
himself further and further from the 
affections of the masses, Hamilton was 
not the less busy with thoughts of get- 
ting the nation together into coherent 
form. He first tried a State bank. 
When Madison left Congress to see 
what he could do in one State alone, 
he found Maryland surprisingly ready 
to debate the same questions of com- 
mercial taxation that were pressing. 
The first meeting led to a larger one. 
Then the Annapolis Convention was 
formally called, and to this Alexander 
Hamilton came, full of hope and fertile 
with plans to set up a stable central 
authority. It was he who wrote the 
Address of that rump convention — for 
only five States sat — and that Address 
proved to be the formal call for the 
Constitutional Convention of the 
United States of America — the only 
one ever held by this nation. There- 
fore it cannot be amiss, by way of 
emphasis, to repeat that Alexander 
Hamilton wrote the call for the Consti- 
tutional Convention, and that it was 
the outcome of all his hopes for many 
years. 

Hamilton then entered the Legisla- 
ture of New York, where he was again 
defeated at every point in his attempt 
to subserve the government, or any part 
of the government, of New York to 
the nation. When it came to the ap- 
pointment of delegates to the Constitu- 
tional Convention, only three were 
chosen, and although Hamilton was in- 
cluded in the small delegation, his 
voice was lost through the association 
with him of Yates and Lansing, who 
were sure to vote against him. The 
course of the New York Legislature, 
however, had given the last blow to the 
old Confederation of Samuel Adams, 
and there was no central bureau toward 
whom a majority of the States looked 
with respect or from whose officers they 
received directions without ridicule. 

Twelve States met at Philadelphia, 
with General Washington sitting in the 
chair and giving continental dignity to 
the deliberations. Hamilton made a 
speech of six hours, early in the Con- 



BIOGRAPHY— ALEXANDER HAMILTON 



2,73 



vention, and then, as he was certain to 
be outvoted as one of the three dele- 
gates from his State, he absented him- 
self much of the time from the sessions. 
He took the British institutions of 
King, Lords and Commons, as "the best 
models in existence." He boldly out- 
lined his plan, so that there could be 
no mistake as to his meaning. He de- 
sired to effectually cripple the power 
of the States and "establish an aristo- 
cratic Republic as distinguished from 
a democratic Republic." A certain 
amount of property should entitle an 
elector to vote for President and Sena- 
tors, who were "to hold office during 
good behavior." The President was to 
appoint the Governors, and they were 
to wield a veto-power over all legisla- 
tion. This was a duplication of the 
English monarchy, with the omission of 
a few details that must follow. The 
Senatorial rank would supply the no- 
bility and the electoral franchise would 
carry with it the advantages of an aris- 
tocracy. Hamilton's plan served as the 
tentative proposition of the ultra-con- 
servatives : had they started nearer to 
the base-line of democracy, they 
would have been compelled to concede 
more than they did. As it was, their 
President, with his vast appointive 
power, re-eligible for life, seemed a 
veritable monarch to Samuel Adams, 
Patrick Henry, and James IMonroe. 
Hamilton's Constitutional labors lay in 
writing the call ; in laying down the 
extreme proposals of the "monocrats," 
as they were then called, and in his re- 
turn to New York and valiant service 
as an advocate of the Constitution that 
had passed the Convention, \'ew York 
State being averse to its acceptance, or, 
in fact, to entrance into any Union. 
"Publius" was Hamilton's pen-name, 
and his articles in the Federalist were 
hailed with enthusiasm by all who were 
under the influence of General \\'ash- 
ington. Despite the opposition of Gov- 
ernor Clinton, a Constitutional Con- 
vention for New York (to debate the 
proposed federal instrument) was 
called, but Clinton was its President, 
with 46 out of 65 votes. "Two-thirds 
of the convention and four-sevenths o 



the people are against us," wrote Ham- 
ilton. Yet so masterly was his leader- 
ship of the minority of nineteen with 
which he entered the body that he came 
out of it with a majority of three, and 
the State signed the Constitution. The 
Commonwealth could not then foresee 
the leading position it was to have in 
the Great Republic. This was the last 
parliamentary contest of magnitude 
which Hamilton personally led. It was 
a victory which has filled his eulogists 
with justifiable pride. He was elected 
to Congress, and carried to Philadel- 
phia tidings which gave his patron, 
General Washington, no ordinary satis- 
faction. But he was soon defeated at 
many other points. He could not pre- 
\ent the ten amendments demanded by 
Patrick Henry, and he could not with- 
stand the power of Clinton in New 
York, who took him out of Congress. 
In urging the interests of the Schuy- 
ler family, he would make no terms 
with the Livingstons, demanding too 
much, and thus he finally lost influ- 
ence in the United States Senate, for, 
though he was able to at first control 
both the Senators and secure Feder- 
alists (that is, supporters of the Con- 
stitution), he alienated the Livingstons 
and raised up Burr against him. This 
Burr, in the end, was to avenge his own 
defeat by the murder of his political 
vanquisher. 

When Congress next met, there was 
a President of the United States. But 
it was early in the autumn before there 
was a law for a Treasury Department. 
Hamilton, at thirty-two, was chosen for 
this office. 

When the election of Jefferson and 
Burr was thrown into the House, un- 
der the crude electoral system then in 
operation, it was Hamilton who ab- 
sented Federalists enough to elect Jef- 
ferson, thus defeating the hopes of 
Burr, and in Burr's opinion betraying 
the interests of New York. 

Hamilton lived at Washington 
Heights, now the corner of One Hun- 
dred and Forty-fifth street and Tenth 
avenue. New York City- The house, 
still standing, is a large frame structure 
with tall wooden columns. At the 



374 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



southeast corner are thirteen tall trees, 
planted by Hamilton to represent the 
thirteeen States. 

On the 4th of July, 1801, Philip 
Hamilton, a lad of eighteen years old, 
eldest son of the General, heard G. J. 
Eaker deliver an oration in which he 
spoke disparagingly of General Ham- 
ilton. A short time afterward a per- 
sonal affray resulted and a young 
friend of young Hamilton fought a 
bloodless duel with Eaker. On this 
young Hamilton challenged Eaker, and 
the principals met January 10, 1802, at 
Weehawken, N. J., where Eaker killed 
young Hamilton. General Hamilton, 
hurrying to prevent this tragedy, 
fainted on the way. That the father 
should fall fatally wounded on this very 
s])ot under the Weehawken ledge has 
evoked for the widow and mother the 
tenderest sympathies of mankind. 

Both Hamilton and Burr were deeply 
disappointed men who did not quietly 
submit to misfortune. When Jefferson 
was at the crest of success, General 
Hamilton wrote, February 27, 1802, to 
Gouverneur Morris : "jNIine is an odd 
destiny. Perhaps no man in the United 
States has sacrificed or done more for 
the present Constitution than myself ; 
and contrary to all my anticipations of 
its fate, as you know, from the begin- 
ning. I am still laboring to prop the 
frail and worthless fabric. Yet I have 
the murmurs of its friends no less than 
the curses of its foes for my reward. 
What can I do better than withdraw 
from the scene? Every day proves to 
me more and more that this American 
world was not made for me." 

Aaron Burr, on his side, had many 
causes to hate General Hamilton. Be- 
side the Presidential election, Hamil- 
ton had prevented Burr's appointment 
to a foreign mission. Then Burr stood 
for election as Governor of New York, 
but through Hamilton's interference 
Lewis, a Democratic rival of Burr, was 
elected. For fourteen years Hamilton 
had assailed Burr with all the bitter- 
ness of his nature. Both were now out 
of office— one was ex-Vice-President, 
the other ex-Secretary of the Treasury. 
Both were extremely ambitious, but 



Hamilton could not be President under 
the Constitution, being foreign-born. 

It would seem that Hamilton, by a 
reiteration of these sentiments, had 
come to think that they were ^afe. And 
it seems that but for the intermed- 
dling of one Dr. Charles D. Cooper, 
Burr might not have thought his honor 
as a fighting man had been put in 
jeopardy. At last Hamilton, in the 
presence of this Dr. Cooper, declared 
that "he looked on Mr. Burr as a dan- 
gerous man, and one who ought not 
to be trusted with the reins of govern- 
ment." 

This statement of Dr. Cooper, 
coupled with other matters of a strik- 
ing intermeddling and tell-tale char- 
acter, was published in a newspaper, 
whereupon, June 18, 1804, Colonel 
Burr sent to General Hamilton by hand 
of W. P. Van Ness, a note as follows : 

"You must perceive, sir, the neces- 
sity of a prompt and unqualified ac- 
knowledgment or denial of the use of 
any expression which would warrant 
the assertion of Dr. Cooper." 

General Hamilton replied in a ver- 
bose note two days later. He did not 
consider the charge as being sufficiently 
definite. 

On the 2 1 St Colonel Burr again ad- 
dressed General Hamilton. General 
Hamilton's rejoinder was once more 
evasive, but this time brief. It was 
evident that he desired to avoid either 
a battle or an apology. The corre- 
spondence was then assumed by sec- 
onds — Van Ness for Burr, and Pendle- 
ton for Hamilton — each writing a 
somewhat wordy epistle. With that of 
\'an Ness was inclosed the formal chal- 
lenge. 

At daylight of July 11, 1804, Colonel 
Burr and \'an Ness arrived first at the 
duelling-ground, by appointment ; then 
came General Hamilton, Pendleton and 
Dr. Hosack, surgeon. The parties ex- 
changed salutations. By lot, position 
and word both fell to Hamilton's sec- 
ond. The large pistols were loaded 
and the distance of ten paces measured. 
The second giving the word asked : 
"Are you ready?" The answer was 
"Yes." He cried, "Present !" and, by 



BIOGRAPHY— JAMES MOXROE 



373 



agreement, the two pistols were tired. 
General Hamilton almost instantly fell. 
Burr advanced, evidently to express his 
regret, but his second, fearing a recog- 
nition by the surgeon and approaching 
boatmen, hurried him oft" to the boat. 
The surgeon and Pendleton raised 
General Hamilton to a sitting posture, 
and he said: "This is a mortal wound," 
swooning away. As he was carried to 
the river-bank he said : "My vision is 
indistinct." He was found to be mor- 
tally wounded in the side. The house 
was not far away, but the wounded 
man suffered intensely on the journey, 
and confronted the distress of a wife 
and seven children on arrival. He was 
undressed and put in a dark room . The 
surgeons of the French frigates and 
the eminent medical men of the city all 
hastened to the stricken home, but it 
was deemed unwise to increase the suf- 
ferings of a dying man. At about 2 
o'clock, as the public well know, he 
expired. 

JAMES MONROE. 
1758-1831 

Author of the Monroe DorTRixE. 

James Monroe was born in West- 
moreland County, near the head of 
]\Ionroe's Creek, which empties into the 
Potomac River, April 28, 1758. Not 
far away was the birthplace of George 
Washington. During Monroe's boy- 
hood the county was stirred with dis- 
cussions of the Stamp Act, and his 
neighbors nearly all followed the lead 
of Patrick Henry. Monroe entered the 
college of AV'illiam and Mary at Wil- 
liamsburg, and was at school there 
when the Revolutionary War broke out. 
He, \vith thirty other students, among 
whom was John Marshall, at once en- 
listed, and Monroe entered the service 
of Washington near New York as a 
Lieutenant in the Third Virginia 
Regiment of Colonel Mercer. He was 
in the engagements of Harlem and 
White Plains. At Trenton he was 
wounded in the shoulder, and carried 
the bullet in his body till he died. 

Colonel Monroe was chosen a mem- 



ber of the Assembly two years after 
he began studying law wi.h Jefferson, 
and in the same year entered the State 
Senate. At the age of twenty-five he 
was sent as a delegate to Congress, 
where he sat for three years, following 
that peripatetic body to Annapolis, 
Trenton and New York. During the 
summer of 1784 he ascended the Hud- 
son River to Albany, went westward 
to the lakes, and down the Ohio River ; 
thence homeward over the mountains. 
In the same year he visited Fort Pitt 
on another journey. He had a states- 
man's desire to inspect the land he lived 
in, and in early life, after he had seen 
a portion of it, he became an earnest 
advocate of free soil for the parts yet to 
be settled. This sentiment he modified 
in later years. 

While he was attending Congress at 
New York, in 1786, he married Miss 
Eliza Kortwright, a young woman of 
admitted beauty, and the pair moved 
to Fredericksburg, Va., where the hus- 
band began the practice of law. There 
were two children, both daughters, by 
this marriage. The next year (1787) 
he was chosen to the Assembly, and 
was in the celebrated convention of the 
next year, when Patrick Henry came 
so near compelling Mrginia to reject 
the new Federal Constitution. Monroe 
followed the lead of Henry, and op- 
posed Madison, with whom he was af- 
terward to labor during so many years 
in perfect harmony. When Patrick 
Henry punished Madison by excluding 
him as United States Senator, Monroe 
was given the coveted place. 

Here began the national career of 
Rfonroe under the new Constitution. 
He sat quietly in the United States Sen- 
ate for over three years. He receixed 
from General Washington an appoint- 
ment to France as Minister. It was 
well known that Monroe was an ardent 
democratic-Republican, and an admirer 
of the French Revolutionists. The re- 
call of Monroe took place in August, 
1796, but he did not reach America 
till the spring of 1797. 

Monroe became Governor of Vir- 
ginia, and was twice re-elected to that 
office, going to the constitutional limit. 



376 



THE HOMR AUXILIARY AND REFEREN'CE 



This period carried him past the death 
of Washington and the election of Jef- 
ferson as President. 

As soon as Jefferson became Presi- 
dent it gave him pleasure to vindicate 
Governor JMonroe by an appointment 
once more to France, with letters also 
to Spain and England. This time 
Monroe's mission, though no more 
creditable to the heart, was crowned 
with a success that in the end has added 
thirteen commonwealths to our nation. 
In a word, Louisiana was purchased. 
The main negotiators were, for Amer- 
ica, Jefferson, Monroe. Livingston ; for 
France, Bonaparte, Talleyrand, Alar- 
bois. Following the successful issue of 
this mission, I^Ionroe waited officially 
upon the English Foreign Minister at 
London. There the rancor and ill-will 
of the Government were still apparent. 
Not a civil remark escaped the receiv- 
ing official. Monroe was glad to go 
to Madrid, to see if he could purchase 
Florida. There he stayed without con- 
siderable progress till May, 1805. He 
afterward resided mainly at London, 
and looked after the local interests of 
some of the States. In May, 1806, he 
was empowered, with Pinckney, to 
make a treaty with England, and, al- 
though he had been filled with preju- 
dice toward England, Lord Holland 
succeeded in getting a treaty from the 
Americans which overlooked the out- 
rageous search of the English ships, 
and Jefferson, as President, would not 
consider it. Thus Monroe's good for- 
tune at Paris was again dampened un- 
der English fogs, and when he returned 
home \'irginia chose Madison rather 
than ]\Ionroe for Presidential candi- 
date, but softened IMonroe's rebuke by 
electing him Governor for the fourth 
time, he having meanwhile occupied a 
seat in the Assembly. This great of- 
fice he laid down to accept the port- 
folio of State under Madison, who had 
been President for about two years. 
The War of 1812 came on. He was 
Secretary of State for six years, and 
at one time filled also the position of 
Secretary of War. He could not re- 
main quiet under the surrender of Hull 
s.nd the misfortunes of Van Rensselaer 



and Smyth, and though the union of 
the executive and military arms in one 
person was a matter to be deplored by 
so pronounced a Democrat, he still de- 
sired to secure a more active hold on 
public operations than President Madi- 
son had achieved. His views were for- 
warded by a continuation of disastrous 
events, and when the city of Washing- 
ton was raided, he secured the dismis- 
sal of Armstrong as Secretary of War, 
took up the burden himself, and in- 
fused no little energy into the military 
affairs of the Republic. He wrote 
cheering letters to General Jackson, in 
the southwest, and mandatory dis- 
patches to the Governors: "Hasten 
your militia to New Orleans. Do not 
wait for this Government to arm them. 
Put all the arms you can find into their 
hands. Let every man bring his rifle 
with him. We shall see you paid." 
At one time Monroe was in his clothes 
for ten days, with almost no repose. 
The war closed with the downfall of 
Napoleon, in Europe, American hostili- 
ties having been a harmonic vibration 
at best — an auxiliary action, a play 
within the play — and America shared, 
in a release from urgent troubles, the 
good fortune of the world. 

President Madison having reached 
the limit of official tenure as exempli- 
fied by the withdrawals of Washing- 
ton and Jefferson, James Monroe, his 
chief Secretary, became the fitting can- 
didate for President, and with Daniel 
D. Tompkins as Vice-President, re- 
ceived 183 electoral votes, to only 
thirty-four for Rufus King, the Fed- 
eralist. During the eight years of 
Monroe's Presidency — renowned, at 
last, in political history as "the era of 
good feeling" — Florida was purchased, 
Missouri admitted, Mexico recognized, 
Lafayette welcomed, and the Monroe 
doctrine expounded. He became Presi- 
dent at fifty-nine. He had for impar- 
tial advisers two ex-President, whose 
only desire was to see him succeed. He 
took into his Cabinet, as Secretary of 
State, John Quincy Adams, at that time 
a man of extraordinary distinction. 
Calhoun was appointed Secretary of 
Wat, Crawford Secretary of the Treas- 



BIOGRAPHY— ANDREW JACKSON 



377 



ury, Wirt Attorney-General and Aleigs 
Postmaster-General. Andrew Jaskson 
was a popular hero. Webster, Clay 
and Benton were well upon the scene of 
public events. Henry Clay resented the 
appointment of ]\'Ir. Adams, but Gen- 
eral Jackson was directly in the JefFer- 
sonian line of faith, and a firm upholder 
of Monroe. The first thing the new 
President did was to make a tour of 
both sections of the nation. The 
northern tour extended to Portland, 
Me., west to Detroit, east to Wash- 
ington by way of Zanesville and Pitts- 
burg. In the southern tour, two years 
later, the President visited Augusta, the 
Cherokees, Nashville, Louisville and 
Lexington. 

With Monroe's second term came to 
an end the twenty-four years' period 
of Jefferson's direct personal influence. 

James Monroe retired from public 
life March 4, 1825, after forty-three 
years of public service, and made his 
residence at Oak Hill, Loudoun 
County, Va., dividing his time, how- 
ever, by long visits to New York, where 
his daughter, Mrs. Gouverneur, lived 
He died at New York on July 4, 1831, 
being the third of the Presidents to 
leave this world on the natal day they 
had done so much to make historical. 

ANDREW JACKSON 

I 767- I 845 

Old Hickory 

Andrew Jackson was born March 15, 
1767, at the Waxhaw Settlement, as he 
believed, in South Carolina, but, as 
many writers discover, in Mecklenburg 
county. North Carolina, on the upper 
waters of the Catawba River. The 
English penetrated the region, hoping 
to secure recruits. An officer wounded 
the boy Andrew because he refused to 
brush the officer's boots. He and his 
two brothers were taken prisoners to 
Camden, and the widowed mother died 
on her way to Camden. The two bro- 
thers lost their lives, and hatred of 
England was implanted in the heart of 
Andrew Jackson. At fourteen he was 



without relatives or means. He became 
a saddler's apprentice, and later a law 
student. After four years of study, in 
which it is said that he learned little, a 
friend appointed him public prosecutor 
in what is now Tennessee, but was then 
the Western District of North Carolina, 
and he arrived in Nashville at the age 
of twenty-one. The inhabitants had at- 
tempted to set up the State of Franklin, 
and were in a condition of disorder. 
It is probable that only a man who 
valued life lightly would have accepted 
Jackson's task. He seems to have 
joined to his ordinary dangers the col- 
lection of bad debts. Therefore his life 
was continually at stake on every lone- 
some road, and in every new circle of 
acquaintances. That he should soon be 
a leading spirit in such a state of society 
may be considered an index of his char- 
acter — he was sure, in the end, if he 
survived, to be a hero. 

At Nashville, Jackson boarded with 
a widow Donelson, whose daughter 
Rachel and her husband, Lewis Ro- 
bards, also lived with her. Robards 
had been married in Kentucky under 
A'irginia law. In 1791. three years after 
Jackson's arrival, Robards petitioned 
for divorce, alleging that his wife had 
ileserted him and was living with Jack- 
son. The Legislature of Mrginia 
passed a bill authorizing the Supreme 
Court of Kentucky to try the case with 
a jury, and grant a divorce if the facts 
were found to be as stated. Robards 
took no action for two years, but mean- 
time Jackson married Mrs. Robards. 
Robards secured his divorce two years 
later, when Jackson and his wife were 
married again. It reflects ill on Jack- 
son as a lawyer that he was put in this 
position. He remained through life ex- 
tremely sensitive to criticism on this 
matter; he clung to his wife for thirty 
years, and mourned for her ever after- 
ward in a noble and unaffected, almost 
romantic manner. W'e shall see that 
his fidelity to her was the most striking 
point in his career. 

In 1796 Jackson was a member of the 
Con.stitutional Convention of Tennes- 
see, and, it is said, suggested the nam- 
ing of the State after the river. He 



378 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



was the first Congressman of the State, 
and, later, was made a L'nited States 
Senator. At Philadelphia he appeared 
to Gallatin as "a tall, lank, uncouth- 
looking personage, with long locks of 
hair hanging over his face, and a cue 
down his back tied in an eel-skin ; his 
dress singular, his manners and deport- 
ment those of a rough backswoods- 
man." "When I was President of the 
Senate," says Jefferson, "he was a 
Senator, and he could never speak on 
account of the rashness of his feelings. 
I have seen him attempt it repeated!}', 
and as often choke with rage." 

As a Senator, Jackson was a Jacobin, 
and felt deeply embittered against Gen- 
eral Washington for his friendliness to 
England. In 1798 the Senator resigned 
to become a Supreme Judge in Tennes- 
see. In 1801 ex-Governor Sevier and 
Judge Jackson were candidates for the 
major-generalship of the militia ; Jack- 
son won by the vote of Governor 
Roane. In 1803 Sevier became Gov- 
ernor, and when he casually met Jack- 
."-on, both men drew their pistols, but 
no blood was shed. Jackson, while 
Judge, was proprietor of a store, and 
resigned his position on the bench in 
1804, but retained his office of Major- 
General. 

General Jackson was sure to meet 
somebody in the wilderness who could 
not share it with him. He was ready to 
fight all comers, and it seems that the 
best shot of the settlements, one Charles 
Dickinson, set out to drive him out of 
Tennessee or kill him. Dickinson, 
therefore, aspersed the character of 
General Jackson's wife in order to stir 
up the bad blood there was in General 
Jackson, and then the duel was ar- 
ranged as falling out of a quarrel over 
a bet at a horse-race. Jackson chal- 
lenged Dickinson. The meeting took 
place near Adairsville, Tenn., May 30, 
1806. Dickinson, on his way to the 
rendezvous, amused his associates by 
displaying his wonderful skill with a 
pistol. Once, at a distance of twenty- 
four feet, he fired four bullets, each 
at the word of command, into a space 
which could be covered by a silver 
dollar. He repeatedly severed a string 



with a bullet, and at a tavern, where he 
had performed this feat of marksman- 
ship, he said to the landlord as he 
rode off: "If General Jackson comes 
along this road, be kind enough to 
show him that!" At the meeting it 
was agreed that both parties should 
stand facing each other with pistol held 
downward. At the word, each man was 
to fire as soon as he should please to do 
so. On the word, Dickinson was 
quickest to fire. A puff of dust flew 
from Jackson's coat, and his second 
saw him raise his left arm and place 
it tightly across his chest. Meanwhile 
he began taking aim. "Great God !" 
cried Dickinson, "have I missed him?" 
Jackson's trigger snapped, but did not 
explode the load ; Jackson drew the 
trigger back to its full-cock, again took 
careful aim, and fired. The bullet 
passed entirely through Dickinson's 
body. He lived until 9 o'clock that 
night. It was found that one of Jack- 
son's shoes was full of blood. Dickin- 
son's bulllet had broken two of Jack- 
son's ribs, and the wound weakened the 
General for life. "I would have lived 
long enough to kill him,'' said Jackson, 
"if he had shot me through the heart." 
^^'ith this blgody adjudication, how- 
ever, popular opinion at once deter- 
mined that Dickinson deserved death 
for gratiously slandering a woman so 
upright as Mrs. Jackson had proved 
herself to be after her marriage to 
Andrew Jackson. 

General Jackson thought he ought 
to be appointed Governor of Orleans, 
and became embittered against Presi- 
dent Jefferson because of non-appoint- 
ment. He readily made friends with 
Burr when that adventurer started on 
his scheme of a new Empire, Burr 
striving to make a tool of the back- 
v.oodsman. During this period it is 
not impossible that Jackson was a 
negro-trader, who defied the Indian 
agent, Dinsmore. Jackson wrote to 
the Secretary of ^^'ar that unless he 
removed Dinsmore the people of West 
Tennessee would burn him in his own 
agency. Dinsmore, who had done 
right, was removed, and Jackson was 
ever afterward his rancorous enemy. 



BIOGRAPHY— ANDREW JACKSON 



i19 



although Dinsmore fell into poverty 
and sued for reconciliation. 

Meantime, the French cast to politics 
in Tennessee carried the people along 
with Napoleon, and he was looked 
upon with awe by the bullies of the 
woods. As his arms prevailed, it be- 
came a fixed opinion that America 
must take sides with him against the 
world. When this policy was forced 
on President Madison, Major-General 
Jackson, now forty-five years old, 
I came into a conspicuous position be- 
fore the Nation. He offered himself 
with 2.500 volunteers and was ordered 
to New Orleans. At Natchez he was 
commanded to disband. He led home 
his little army, casting severe reflec- 
tions on the Administration. Thomas 
H. Benton was an officer in the militia, 
and had a brother Jesse. Jackson had 
stood second for another man in a duel 
with Jesse, and there was bad blood 
with the Bentons. They met Jackson 
September 13, 1813. Blows and shots 
were exchanged, and Jackson was laid 
up with a ball in his shoulder. He 
carried this missile in his body for 
twenty years. While he was in bed 
from, his wound the Creek Indian war 
broke out, and Jackson took the field 
as soon as he could. He quarreled 
with Cocke, the other Tennessee 
Major-General, but showed remark- 
able governing ability, and was a suc- 
cessful military man. The young men 
enlisted under him with enthusiasm. 
March 14, 1814, by his command, John 
Wood was shot for an assault on an 
officer. General Jackson defeated the 
Creeks at Tohopeka, and chased them 
out of the Hickory Ground, building 
Fort Jackson and winning his soubri- 
quet of "Old Hickon,'." Major-Gen- 
eral Pinckney, of the regular army, 
took command .\pril 20, 1814, after 
covering General Jackson with the 
thanks of the Nation. May 31 General 
Jackson was appointed Major-General 
in the regular army, and given com- 
mand of the Department of the South, 
with headquarters at Mobile. The 
English used Spanish territory in 
Florida as a base, and when Washing- 
ton was captured, General Jackson, in 



the face of orders, attacked his enem- 
ies wherever he found them. He, with 
5,000 men, stormed Pensacola, Florida 
(in Spanish territory), and when the 
English retreated, he also withdrew to 
Mobile. He was now in a military 
position to defend New Orleans, and 
reached there r>;cember 2, 1814. Be- 
tween that time and the 7th of January, 
1815, he was enthusiastically busy 
making defences. The story of his use 
of cotton bales is familiar, but the 
cotton was easily set on fire, and had 
to be entirely removed. General Pak- 
enham brought 12,000 British troops 
in a fleet, meeting entrenchments about 
five feet high, some miles below the 
city. The English advanced in the face 
of a heavy artillery fire, but when they 
came within range of the rifles ot the 
backwoodsmen, they were slaughtered 
so rapidly that they wavered. Paken- 
ham fell. Lambert, who succeeded, 
withdrew his men in the night. The 
English loss had been over 2,000, the 
American loss was but seven killed and 
six wounded. The Battle of New Or- 
leans was fought after the Treaty of 
Ghent had been signed. The engage- 
ment was needless, yet it was of price- 
less value to the Democratic party, 
who could show a victory at last, and it 
put the seal of everlasting ignominy 
on the Federalist convention at Hart- 
lord, where it was well said the New 
Englanders would have been in better 
business at war with their enemies. 
Yet at the moment when General Jack- 
son might have deemed it wise to court 
popularity, he shot six more men at 
Mobile for mutiny. He thus had exe- 
cuted as many men as he had lost in 
the battle. He soon after defied a civil 
court and was fined $1,000 for im- 
prisoning a Judge. It certainly did 
not seem that he possessed the arts of 
a demagogue. Yet the able politicians 
of Congress, noting the decadence of 
the \'irginia power, the neutrality of 
Monroe, the unpopularity of John 
Ouincy Adams. Secretary of State, and 
heir apparent, all had an eye on Gen- 
eral Jackson, whose hold on the people 
bade fair to exceed that of General 
Washington. 



38o 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



The wars had left as legacies bodies 
of pirates, filibusters, Indians and 
negroes, mostly on Spanish soil, and 
when the Seminole War broke out 
Jackson had good reason to believe he 
had tacit permission to capture Florida. 
Briefly stated, he pillaged, captured, 
and devastated on Spanish soil. He 
hanged two Indian captives whose per- 
sons he had gained by a base stratagem. 
He hanged two Englishmen, on the 
ground that they were stirring up war 
— making eleven, and with Dickinson, 
twelve people he had sent to violent 
death. He sent up to the administra- 
tion a very disagreeable entanglement 
with Spain and England, which John 
Ouincy Adams, Secretary of State, 
took on himself to unravel. Calhoun 
secretly assailed Jackson. Henry Clay 
openly attacked the Administration as 
soon as it adopted Jackson, and there 
began the Clay- Jackson feud. But as 
for enemies of the United States in 
Jackson's purview, there were none. 
Success had followed him at every 
turn, and he had hanged or shot all 
who had opposed him if they fell into 
his hands. In J. Q. Adam's diary it is 
written that Alonroe asked Jefferson, 
in 1818, if it would not be a good idea 
to ship off^General Jackson as Minis- 
ter to Russia: "\Vhy, good G — !" 
cried Jefiferson, "he would breed you a 
quarrel before he had been there a 
month.'' 

William B. Lewis, a neighbor (Sum- 
ner calls him "the Great Father of the 
wire-pullers"), now grasped the op- 
portunities offered by Jackson's po£U- 
larity, and, as a move toward the Presi- 
dency, secured the General's nomina- 
tion by the Tennessee Legislature, and 
his election to the United States Senate. 
General Jackson, thus a nominated 
Presidential candidate, was himself 
compelled to take the lesser place, be- 
cause no Jackson man could beat the 
other candidate. He was all this time 
outside "the machine," and his oppo- 
nents rarely used any other epithet than 
"murderer." But General Jackson had 
nothing sordid about him : he was sim- 
ple, chaste, and domestic in his habits ; 
he was not a demagogue ; he did nr t 



drink liquor ; he remained unrewarded 
by the people, although they seemed 
anxious to acknowledge the value of 
his services. Therefore, John Quincy 
Adams came so near losing his one 
term as President that General Jackson 
in the Electoral College had ninety- 
nine votes to only eighty-four for 
Adams. Clay kept up his feud when 
the election came to the House, and 
Adams was chosen. 

President Adams went out of office 
because the people believed nearly all 
of the false accusations made against 
him. 

On the 22d of December, 1828, the 
wife of Andrew Jackson died at the 
Hermitage. The day of the funeral 
General Jackson, President-Elect, feeble 
and heartbroken, walked slowly behind 
the coffin of Rachel, leaning upon a 
long cane that he was accustomed to 
carry on the farm. As he stood look- 
ing on her face for the last time, he 
lifted his cane and commanded the at- 
tention of all : "In the presence of this 
dear saint, I can and do forgive all my 
enemies. But those vile wretches who 
have slandered her must look to God 
for mercy." She was buried in the 
little garden near the residence. 

At Washington, the next March, 
when General Jackson was inaugurated, 
there was a Jeff'ersonian jubilee. 

All the previous Presidents together 
had removed seventy-four officers. 
Andrew Jackson began with a pro- 
scription of about 700. He made about 
2,000 removals in all. He was the first 
of the Presidents to give compliant 
country editors post-offices. The cries 
of the functionaries who had been 
forty years in place were pitiful, and 
it is said some slight harm came to the 
public service. 

The first National Convention met 
and nominated Jackson and \'an Buren 
(dropping Calhoun) ; the National Re- 
publicans nominated Clay and Ser- 
geant ; there was an anti-AIason ticket 
(Wirt) which carried \'ermont. South 
Carolina stood out. and cast her eleven 
votes for Floyd. Jackson and Van 
Buren were elected by popular and 
Electoral-College majorities. 



BIOGRAPHY—ANDREW JACKSON 



381 



In 1832 the nullifiers came in full 
control of the South Carolina Govern- 
ment, and proceeded to construct a 
metaphysical scheme of Constitutional 
secession. Yet all was not smooth for 
the nullifiers in their own State. A 
Union convention met at Columbia, 
and L'nion men were strong at Charles- 
ton. Civil war was possible within the 
commonwealth. 

Now there sat in the President's 
chair a man, in General Jackson, who 
looked on all this as a mere invention 
of Calhoun — Calhoun, who had thought 
to ruin Andrew Jackson after the Sem- 
inole executions — Calhoun, who had 
testified friendship and taken office on 
the same ticket with Andrew Jackson. 
Andrew Jackson therefore beheld nulli- 
fication as a purely personal affair — 
some more people to be hanged or shot, 
and it was not long before he began to 
study what grounds he might have for 
executing both Calhoun and Clay, if 
necessary. 

January 30. 1835, an insane man 
named Lawrence snapped a pistol 
twice at General Jackson. The Presi- 
dent openly accused Poindexter, of 
Mississippi, as the instigator, probably 
without just reason. 

He had his party well drilled and dis- 
ciplined on the modern plan. The elec- 
tions fulfilled the President's hopes, and 
on March 2, 1837. the proud old chief- 
tain wrote to Trist : "On the 4th I 
hope to be able to go to the Capitol 
to witness the glorious scene of Mr. 
\'an Buren, once rejected by the Senate, 
sworn into office by Chief Justice 
Taney, also being rejected by the fac- 
tious Senate." 

March 7, 1837, Andrew Jackson set 
out from Washington for the Hermit- 
age. He left his party in full control 
of the nation by popular and electoral 
vote, on a platform of low taxes, no 
debt, no glory, no public works, no dis- 
play at the expense of taxpayers. If 
slavery had been out of the way, it is 
difficult to see that this program could 
ever have been outvoted. On his way 
home he met the same demonstrations 
of tender, popular affection that at- 
tended Washington's journey to Mt. 



\'ernon. He, like Washington, was re- 
garded as a strong man, who had been 
converted to the New World doctrine 
of freedom for all. There could be 
no doubt of the permanency of our in- 
stitutions if the soil would produce such 
as he. He continued to be a never- 
failing oracle, and politicians did not 
hesitate to make long journeys in order 
to be seen by the people going under 
the sacred lintels of the Hermitage near 
Nashville. In 1843 he wrote a letter 
favoring the annexation of Texas. 

He spent eight years in retirement, 
and saw Calhoun, Clay and Biddle all 
defeated or ruined. The things he did 
were all approved by the people, and 
he was a political saint long before he 
died. There were many sides of his 
character that shone gloriously in the 
light of liberty, and the tenderness of 
his love for Rachel charmed many who 
would have been alienated by his taste 
for revenge. He was as true as he was 
terrible. He was as forceful as he was 
simple. He had the mettle of a dic- 
tator, and the fidelity of a democratical 
philosopher. His soul was as strong 
as his body was frail. 

The Hermitage was approached 
through a long double row of cedars. 
It is a quaint old building, main rooms 
and shed rooms of brick, with wooden 
columns and copings in front. Here 
the old hero lived with Colonel An- 
drew Jackson, adopted grandson, his 
wife and mother, and two old negroes, 
man and wife. General Jackson every 
day visited the grave of her he had 
loved, whose enemies he would have 
killed to a man, whose name was re- 
vered to him, whose gentle graces he 
regarded as those of the angels. He 
joined the Church, at last, and, under 
the urgent arguments of his spiritual 
savoirs, forgave his enemies en masse. 
He was not sour; he had not expected 
to escape the hatreds of evil persons, 
and easily believed all were evil who 
did not believe in the Union, with low 
taxes and hard money. If Rachel had 
been with him, his cup would have 
over-run with joy. He died on the 8th 
of June, 1843, and was buried beside 
Rachel in the little warden. 



382 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 
1 767- 1 848 

"The Old Man Eloquent." 

July II, 1767, in the north parish of 
Braintree, Massachusetts Bay, two 
years after tlie passage of the Stamp 
Act, there was born to John and Abi- 
gail Adams, both Revolutionary char- 
acters of the first order, a son, John 
Quincy Adams. When this son was 
seven years old he, with his leonine 
mother, climbed to the top of a high 
hill, listened to the cannon of Bunker 
Hill battle, and watched the flames that 
arose from the conflagration of Charles- 
ton. At nine he was post-rider. At 
eleven he made a voyage with his father 
to Europe and back, and immediately 
set out for the Old World again with 
his parent. He went to school at Paris, 
Amsterdam, Leyden — wherever his 
father happened to be. Then the En- 
voy to Russia, Judge Dana, took him 
to St. Petersburg as private secretary. 
When John Adams became Minister to 
England, he doubtless considered him- 
self able to send the boy to college, and 
the son was offered the opportunity, 
which he seized, returning to America 
and entering Harvard. He graduated 
in 1787, and studied law at Newbury- 
port, with Judge Parsons, \\lien he 
was twenty-three, he was admitted to 
practice, and established his office at 
Boston. He scored Citizen Genet, the 
P'rench torch-bearer of Liberty, so ef- 
fectively that President Washington 
was led to appoint the young man Min- 
ister to the Hague. It is about this 
time that he begins the celebrated diary, 
which ranks him as one of the great 
private annalists of the world. The 
diary continues from 1795 to 1848, and 
with that of his father, forms one of 
the richest historical treasuries that ex- 
ist as the original work of only two 
men. He was at the Hague while the 
army of France was victorious in the 
Netherlands. Diplomatic business 
called him to London, and there, in 
1797, he married Miss Louisa C. John- 
son, with whom he lived happily till he 



died. John Quincy Adams was ap- 
pointed Minister to Prussia, and it is 
said the lieutenant at the gate did not 
know there was any such country as 
the new Minister claimed to represent. 
He traveled through Silesia, viewed the 
battle-fields, made a treaty, and was re- 
called by his father when it was known 
that Jefferson was to come in as Presi- 
dent. 

John Quincy Adams returned to the 
practice of law at Boston, and a dis- 
tiict judge made him a commissioner in 
bankruptcy. From this position Presi- 
dent Jefferson removed him. April 5, 
1802, the ousted Federalist was elected 
to the State Senate. In 1803 he was 
elected United States Senator. But his 
entry into official life at the Capital was 
most inauspicious. To him the capital 
city seemed, after Berlin, Paris and Lon- 
don, as some capital city in an East In- 
dian or South African region now ap- 
pears to us. Not only did the rude- 
ness of the surroundings depress him, 
but he was personally the victim of the 
incivility of both Democrats and Fed- 
eralists. A motion which he would 
make would be lost ; another Senator 
would repeat it, and it would be car- 
ried almost by acclamation. The envi- 
ronment rapidly put him upon his met- 
tle. The mistreatment which he re- 
ceived from the expiring Federalist 
party opened his eyes to the good that 
was in their opponents, and toward the 
end of his third Congress, he was able 
to be of service to Jefferson in many 
ways, getting well on the side favored 
by the majority. His Legislature 
avenged itself by forcing his resigna- 
tion, and he was able to change parties 
at a favorable moment. He simply felt, 
with seven-tenths of the voters, that if 
we must have war with a foreign na- 
tion it ought not to be with France. 

W'hen James IMadison came to the 
Presidency, he found Mr. .Adams thus 
out of office on principle, and was glad 
to nominate him as Minister to Russia. 
The Senate at first refused to consent, 
but on a later date confirmed the nom- 
ination. The statesman, once so un- 
popular, had been able to change his 
party, and yet greatly increase his 



BIOGRAPHY— HENRY CLAY 



383 



standing among his colleagues — a feat 
not often recorded. The journey from 
Boston to St. Petersburg was accom- 
plished between August 5 and October 
23. The residence at St. Petersburg 
is important as giving a Russian as- 
pect to the Diary of Mr. Adams, while 
Napoleon was carrying on the greatest 
wars the world has seen. 

On August 7, 1814, Mr. Adams was 
at Ghent, as one of the commissioners 
of the peace that ended our War of 
1812 with England. The deliberations 
lasted four months. That John 
Ouincy Adams should ever have figured 
as a peacemaker, in a peace that was 
made, seems incredible; yet it is prob- 
able that Henry Clay, at Ghent, op- 
posed more numerous obstacles. All 
of the gentlemen were of irritable tem- 
per. The treaty at London was con- 
sidered a great Yankee victory. 

Mr. Adams was at Paris when 
Napoleon returned from Elba, but be- 
came Minister at London before Water- 
loo. When he was a young man Gen- 
eral Washington had foretold that John 
Ouincy Adams would some day reach 
the head of the diplomatic service, and 
he was now in that proud official posi- 
tion. 

When James Monroe entered on the 
Presidency, Mr. Adams was invited to 
become Secretary of State. 

Mr. Adams would make no effort 
whatever to secure the office of Presi- 
dent, yet stated that if the people did 
not elect him he should consider it a 
vote of waning confidence. The Elec- 
toral College was not able to announce 
a choice, and the election went to the 
House, where the balloting was con- 
fined to the names of Jackson, Adams 
and Crawford. Henry Clay, with only 
thirty-seven votes, could not come be- 
fore the House as a candidate, and was 
therefore the arbiter between General 
Jackson and ]\Ir. Adams. The logical 
result could only be the success of Mr. 
Adams, and that event followed on the 
first ballot in the House, thirteen States 
going to the New England candidate. 
At the inauguration of President 
Adams General Jackson shook hands 



with him, but this ended their friendly 
relations. 

At the next election for President, 
Adams was defeated by Jackson. 

Now the "old man eloquent," as he 
was soon to he called, was to enter Con- 
gress as a Representative from the Ply- 
mouth district. Single-handed, he was 
to stand between fire-eating and tem- 
porizing cohorts, for sixteen years, de- 
fying, defeating, baiting, maddening 
and disparaging the Solid South that 
had proudly challenged the ill-will of 
all the North, and had aroused the un- 
forgiving spirit of but one real cham- 
pion. There is not in the history of 
legislation another campaign so long, 
by a single gladiator so full of forti- 
tude, so careless of danger, so deaf to 
accommodation. Senator, Ambassador, 
Minister, President, as he had been — all 
his early public services dwindle into 
the deep shadows when he stands in the 
bright light that history throws on him 
after he became the hated-one of a 
slave-holding and planter-fearing Con- 
gress which he alone visited with un- 
mitigated contempt. 

November 19, 1846, he was stricken 
with paralysis in Boston. On Feb- 
ruary 21, 1848, he appeared in his seat 
as usual. At 1.30 o'clock p. m., as the 
Speaker was putting a vote there were 
cries: "Stop! Stop! Mr. Adams!" 
The aged man was insensible. The 
House adjourned. He was taken to a 
couch in the Speaker's room. There, 
late in the afternoon he whispered : 
"Thank the officers of the House." 
Soon afterward : "This is the last of 
earth ! I am content." He thereafter 
lay for forty-eight hours and died Feb- 
ruary 23, 1848. He was buried imder 
the portal of the church at Ouincy, 
Mass., beside his immortal father and 
mother. 

HENRY CLAY. 

1777-1852 

"The Mill-Boy of the .Sl.\shes. 

Henry Clay was born April 12, 1777, 
in Hanover County, X'irginia, in a 



384 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



neighborhood called the "Slashes" — a 
place in the woods which had been 
"slashed" or cut over — the good timber 
taken, but the ground not cleared prop- 
erly. His father was an eloquent Bap- 
tist preacher, and died when Henry, the 
fifth in a family of seven, was only 
four years old. There is a tradition 
that, while the dead body of the min- 
ister lay in the house, Tarleton, the 
English raider, took some of the prop- 
erty of the place and left a handful of 
gold on the widow's table. This money 
the mother of Henry Clay indignantly 
threw into the fireplace. 

Henry Clay went to school in a log 
cabin with a hard clay floor. He went 
to mill on the Pamunkey River, riding 
a pony with a rope bridle, and carry- 
ing the "bread timber" in a bag. Hence 
he became the "Mill-Boy of the 
Slashes" and ran for President on that 
industrious and democratical recollec- 
tion. 

His mother married Captain Henry 
Watkins, who placed Henry Clay, by 
this time fourteen years old, in a re- 
tail store at Richmond, and afterward 
obtained for the stepson a clerkship in 
the office of the Clerk of the High 
Court of Chancery. At this time 
Henry Clay was an awkward country 
boy. His companions made some sport 
of his appearance, but he was studious 
and earned the good will of George 
\\ythe, famous as the benefactor of 
brilliant young men. After four years 
of clerkship, Henry Clay entered the 
law office of Robert Brooke, Attorney- 
General, and was indulgently admitted 
to practice. 

In 1/99 he married Lucretia Hart, 
who became the mother of eleven 
children. He soon was able to purchase 
.Ashland, an estate of 600 acres near 
Lexington, which became his future 
home. Like all great orators, he was 
extremely easy to come toward; he was 
a pleasant man to meet. This char- 
acteristic never deserted him. and he 
early became a favorite with his neigh- 
bors, a favored son of his State, and 
anon the idol of a National party. In 
the discussions attending the making of 
a Kentucky Constitution, Mr. Clay was 



ardently against slavery, without efifect, 
although his fame as an orator be- 
came so well established that he was 
elected to the Legislature in 1803. Burr 
came thorugh the country, bent on 
some kind of a filibustering enterprise, 
and was arrested. Clay appeared as 
Burr's counsel. Nine years later, 
meeting Aaron Burr, Clay refused to 
take his hand. In 1806 the State 
proudly sent him on to A\'ashington as 
United States Senator for an unex- 
pired term, to bring honor to Kentucky 
in the debates of Congress. He was 
not quite eligible as to age, being less 
than thirty years old. He returned to 
Kentucky with pleasure, and at once 
became Speaker of the House. As 
hatred of England increased, he sug- 
gested that Kentuckians, particularly 
the legislators, should wear only such 
clothes as were the product of home 
manufacture. For this, Humphrey 
Marshall denounced Clay as a dema- 
gogue, and a duel followed. 

In 1809 Plenry Clay filled another 
unexpired term as L'nited States 
Senator, and spoke with earnestness in 
behalf of home manufactures. He op- 
posed, and possibly defeated, the re- 
charter of the Bank, and was outspoken 
against England. .\t the end of his 
short term he was elected to represent 
tlie Lexington district in Congress. So 
great was Clay's fame that he was 
elected Speaker by a large majority. 
When Henry Clay carried President 
Madison to war he did it entirely by 
the force of eloquence, as a result of 
Western feeling. The war went ill, 
despite Clay's eloquence, and after he 
had been a second time elected Speaker 
he resigned to take a place on the 
Peace Commission in Europe. It is 
thought it was his object to interpose 
objections against a humiliating treaty. 
It is usually said of him that he alone 
made the English resign the right of 
navigation in the Alississippi. The 
labors at Ghent lasted for five months. 
The war ended as it began, yet Clay 
declared in Congress afterward that 
he would have acted the same way 
again. At Paris, he met Madame de 
Stael. He went to London on diplo- 



BIOGRAPHY— HENRY CLAY 



385 



malic business. He returned to Amer- 
ica, greatly honored, in September, 

1815, and again became Speaker of the 
House of Representatives. He was 
offered the mission to Russia, and later 
the portfolio of War. Both offers 
were too small. It already seemed that 
merit and popularity must raise him to 
the J 'residency as soon as he should 
reach the proper age. He wished to be 
Secretary of State, so as to get into 
succession, but his colleague at Ghent, 
John Ouincy Adams, was chosen for 
the coveted place. Thus, as early as 

1816. his hopes were dimmed. Never- 
theless he again became Speaker and 
was for the time being a much greater 
officer than the Secretary of State. He 
became the eloquent proponent of 
taxes for roads and canals and protec- 
tion of home industry. He viewed 
President Monroe with enmity, and 
that peaceable chief magistrate grieved 
daily at the opposition that was rising 
against an Administration that de- 
served no enemies. 

He was still regarded as a remark- 
able orator and a brilliant if somewhat 
erratic public man. It was deemed to 
be good statesmanship to keep the 
Speakership in the West. He made 
many speeches in behalf of the South 
American Republics. He possessed, by 
all accounts, many more natural gifts 
than he made diligent use of. He al- 
lowed slower and less promising ath- 
letes to outrun him over the course. 
His next great appearance as a legis- 
lator was in the Missouri Compromise. 
Pie resigned his Speakership in order 
to repair his shattered fortunes. It 
will be seen that his Presidential hopes, 
for some unknown reason, had led him 
into a public course that was not logical, 
for he was bent on pleasing the North 
with protection and river-an<l-harb<"ir 
bills, and the South with slavery, so 
that he was more than likely to offend 
both sections. He was now called "the 
great pacificator." It was in these 
days he said he would "rather be right 
than President.'' 

In Kentucky his fame was secure. 
The State lost the Speakership to Vir- 
ginia in his absence, and the ijressure 



on him was heavy to return to Con- 
gress. On his reacceptance of a seat 
in 1824 he was again elected Speaker 
by an overwhelming vote, and became 
an open candidate to succeed Monroe 
as President. But, at the elections of 
1S24, Jackson led, Adams was second, 
and Crawford third. Clay, being only 
fourth, could not be voted for in the 
House, and yet became President- 
maker — a strange addition to the peace- 
making chapters of his life. He elected 
Adams, and took the portfolio of State, 
evidently still under the belief that 
tradition would continue to give the 
Presidency to the Secretaries of State. 
11iis acceptance of an office that he had 
coveted in 1816 he regarded in after 
life as a critical error of his career. 
The cry of bargain-and-sale went up 
from Jackson's friends, making Clay's 
last days in the Speakership bitter, with 
challenges to mortal combat and scan- 
dal. Yet Clay retired with the record 
of being the ablest Speaker America 
had produced, and his course in the 
House is still the subject of wide- 
s]3read technical study. 

Mr. Clay's health and pride both 
suffered while he was Secretary of 
State. He did not like the office nor 
its labors. The sacrifices he had made 
to take it had been fruitless of good. 
What he had thought would be a step 
to the Presidency was a stumbling 
block. He went into private life at 
fifty-two still a great party chief — to 
the ordinary apprehension the greatest 
man in the Union. By this time he 
had grown imperious, and was a man 
whom lesser souls would delight to 
disappoint, thinking he needed stern dis- 
cipline. There was no one to challenge 
his sway among men save a broken- 
hearted old backwoodsman, newly 
elected President, whom Clay thought 
v.'ould soon be enmeshed in trouble and 
stultified through incompetency to fill 
a great office. For a time this owner 
of Ashland lived at home as a farmer, 
striving to cultivate the agricultural 
and pastoral graces that had broadened 
Jefferson's hold on the people. lie re- 
fused seats in Congress and the Legis- 
lature. He was a lover of good horses. 



386 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



He found his personal fame still very 
great. He reappeared at Washington 
in December, 1831, as Senator from 
Kentucky and candidate for Congress 
on a platform of antagonism to 
"spoils," and favoring high tariff, river- 
and-harbor bills, and United States 
Bank. Clay's party was called the 
National Republican. It met at Balti- 
more and nominated him for President 
by acclaim. But the debate on Bank 
and high tariff went on in the Senate 
where Clay had to compromise on the 
tariff to please the South, thus madden- 
ing the "tariff barons" of the Xorth, 
and Jackson vetoed the recharter of the 
Bank with the certainty that there were 
more debtors than creditors, each with 
a single vote. Clay was beaten before 
he entered the race. 

At seventy-four he was sent by 
unanimous voice of his Legislature to 
the United States Senate. Through the 
great debate on the compromise of 1850 
Clay grew in genuine statesmanship. 
After he threw off the hope of the 
Presidency he was truly an American 
to boast of. When he arrived at Wash- 
ington m December, 1851, he was too ill 
to go to the Senate. He said, on 
his bed of sharp distress, "Was there 
ever man had such friends?" — for the 
solicitude of the Nation was as aston- 
ishing as it was gratifying. He died 
on June 29, 1852, in the seventy-sixth 
year of his age. 

DANIEL WEBSTER. 

I 782- I 852 

The Expounder of the Constitution 

Daniel Webster was born at Salis- 
burg, N. H., January 17, 1782. As a 
boy he was sickly, and could not speak 
in school, lacking the confidence of an 
orator. His people, by dint of affec- 
tionate sacrifice, sent him to Dartmouth 
College. After this he studied law in 
the office of Christopher Gore at Bos- 
ton, and was admitted to the bar of 
Massachusetts in 1805. 

He opened his first office at I'os- 
cawen, near his early home, but soon 



removed to Portsmouth. He married 
Grace Fletcher, whom he devoutly 
loved. His practice was gradually es- 
tablished, and as a result of the orator- 
ical talent which he displayed, he was 
elected to Congress in 1813, as a Fed- 
eralist, and lukewarm proponent of 
the war with Great Britain. Yet he 
aided Calhoun nobly. The almost se- 
ditious Hartford Convention threw him 
into obscurity, and he removed to 
Boston. 

There he entered, as a brilliant law- 
yer, into a society of college-bred men, 
who were earning large fees or har- 
vesting ample profits as merchants. 

The Massachusetts Constitutional 
Convention met at Boston in November, 
1820. All the learned magistrates and 
advocates of the Commonwealth were 
called upon to serve. Webster repre- 
sented the interests of property and was 
the advocate of the patrician classes, but 
without narrowness. He came out of 
the convention praised by all who had 
property, office and standing, as a most 
noble lawmaker. 

On Friday, December 22, 1820, he 
delivered the address on the landing of 
thf Pilgrims, an effort which gave him 
instantly a national fame as an orator. 

Thereafter Daniel Webster, when he 
spoke by appointment, was sure of "a 
sea of upturned faces." 

The pressure upon him to enter poli- 
tical life grew stronger, and in 1823 he 
again went to Congress from Boston. 
He was a good supporter of the Admin- 
istration in the House, and the leader 
of that body while Clay was Secretary 
of State. His elevation to the Senate 
was regarded with misgivings by the 
President, who dreaded his absence 
from the popular branch of Congress. 
He was to sit a quarter of a century in 
the upper House, with only a slight in- 
termission, when he should be Secretary 
of State. 

Mrs. Webster died at New York, 
January 21, 1828, while on her way to 
Washington to share her husband's new 
honors. The blow fell on the great 
orator with crushing force. He re- 
turned to his duties as a surcease of 
sorrow, and was in the mood that would 



BIOGRAPHY— DANIEL WEBSTER 



387 



easily bear the animadversions caused 
b)' his support of the high tariff in 1828, 
which made Calhoun rebel. When 
Hayne opened his attack on New Eng- 
land and Webster, the Senator vouch- 
safed a fine reply, and when Hayne 
answered that reply. Webster made his 
immortal speech — "When my eyes shall 
be turned to behold for the last time 
the sun in heaven, may I not see him 
shining on the broken and dishonored 
fragments of a once glorious Union ; on 
States dissevered, discordant, belliger- 
ent ; on a land rent with civil feuds, or 
drenched, it may be, in fraternal blood." 
This glorious day was January 26, 1830. 
It was then he cried: "Liberty and 
L'nion, now and forever, one and in- 
separable !" On that slogan Grant took 
Buckner, Pemberton, Lee ; Sherman 
marched from Chattanooga down and 
up the Southern Confederacy. It is 
justly called the summit of Daniel 
Webster's fame. 

Two years after the death of his wife 
Webster married Catherine Bayard Le- 
Roy, of New York. His loving brother 
Ezekiel died. He seemed to part with 
the past, and the remainder of his career 
offers less delectable ground to his ad- 
mirers. 

When Andrew Jackson thought he 
ought to move toward the hanging of 
Calhoun, he asked Webster's aid, and 
received it — a most happy circumstance 
in Webster's life. For the rest he 
fought Jackson all the way through, 
meeting defeat at e\ery turn. Calhoun 
came down out of the Senate's chair, 
and began his seventeen-year duel with 
Webster — Clay, Webster, Calhoun, such 
v,as the order of their merit ; euphony 
and human judgment have joined in the 
verdict. 

Mr. Webster made a short trip to 
Europe in 1839. and was glad to speak 
for Harrison in 1840, some of his ad- 
dresses giving him broad opportunity to 
dress the wounds Jackson had given 
him and his doctrines. He accepted 
the State Department under Harrison, 
and was deep in the Ashburton treaty 
when Harrison died and Tyler came in 
as President. When Tyler killed the 



r>ank. as Jackson would have done, all 
his Whig Cabinet took leave save Daniel 
Webster. Henry Clay's music was too 
quick in step for him ; he stayed with 
Tyler, and for other than Senatorial 
and oratorical purposes was politically 
as dead as Tyler. But he made an ad- 
mirable Secretary of State, and his pro- 
fessional sense informed him that his 
country needed him at the post he held. 
When his work was done, in Alay, 1843, 
he resigned, which was fast enough to 
meet his views of dignity and proper 
procedure, retiring to his farm at 
Marshfield, Massachusetts. He spoke 
for Clay in the campaign which elected 
Polk, practiced law, and was re-elected 
L'nited States Senator to oppose Texan 
annexation and war with Mexico, tak- 
ing his seat in 1845. His career in the 
Senate was to culminate with the "th- 
of-March speech, which was to indorse 
Henry Clay and becloud the setting of 
his own sun. In the first place, the 
Democrats, expanding on every side, 
were crying "54 40 or fight." This 
parallel on the Xorth American con- 
tinent might have added to our gran- 
aries more wheat than has so far been 
raised in the world, outlandish as that 
declaration may seem, but Webster was 
for the forty-ninth parallel, which is 
340 miles south. There is no other 
potential wheat field so large as the one 
we gave up by Daniel Webster's advice. 
His action aroused a retaliatory investi- 
gation of his financial accounts, which 
were always in bad order, and friends 
thereafter took his private business in 
charge. He spoke bitterly against 
Texas, with its new slave-holding Sena- 
tors, saying that the annexation would 
"turn the Constitution into a deform- 
ity" ; and certainly a Northerner who 
did not desire that the Union should 
grow on the north did not wish to see 
it spread on the south at the expense 
of a sister Republic that had abolished 
slavery. 

In 1847 lie visited the Southern 
States, which doubtless affected his 
views on the race question. His son 
was killed in the Mexican War, and 
his daughter died in 1847. The son's 



388 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



body arrived from Mexico only three 
days after the daughter's funeral.* Me 
then prepared at Marshfield a tomb for 
himself and his family. Clay would 
not support Taylor's candidacy for 
President, and when the Achilles also 
sulking at Alarshfield was allured from 
his tent, he could give to Taylor only 
such support as Hamilton once gave to 
John Adams. 

We next approach the "th of March, 
1850 — that historical time when the 
silvery-voiced Clay, easily first in any 
circle of men that would gather where 
he might be, came up to Washington, 
a feeble-bodied statesman, and carried 
the olive branch that no one else could 
make acceptable to all. In the 7th-of- 
March speech, Daniel Webster accepted 
Clay's views. \\'hy was this action so 
ignoble in Daniel Webster, if it were 
patriotic in Clay ? It dimmed Webster's 
great fame — why did it not tarnish 
Clay's? 

Probably the view of Webster is sec- 
tional, while Clay is considered from a 
broader field. Clay was a Southern 
slaveholder, who had put his ear to the 
ground and heard the anti-slavery swell. 
Clay knew John Ouincy Adams, and 
the slow but awful ruin he had wrought 
in the House on slavery. 

Millard I-'illmore, suddenly President, 
called \\'ebster to be Secretary of State, 
an office which was accepted July 23, 
1850. December 21 he wrote to Hiilse- 
mann, an Austrian diplomat represent- 
ing his empire at Washington, a rebuke 
for his impudence in holding that 
America had no right to ascertain the 
true extent of Kossuth's insurrection, 
and Hiilsemann sailed away in wrath. 
It was a good letter, sound in every 
sense, but it has kept many a dollar's 
worth of our goods out of Austria in 
revenge. 

In 1852 l\Ir. \Vebster was left unde- 
ceived by his friends, and disputed with 
his chief the honors of the Clay com- 
promise, but Fillmore had 133 to Web- 
ster's 29 ballots in the Whig National 
Convention, and Scott beat Fillmore. 
So deep was Daniel Webster's chagrin 



that he advised electors to vote for 
Pierce, which led politicians to believe 
that the great orator had lost his head 
altogether. 

He was a sufferer from hay fever, 
and his health was impaired. In May, 
1852, at Marshfield, he was seriously 
hurt in a runaway accident. In August 
he was able to return to Washington, 
but remained there only until the 8th 
of September. He consulted a physi- 
cian at Boston on the 20th. This was 
the last time he was ever there. He 
failed rapidly in his sick room at 
Marshfield. On the evening of October 
23, 1852, the aged and sleeping lion, 
as if questioned or doubted, shook him- 
self out of his lethargy, as of yore, and 
cried: "I still live!" — his last words, 
which have linked him in memory so 
firmly to the minds of Americans. 

JOHN C. CALHOUN. 

1 782- 1 850. 

The Arch-Prophet of Slavery. 

The attention of the reader is here 
invited to the consideration of a career 
in which the personality of the states- 
man entirely vanishes, and by that fact 
alone we may see that we enter a field 
of undiminishing intellectual interest. 
The life of John C. Calhoun was itself 
the Koran of Slavery ; it was a chapter 
on logic. What is logic? It is a work- 
ing theory of the truth. A meets B, 
who convinces him ; A meets C, a logi- 
cian superior to B, who unconvinces 
him ; A meets D, a still better logician, 
who reconvinces him — and so on, ad 
infinitum. It is vital, in reading of 
John C. Calhoun, to know that he was, 
in his own opinion at least, the best 
logician alive in his time, and that, be- 
ginning with the generally accepted 
premise of the Caucasian world, that 
Labor and Capital were two things, he 
wrought out what he regarded as a per- 
fect theory showing ( i ) that slavery 
was right and good, and (2) that Abo- 
litionists were wicked and bad ; further- 
more, slavery was a natural condition, 
so that he who lamented the servitude 



BIOGRAPHY— JOHN C. CALHOUN 



of the negro must also deplore the fact 
that the dog could not speak, nor the 
horse escape from his captivity. These 
were Calhoun's views. No other states- 
man of America, accepting his premise, 
destroyed his conclusions. A poem or 
rhyme has recently appeared, to startle 
the world, describing "the white man's 
burden," which is the rejuvenation of 
the logic of John C. Calhoun. To 
overcome the force raised up by the 
prophecy and teachings of Calhoun re- 
quired loo battles ; and the ideas of the 
South Carolinian were then uprooted 
previous to the making of an ideal basis 
on which to logically account for the 
actions of the white race. As a matter 
of fact, slavery stood in the way of the 
development of the Caucasian ; this was 
instinctively conceived ; its abolition in 
the New World by war was the sternest 
and most radical proceeding history has 
witnessed. 

Inasmuch as there is but one aspect 
to the life of Calhoun, we shall not go 
far amiss in giving his chief utterance 
at the beginning. It must be read care- 
fully: "I hold that there never yet 
has existed a wealthy and civilized 
society in which one portion of the 
community did not, in point of fact, 
live on the other. I might well chal- 
lenge a comparison between them (the 
other methods of distribution) and the 
more direct, simple and patriarchal 
mode by which the labor of the African 
race is, among us, commanded by the 
European. I fearlessly assert that the 
existing relation between the two races 
in the South, against which these blind 
fanatics are waging war, forms the 
most solid and durable foundation on 
which to rear free and stable institu- 
tions. It is useless to disguise the fact. 
There is, and always has been, in an 
advanced stage of civilization, a con- 
flict between Labor and Capital. The 
condition of society in the South ex- 
empts us from the disorders and dan- 
gers resulting from this conflict ; and 
explains why it is that the condition 
of the slave-holding States has been 
so much more stable and quiet than 
that .of the North. The advantages of 
the former in this respect will become 



more and more manifest if left undis- 
turbed by interference from without, 
as the country advances in wealth and 
numbers." 

He was born of Irish Presbyterian 
I^arents in the Calhoun settlement, 
Abbeville District, S. C, March i8, 
1782, a third son. His father died 
when the son was a boy, and he lived 
on the farm with his mother till he 
was eighteen. His power to peer into 
the nature of things was born with 
him. At eighteen, his brother-in-law. 
Dr. Waddell, a Presbyterian clergyman, 
prepared him for Yale College, whence, 
in 1804, he graduated with high honors. 
He then attended the Litchfield Law 
School, and was a lawyer in 1807, prac- 
ticing at Abbeville, S. C. English out- 
rages on the high seas were frequent. 
He drew up fiery resolutions, supported 
them with a speech, and was elected to 
the Legislature. In 181 1 he was sent 
to Congress, and for the rest of his 
life was rarely out of the public service. 
He married Floride Calhoun and re- 
moved to Bath, on the Savannah River. 
His wife brought him a small fortune. 
Under the customs of his region, he 
was fitted for continuous congressional 
life. He was for war, and Henry Clay, 
the Speaker, appointed him (in efifect) 
Cliairman of Foreign Relations. He 
thus made an entry as remarkable as 
Clay's. December 12th he delivered 
his first speech. He was never guilty 
of the hectoring or bullying tone at- 
tributed to Southern leaders ; rather, 
lie served as the caisson from wliich 
the hectors and bullies obtained all their 
ammunition, save their boasts. His 
New England education at this time 
was reflected in his views, which were 
essentially those of Clay as to internal 
improvements and Bank. These were 
changed afterward. 

President Monroe made Calhoun 
Secretary of War, and he was praised 
foi- his efficiency in the department. 

He was easily elected Vice-President 
of the United States, while there was 
no election between Jackson and 
Adams, for President. Calhoun fav- 
ored Jackson's election as President in 
the House, and was a bitter opponent 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



of Adams, whose final election he 
scouted as counterfeit. In 1828 the 
Vice-President was re-elected with 
Jackson as President. All this time 
slavery had been on Calhoun's mind. 

When Andrew Jackson denied to 
Calhoun a further national career, all 
personal matters went out of the South 
Carolinian's mind. He became a pro- 
slavery fanatic, as powerful in convic- 
tion as John Brown on the other side. 
Calhoun believed reason directed him ; 
John Brown believed God sent him. 
Such are the men whom the ages 
respect. 

Calhoun declared that "so far from 
the Constitution being the work of the 
American people collectively, no such 
political body, either now or ever, did 
exist." Nullification went forward in 
South Carolina. As soon as the con- 
vention passed the ordinance of Nullifi- 
cation, which was to apply P'ebruary 
I, 1833, Calhoun resigned the vice- 
presidency, in order to take the sena- 
torial seat vacated by Hayne, who be- 
came Governor of South Carolina. He 
was now at the head of a South Caro- 
lina party. 

There is little interest attaching to 
Calhoun's career outside of slavery. 
Briefly, he wanted more State's rights ; 
retrenchment and economy; he thought 
Money-and-State worse than Church- 
and-State, and therefore was against 
the Bank; free trade; no bond-selling; 
no "spoils." It was not this part of 
his career that brought on the Civil 
War. 

December 27, 1837, Calhoun, in the 
Senate, offered his resolutions begin- 
ning, that the Union was purely a con- 
federation of sovereign States ; that the 
intermeddling of States, or of "a com- 
bination of their citizens with the 
domestic institutions or policy of the 
others, on any ground, or under any 
pretext whatever, political, moral or 
religious, with a view to their altera- 
tion or subversion," was unconstitu- 
tional. 

England was beginning to cast reflec- 
tions on our "free institutions." She 
was setting our slaves at liberty when 
she could. 



When the United States and England 
joined to prevent the African slave 
trade, Calhoun, in voting for the treaty, 
swallowed a bitter dose, because he 
thought it reflected on his moral nature. 

Nullification was forgotten, and 
South Carolina nominated Calhoun for 
President in the campaign of 1844. He 
resigned his seat in the Senate to be 
ready, if called, but he was not called. 
A Southern man was chosen in Polk, 
but the country would not support a 
Senator who, like Calhoun, put the 
Union second in all his calculations. 

When Polk became President there 
was no South Carolinian who would sit 
in the United States Senate while his 
Prophet had no seat, and Calhoun, 
ecjually loyal to the situation, accepted 
the seat which his fellow citizens had 
resigned. Without Calhoun, it seems, 
we should not have had Texas or Cali- 
fornia. 

North of Louisiana was Oregon; 
where did Oregon begin and end? It 
was Calhoun's advice that we should 
maintain "a wise and masterly inac- 
tivity" — let our country grow up till 
we could push out the British. This 
"masterly inactivity'' was the prod with 
which many of the commanding Gen- 
erals were afterward harassed by edi- 
tors in the Civil War. Calhoun had no 
desire to obtain more free territory. 
He was in an odd position during the 
Mexican war; he had stirred it up; 
he, with grief, saw it entered on, be- 
cause he had secured all he wished, in 
Texas ; the rest of the Mexican booty 
would ruin his cause. 

As the territories which had been 
pillaged from Mexico began to show 
free-State proclivities, Calhoun, in De- 
cember, 1848, held a Slave caucus of 
sixty-nine Southern Senators and Rep- 
resentatives in the Senate Chamber. 
From this caucus issued an "Address 
of the Southern Delegates in Congress 
to their Constituents." With that, 
Calhoun's work was done. He had 
erected a Solid South. Yet so few 
(forty) signed the address that Cal- 
houn was sorely distressed. 

Calhoun was dying. He entered the 
Senate, leaning on friendly arms. His 



BIOGRAPHY— ABRAHAM LINCOLN 



391 



speech of Alarch 4, 1850, was read by 
Mr. J\Iason. 

He died March 31, 1850. One of 
his last speeches was in these words, 
uttered feebly : "The South ! The poor 
South ! God knows what will become 
of her!" 

ABRAHAM LIXXOLN. 

1809-1865. 
The Gre.\t Liberator. 

He was born February 12, 1809, in 
Hardin County, Ky. He had lived in 
log cabins on the Ohio River. His 
mother had died when he was eight ; 
his father married Sally Bush, toward 
whom, as step-mother, Lincoln nurtured 
the warmest love until he died. At 
nineteen he went on a flat-boat to New 
Orleans. On his return, in 1830, he 
split the timber for a rail fence around 
ten acres of ground, and built a log 
cabin, in Macon County. 111. Soon 
after, he built the flat-boat, as above, 
floated it down the Sangamon, the 
Illinois and the Mississippi to New Or- 
leans. He then returned and served 
as clerk in a country store at New 
Salem, 111. In 1832 he was a captain 
in the Blackhawk war, and became 
•celebrated in the frontier army as a 
strong man and the best story-teller 
anybody had ever heard. He read the 
Lives of Washington, of Franklin and 
of Clay. He was postmaster at New 
Salem, and learned to survey land with 
instruments. At last, he studied law 
and was elected to the Legislature (at 
Vandalia) as early as 1834, serving 
until the end of the session beginning 
in 1840, and declining further election. 
He tried to read Shakespeare thor- 
oughly, but the deep interest he took 
in living people made mimic life seem 
trivial to him. In the year 1835 oc- 
curred the tragedy that changed the 
most joyous to the saddest of men. 
He fell in love with Anne Rutledge, 
a beautiful young woman, who accepted 
him, after a painful chapter of love 
with another man. In her troubles she 
fell ill, and called constantly for Lin- 



coln. He reached her before she died, 
and her death shocked him so that it 
was believed his reason would be un- 
steady. A noble friend, Bowlin Greene, 
took Lincoln to his cabin, and brought 
him back to a sense of duty and man- 
hood, after weeks of careful nursing. 
When Greene died, in 1842, Lincoln 
spoke at his funeral in the Masonic 
lodge: "His voice was choked with 
deep emotion ; he stood a few moments 
while his lips quivered in the effort to 
form the words of fervent praise he 
sought to utter, and the tears ran down 
his yellow and shriveled cheeks. Every 
heart was hushed at the spectacle. 
After repeated eft'orts he found it im- 
possible to speak, and strode away, bit- 
terly sobbing, to the widow's carriage 
and was driven from the scene." It 
was at this time he learned the piece 
which the people call "Lincoln's poem" 
— "O why should the spirit of mortal 
be proud?" The Legislature removed 
to Springfield, and Lincoln went into 
legal partnership with John T. Stuart. 
The Lincoln and Douglas leadership 
began in the Legislature of 1836, when 
both statesmen were young. The 
rivalry passed over the metes and 
bounds of politics and entered the realm 
of lo\'e. for when Lincoln again fell 
under the charms of a beautiful 
woman — this time Mary Todd, whom 
he married — Douglas carried on a strik- 
ing flirtation with the same lady, and 
was with difficulty persuaded to leave 
the field to Lincoln. On this, Lincoln 
attempted to recede, but failed. The 
wedding was fixed, the mansion was 
lit, the feast was spread, the guests 
assembled, but the groom came not. 
The feast was left untouched, the 
guests departed, the house was dark- 
ened. Lincoln was again in the hands 
of his friends, who feared his gather- 
ing humiliation would make life in- 
tolerable. Strange as it may seem, the 
haughty belle and the eccentric lover 
were brought together afterward, and 
were married November 4, 1842. A 
legal partnership was formed with 
Stephen T. Logan, and, soon after, a 
final one with William H. Herndon, 
Lincoln's principal biographer, whose 



THE HOME AUXH^IARY AND REFERENCE 



attitude toward Airs. Lincoln must be 
carefully considered, because his unre- 
lenting hostility may have grown out 
of a mutual antipathy strengthened by 
business relations, and aggravated by 
a partner's playful children. There 
can be no doubt that Mrs. Lincoln 
loved Abraham Lincoln, and made him 
a faithful wife. His tragic death, when 
she sat by his side, beclouded her re- 
maining years. In 1846 Lincoln was 
elected to Congress over the celebrated 
Peter Cartwright, but failed to satisfy 
his constituents, as he opposed the 
Mexican war too emphatically after it 
was well begun. Doubtless this very 
experience fitted him to be patient with 
Butternuts and Copperheads afterward 
in the deep gloom in 1862-3. He did 
not seek re-election because he could 
not have succeeded, and he would have 
accepted a moderately good Federal 
office had it been within his reach. Me 
made one or two speeches in Congress, 
but caused only a small ripple in the 
wide stream of politics at the capital, 
and it is the only chapter in his public 
life where he did not rise far above 
mediocrity. 

We are therefore briefly introduced 
to the Hon. Abraham Lincoln, of the 
firm of Lincoln & Herndon, lawyers, 
at Springfield. The astonishing fecun- 
dity of the story-teller, as remembered 
in earlier days, was not so noticeable 
in Mr. Lincoln now, and, instead, 
periods of the deepest melancholy set- 
tled over him at unforseen moments. 
The testimony is without contradic- 
tion, that the famous entertainer, 
weaned from pleasant scenes or com- 
pany, would at once fall into an abyss 
of sadness very trying to the nerves 
of those who loved him. But so vast 
was his power to suffer that he never 
conveyed to another soul the precise 
character of the thoughts that were 
afflicting him. 

United with marked eccentricity and 
deep occasional melancholia, was the 
fact that Abraham Lincoln was usually 
accounted the homliest man one would 
ever see. He told this story himself : 
"One day a stranger accosted me on 
the cars : 'Excuse me, sir, but I have 



an article that belongs to you.' 'How 
is that?' The stranger took a jack- 
knife from his pocket. 'This,' said he, 
'was given to me several years ago to 
give to the first man I should meet 
who might be considered homlier than 
myself. From this on, the knife is 
yours.' " It will be well to give Hern- 
don's careful description of Lincoln 
when he was President-elect: "Mr. 
Lincoln was six feet four inches high, 
fifty-one years old, having good health 
and no grays hairs, or but few, on his 
head. He was thin, wiry, sinewy, raw- 
boned ; thin through the breast to the 
back, and narrow across the shoulders ; 
standing, he leaned forward — was what 
may be called stoop-shouldered, inclined 
to the consumptive by build. His usual 
weight was 180 pounds. His organi- 
zation — rather, his structure and fimc- 
tions — worked slowly. His blood had 
to run a long distance from his heart 
to the extremities of his frame, and 
his nerve force had to travel through 
dry ground a long distance before his 
muscles were obedient to his will. His 
structure was loose and leathery; his 
body was shrunk and shriveled ; he had 
dark skin, dark hair, and looked woe- 
struck. The whole man, body and 
mind, worked slowly, as if it needed 
oiling. Physically, he was a very 
powerful man, lifting with ease 400' 
and in one case 600 pounds. His mind 
was like his body, and worked slowly 
but strongly. Hence, there was but 
little bodily or mental wear and tear 
in him. When he walked, he moved 
cautiously but firmly ; his long arms 
and giant hands swung down by his 
side. He walked with inner tread, the 
inner sides of his feet being parallel. 
He put the whole foot flat down on 
the ground at once, not landing on the 
heel : he likewise lifted his foot all at 
once, not rising from the toe, and hence 
he had no spring to his walk. In sit- 
ting down on a common chair he was 
no taller than ordinary men. His legs 
and arms were abnormally, imnaturally 
long. It was only when he stood up 
that he loomed above other men. His 
head was long, and tall from the base 
of the brain and from the eyebrows. 



BIOGRAPHY— ABRAHAM LINCOLN 



His head ran backward, his forehead 
rising as it ran back at a long angle, 
like Clay's. The size of his hat, meas- 
ured at the hatter's block, was 7 1-8, 
his head being from ear to ear 6 1-2, 
and from the front to the back of the 
brain 8. Thus measured, it was not 
below the medium size. His forehead 
was narrow but high ; his hair was 
dark, almost black, and lay floating 
when his fingers or the winds lifted it, 
piled up at random. His cheek bones 
were high, sharp and prominent ; his 
jaws were long and up-curved ; his nose 
was large, long, blunt, and a little awry 
toward the left eye ; his chin was sharp 
and up-curved ; his eyebrows cropped 
out like a hugh rock on the brow of 
a hill ; his long, sallow face was 
wrinkled and dry, with a hair here 
and there on the surface ; his cheeks 
were leathery ; his ears were large, and 
ran out almost at right angles from 
his head, caused partly by heavy hats 
and partly by nature ; his lower lip was 
thick, hanging and under-curved, while 
his chin, up-curved, reached for the lip; 
his neck was neat and trim, his head 
being well balanced on it ; there was a 
lone mole on the right cheek, and 
Adam's apple on his throat. Thus,'" 
concludes Herndon, "walked, acted and 
looked Abraham Lincoln. He was not 
a pretty man, nor was he an ugly one ; 
he was a homely man, careless of his 
looks, plain-looking and plain-acting. 
He had no pomp, display or dignity, so- 
called. He was a sad-looking man ; his 
melancholy dripped from him as he 
walked." 

What was there, then, in 1850-2, 
when Clay, Webster and Calhoun had 
made their compromise and descended 
into their graves that should cause 
gigantic events to center around Mr. 
Lincoln, of the firm of Lincoln & Hern- 
don, a man for whom his intimate 
friends were infinitely compassionate? 
It was, plainly, the fact that he was 
the most interesting man whom the 
common people had met ; they told each 
other so, and it spread over the North. 
The man was as natural as a new-born 
babe. At a pathetic passage in a 
woman's speech at Springfield, Abra- 



ham Lincoln, in tiie middle of the audi- 
ence, burst into a hoarse laugh, and 
was frightened to think the audience 
did not all laugh ; nobody could guess 
why he had done this ; nobody could 
tell what he would do ne.xt ; but the 
masses came toward him as if he were 
father, brother, companion, fellow- 
blunderer. His very humiliations in- 
creased his hold on the hearts of the 
lowly. But, again, why did the people 
single him? Because, first, of his bat- 
tery of outpouring humanity-rays; be- 
cause of his deep love of the race, and 
all its individuals. "God," said he, 
"must have liked common people or He 
wouldn't have made so many of them." 
Yet his wit was keen, too. A .windy 
orator closed his oration. "That young 
chap reminds me of a steamer 1 once 
saw on the Ohio River. It had an 
eight-foot boiler and a twelve-foot 
vi^histle, and every time the whistle 
blew, the boat stopped." "These peo- 
ple who argue State sovereignty," he 
said, "remind me of the fellow who 
contended that the proper place for the 
big kettle was inside the little one." 
Lincoln's client had been attacked, and 
had acted in self-defense. "My client 
was like the man with the pitchfork 
on his shoulder; out came a fierce dog 
from the farmyard. In parrying off 
the brute with the fork, its prongs 
stuck into the dog and killed it. "What 
made you kill my dog?' cried the 
farmer. 'What made him bite me?' 
'But why did you not go at him with 
the other end of the pitchfork?' 'Why 
didn't he come at me with his other 
end?'" With this, Lincoln whirled an 
imaginary dog in his hands, on the floor, 
and pushed it tail first at the jury, who 
gave him the verdict with uproarious 
merriment. A commercial agency re- 
quested a report on the financial stand- 
ing of a neighbor of Lincoln's, and 
Lincoln replied : "I am well acquainted 
with Mr. A and know his circum- 
stances. First of all, he has a wife 
and baby ; together they ought to be 
worth $50,000 to any man. Secondly, 
he has an office in which there is a 
table worth $1.50 and three chairs 
worth, say, $1. Last of all, there is, in 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REEERENCE 



one corner, a large rat-hole, which is 
worth looking into." If Lincoln were 
in talking mood, men could not atTord 
to miss what he said, neither could 
anybody repress Lincoln's desire to 
talk. It is averred that Lincoln's best 
friend of all was Judge David Davis. 
In court Lincoln was telling yarns, and 
Judge Davis cried out: "Come. come. 
Air. Lincoln, I can't stand this! There 
is no use to carry on two courts at the 
same time. I must adjourn mine or 
yours, and I think yours will have to 
be the one." This brought things to 
rights at once. "What was that Lin- 
coln was telling?" anxiously asked the 
Judge, as soon as court was out for 
dinner. 

Nor was he all fun, as impertinent 
people were sure to learn. A woman 
wrote asking for a "sentiment" and 
his autograph. He replied : "Dear 
JMadam : When you ask a stranger for 
that which is of interest only to your- 
self, always inclose a stamp; there's 
your sentiment ; and here's your auto- 
graph. A. Lincoln." 

Neither was it his wit nor his keen 
defense that attracted men. The 
photographer. Ilesler, of Chicago, testi- 
fied : "I wondered who on earth could 
want a picture of such a singularly 
homely man, but before the sitting was 
over I was charmed by his wit, so 
fascinated by his genial humor, and 
the noble personality of the man, that 
I forgot his physical peculiarities. 
Long before I was aw-are of his identity 
I knew^ that he was great and good, 
with a soul as sweet and pure as a 
child's." Horace Greeley said : "I 
doubt whether man, woman or child, 
white or black, bound or free, virtuous 
or vicious, ever accosted or reached 
forth a hand to Abraham Lincoln and 
detected in his coimtenance and man- 
ner any repugnance or shrinking from 
the proper contact, any assumption of 
superiority or betrayal of disdain." 
Frederick Douglass, the orator of bis 
race, testified: "Mr. Lincoln is the only 
white man with whom I have ever 
talked, or in whose presence I have 
ever been, who did not consciously or 
unconsciously betray to me that he 



recognized my color." .\nd it is not at 
all certain that he did note the color 
of the man, if the affair were between 
only the twain. 

It is not necessary to believe that one 
after whom all common people fol- 
lowed, or rather one with whom all 
common people went alongside, was at 
all oblivious of his power. He said 
the best natural politican he ever met 
was an Illinois Democrat, whose po- 
litical creed was: "Find out what Abe 
Lincoln wants you to do, and don't do 
it!" 

To these qualities in Lincoln was 
added the great gift of poetrv. He 
spoke in figures, and thev were tropes 
that, while they might shock the polite, 
never failed to illustrate and ornament 
what he w-as saying to the humble. 
His letter to James S. Conkling, to 
be quoted anon, offers a fine example 
of his happy expression, in simple and 
homely political terms, of sentiments 
that only a hero could hold so stead- 
fastly as they were held by Abraham 
Lincoln. It is to be deduced from what 
has been narrated, that, first, the people, 
gathered in a village post office, then 
a county, then a valley, then a State, 
would expect to see Lincoln promi- 
nent in the nation. When it became 
a matter of State pride, the presidency 
was none too good for him. He made 
no personal impression on the country 
at large until his name was at the front 
among presidential candidates of the 
new Republican (not yet Anti-Slavery) 
party. 

He was probably best fitted to be 
President of the common people of all 
the statesmen who have held the office. 
He studied the elements of the popula- 
tion with imremitting delight. A new 
face was a new friend to set laughing — 
to impress with the superiority of the 
story-teller — for here was a man who 
could not hide his greatness of soul 
under either an exterior uncouth or a 
striking familiarity of speech. Major 
G. M. McConnel narrates how, as a 
boy. his father sent him to ask Mr. 
Lincoln, the law-yer, the particulars of 
a case in court. The lad met Mr. Lin- 
coln on the street. The tall man sat 



BIOGRAPHY— ABRAHAM LINCOLN 



395 



down on the curb, put his silk hat be- 
tween his knees, and, out of a mis- 
cellaneous collection of documents, 
found the particular case. Then he 
talked to the lad so fraternally about 
it that young McConnel carried away 
an idea as perfect as if it had been an 
account of a fishing expedition. For 
the nonce, Lincoln was a lad, too, ex- 
plaining the case in a lad's language, 
with all the fraternity of youth. Thus, 
it is sometimes avowed that Abraham 
Lincoln seemed essentially different to 
every man he met. This judgment 
must be restricted to common people. 
Toward those who entertained aristo- 
cratic ideas, he was cold and enigmat- 
ical. His son Robert was going to a 
banquet given to Professor Longfellow, 
the poet, by many eminent scholars. 
"Go, my son, but if you are able to 
maintain a respectable conversation 
with those distinguished gentlemen, 
you'll do more than your father was 
ever able to accomplish." 

As the fame spread of this approach- 
able and unapproachable man, this sim- 
ple and profound mind, there was no 
lack of self-appointed political mana- 
gers and stablemen, to caparison the 
steed and watch over the presidential 
provender. The secret sagacity of the 
man ; his utter inability to ask for 
favors, to lean for advice on "wise 
men," was a maddening phenomenon 
to a host of politicians. "Lincoln had 
the people" ; now how to minify and 
belittle Lincoln as to fit him into a 
smaller office and let a figurehead go 
in front ? That was the problem of the 
scholarly Senators, and they could not 
solve it, because Lincoln was great 
enough to desire the chief office for 
himself. When Lincoln canvassed the 
State with Douglas, in joint debate, he 
took grounds that would defeat him 
(Lincoln) for the Senatorship in the 
conservative Legislature of Illinois, in 
order to make Douglas assume counter 
positions that would defeat him for the 
presidency two years later. Lincoln 
was as quick politically as Henry Clay, 
and was on the right side of Ma.son 
and Dixon's line. 

When the senatorial ca!n])aign was 



over and Douglas was elected, he was 
called into (Jhio, and thither Lincoln 
followed in the autumn of 1859. At 
the moment of the John Brown raid, 
Lincoln was in Kansas. He became, 
with events, hardly more radical in his 
tttterances, and it was readily believed 
that he had sacrified his political in- 
terests in his slowness to exhibit a 
strong repugnance to slavery in the 
South. 

Early in i860, at the State House in 
.S])ringfield, 111., a meeting of Hatch, 
Judd, J'eck, Grimshaw and others 
modestly launched the presidential can- 
didacy of Abraham Lincoln — Seward, 
however, being looked on as the chief 
aspirant for party honors. In October, 
1859, Lincoln had been invited to speak 
at Cooper Institute, New York City, 
the action being an unsolicited friendly 
move by Bryant, the poet, and others. 
The address was made to an over- 
flowing house in February, i860. Lin- 
coln appeared there as rustic as the 
early Patrick Henry. The audience 
was agog to hear the witty stories he 
was now famous for telling, but he, 
warned by the Senators and political 
magnates, kept close to his arguments, 
which made a deep impression. His 
speech here and other addresses in New 
England, where he got near to the peo- 
ple in his own inimitable way, made 
tremendous political hits, and when he 
returned to Springfield it could not be 
concealed from Mr. Seward's friends 
that Seward was to be opposed by a 
powerful rival. On May 9 and 10 the 
Illinois State Convention met at De- 
catur. To that convention John Hanks, 
a cousin, brought two of the fence rails 
that Lincoln had split in 1830, and as 
America, from the Alleghenies west- 
ward, was still a primeval settlement, 
the idea of "Lincoln, the Rail-Splitter," 
awakened the frantic enthusiasm of the 
pioneers. But the time was short, and 
it looked as if Lincoln's candiriacy were 
too young — he must wait. There were 
not enough Lincoln States in the East. 
The National Convention met a week- 
later. May 16, i860, at Chicago, in a 
wigwam, built puriJosely large, where 
local talent could delegate itself to 



396 



THE HOIME AUXILIARY AND REFEREXCE 



create an atmosphere favorable to Lin- 
coln's interests. David Davis opened 
"Lincoln headquarters" at the Tremont 
House. The wigwam was a little over 
four blocks west of the Tremont House, 
where Lake Street turned obliquely into 
Market Street — a "broken corner." 
Mr. Lincoln, still of the firm of Lin- 
coln & Herndon, was at home in 
Springfield. It is usually understood 
that David Davis made voting arrange- 
ments with Simon Cameron, of Penn- 
sylvania, but the candidate was not wil- 
ling to be bound by contract— not if it 
cost the nomination, such was his 
astonishingly cautious, secretive policy. 
He approved Seward's idea of an "ir- 
repressible conflict," but refused to 
indorse his "higher law" — that is, Se- 
ward was too radical. Thus, while it 
.would have been the easy part of the 
demagogue to go out beyond Seward, 
Lincoln, at a moment when it was 
deemed fatal to him, took the stand 
that nominated him. He was consid- 
ered a safer man — a little nearer the 
South — born in Kentucky — a Missis- 
sii)pi flatboatman — a rail splitter. The 
people, too, must fight ; let them choose 
their leader, and so far as mere popu- 
larity seemed to go in Chicago, of 
course Lincoln overtopped all other 
candidates put together. Mr. Seward 
did not arrive with enough votes to 
nominate him, and when his political 
machinery broke down he had no re- 
maining resource. Lincoln was chosen 
on the third ballot (Alay i8), and the 
whole West was wildly delighted ; the 
elder East was gravely pleased to see 
its children so happy. Mr. Lincoln was 
not nationally known. At Springfield 
Lincoln was in the public square, toss- 
ing town ball. He took the message 
announcing his nomination, and said : 
"I guess I will tell a little woman down 
the street the news." The Republican 
platform was in these words : "That 
the new dogma, that the Constitution 
carries slavery into all the territories, 
is a dangerous political heresy, revolu- 
tionary in tendency, and subversive of 
the peace and harmony of the country." 
Lincoln himself had gone a little fur- 
ther: "That the spread of slavery 



should be arrested, and it should be 
placed where the public mind shall rest 
in the belief of its ultimate extinction." 
The Abolitionists, forced to accept the 
sop offered in the platform, had joined 
the Republican party, and formed its 
extreme left, with Lincoln next to them, 
but no one knew how sternly he con- 
sidered himself as yet not one of that 
extreme left. He saw the people were 
for L'nion ; he knew that attitude meant 
eventually Abolition ; so he saw no 
necessity of taking a stand out ahead 
of the people; if the Union could be 
saved with slave States and free terri- 
tories and free new States, he was 
willing to save it that way. The East- 
ern people soon grew cool. Mr. Weed, 
who had so often defeated Henry Clay, 
desired to be visited, but Lincoln held 
aloof ; when David Davis went East it 
was with a most slow consent on Lin- 
coln's part. Lincoln did not like to 
act. and he was stubborn to lead. He 
was usually right in his apprehensions 
of future events. As soon as the East- 
ern men saw he was not worrying, they 
themselves bestirred. When they came 
to Springfield, making loud reproaches, 
but offering no good suggestions, he 
told them the story of the man who 
was traveling on horseback in a wild 
region, during a thunderstorm. "The 
peals of thunder," said Lincoln, "were 
frightful. One bolt, which seemed to 
crash the earth beneath him, brought 
him to his knees. Not being a praying 
man, his petition was short and to the 
point. He said: "O Lord, if it is all 
the same to you, give us a little more 
light and a little less noise!" 

In those days three large States held 
their local elections in October, while 
the presidential election in those States 
was a special polling of the voters in 
November. When Pennsylvania, Ohio 
and Indiana went Republican at their 
State elections in October, i860, it 
could be seen that Lincoln would win. 
P.oth Indiana and Pennsylvania had 
gone against the Republicans in 1856. 
Though he was encouraged, it is likely 
he knew the conspiracy of the Southern 
leaders began from that very day. 
Floyd, of \'irginia, who had received 



BIOGRAPHY— ABRAHAM LIXCOLN 



the Xullifiers' votes for President, years 
before, was Secretary of War, and im- 
mediately lent his department to the 
service of the plot. 

From the moment Lincoln's candi- 
dacy assumed the importance of a prob- 
able election, his gloomy forebodings 
of personal ill increased. All but three 
of Springfield clergy opposed his elec- 
tion, and this gave him deep affliction, 
for he thought the profession of the 
ministry ought of itself to impel a 
minister to support the cause of free- 
dom ; and such exhibitions of political 
feeling shocked his innate respect for 
religion. In the Xorth the campaign 
was between Lincoln and Douglas — 
the Rail-Splitter and the "Little 
Giant." In the South it was every- 
where averred that Lincoln was not a 
human being at all — that he was an 
anthropoid ape. In the election on 
Xovember 6, i860, he received a plu- 
rality of nearly 600,000 votes, and, in 
the Electoral College, he had a ma- 
jority over all as follows: Lincoln, 180: 
Breckenbridge, ~2\ Bell, 39: Douglas, 
12. Douglas carried but one State — 
Missouri. Lincoln carried seventeen en- 
tire States. Lincoln was constitutionally 
and popularily the President, having 
received \ery nearly as many votes as 
any two of the other three candidates. 

After some persuasion, Mr. Lincoln, 
President-elect, invited Thurlow W'eed 
to visit Springfield, and that celebrated 
"boss" of Xew York politics arrived, 
as was understood, in the interest of 
Mr. Seward. John Brown's expedition 
had suddenly precipitated the entire 
slavery question, and his execution was 
regarded not only as a martyrdom, but 
a challenge. It was seen in the East 
that all depended on "the unknown 
Rail-Splitter who had told stories." 
Letters poured in on Herndon, asking 
what manner of man this Lincoln was. 
December 21, i860, Herndon wrote, 
summarizing eighteen years of knowl- 
edge of Lincoln : "Lincoln is a man of 
heart — aye, as gentle as a woman, and 
as tender — but he has a will strong as 
iron. He therefore loves all mankind, 
hates slavery and every form of despo- 
tism. Put these together — love for the 



slave, and a determination, a will, that 
ju.stice, strong and unyielding, shall be 
done when he has a right to act, and 
you can form your own conclusion. 
Lincoln will fail here, namely, if a 
question of political economy — if any 
question comes up which is doubtful, 
questionable, which no man can demon- 
strate, then his friends can rule him ; 
but when on justice, right, liberty, the 
Government, the Constitution and the 
L'nion, then you may all stand aside. 
He will rule then, and no man can rule 
him — no set of men can do it. There 
is no fail here. This is Lincoln, and 
you mark my prediction." 

Late in January. 1861, Mr. Lincoln 
wrote his inaugural address. He asked 
Herndon for Henry Clay's great speech 
of 1850, Andrew Jackson's proclama- 
tion against Xullification, and a copy 
of the Constitution. He locked himself 
in an empty room over a store, and, 
under those untoward circumstances, 
prepared a paper which is treasured 
among the noblest utterances of the 
Fathers of the Xation. 

In the first week of Febuary, 1861, 
he visited his aged stepmother at 
Farmington, and went to the grave of 
his father, Thomas Lincoln. He was 
deeply impressed with the idea that it 
would be his last opportunity to see the 
persons and things he loved. He was 
a prophet. The causes that led to his 
death were blind and slow in acting — 
he was a keen judge of cause and 
effect ; he himself knew his value and 
power as an opponent to slavery. In 
the last weeks of his stay at Spring- 
field nearly all his old friends of the 
settlements came in to bid him good-by 
— a touching testimony, which nerved 
him to the task before him, for now 
the Southern Confederacy was well 
under way. At last he stood on the 
car platfomi, at the little railroad sta- 
tion: "Friends," he said, "no one who 
has never been placed in a like position 
can understand my feelings at this hour, 
nor the oppressive sadness I feel at 
this parting. I go to assume a task 
more difficult than that which devolved 
upon \\\ishington. Unless the great 
God who assisted him shall be with and 



398 



THE HOME AUXILL\RY AND REFERENCE 



aid me, I must fail; but if the same 
omniscent mind and almighty arm that 
directed and protected him shall guide 
and support me, I shall not fail, I shall 
succeed." Lincoln had now become 
and remained a devout Deist. His 
burden had grown heavier than he 
could bear, and he appeared to have 
looked trustfully to Heaven for guid- 
ance. As battle after battle of our 
Civil War piled up in American history 
afterward, and the bloody business 
grew familiar alike to men of peace 
and war, this marked public religious 
attitude of the pilot of the ship of state 
was a never-failing source of satisfac- 
tion to the devout in the North. His 
route to Washington was planned to 
evoke patriotic feeling on the way. 
Allan Pinkerton, a detective, of Chi- 
cago, discovered a plot of assassination 
at Baltimore, and his tomb at Grace- 
land Cemetery, Chicago, commemorates 
his services to the Emancipator at this 
time as the chief of Pinkerton's works. 
The run into Washington from Har- 
risburg was secret. General Scott was 
ill in bed. but the veteran swore a round 
oath that Lincoln should be inaugu- 
rated, and took admirable military pre- 
cautions. Among the Radicals of the 
North the bitterest contempt was felt 
for the outgoing President, Buchanan, 
whose easy submission to the insults of 
the South was considered as imperiling 
the nation. These sharp fault-finders 
asked Mr. Lincoln if he intended to 
ride to the capitol with Buchanan or 
to go alone. "That reminds me," said 
Lincoln, "of the witness in a lawsuit, 
who looked like a Quaker. When he 
arose to take the oath he was a.sked 
by the Judge (who seemed puzzled") 
if he would swear or affirm. T don't 
care a d — n which,' was the reply." 
President Buchanan called at Wil- 
lard's Hotel for Mr. Lincoln on the 
morning of March 4th, and a few min- 
utes later Honest Old Abe was Presi- 
dent, to the very general satisfaction 
of the North, because love for the man 
covered the land. At this time vvar 
was inevitable, but nobody in authority 
believed it would last ninety days. It 
was thought the South would fight a 



little and recede from the dogma of 
slave-extension. The nation was still 
under the spell of slaxeholding orators ; 
the South claimed all the chivalry and 
respectability of the L'nion. In his in- 
augural the new President merely said 
the Government would not strike the 
first blow. 

Premonitions of strife had no restric- 
tWe effect on the office-seekers, and the 
hordes of each State now beset the 
Chief Executive. A delegation asked 
the appointment of a man in delicate 
health to go to the balmy latitudes of 
the Sandwich Islands. "Gentlemen," 
said Mr. Lincoln, "I am sorry that there 
are eight other applicants for that 
place, and they are all sicker than your 
man!" The Austrian Minister pre- 
sented an Austrian Count, who devoted 
much time to proving beyond perad- 
venture that he was a person of noble 
lineage and high standing. Mr. Lin- 
coln laid his hand on the office-seeker's 
shoulder, and said: "Ne\-er mind, you 
shall be treated with just as much 
consideration, for all that !" A crowd 
of office-seekers informed President 
Lincoln that he had been exposed to the 
smallpox. "I'm glad of it," said Lin- 
coln, "for now I'm going to have some- 
thing that I can give to everybody." 

He began his War Administration 
with his accustomed modesty. When 
General AlcClellan was busy organiz- 
ing the army, the President would sit 
in the General's ante-room, and the 
General would send out word that he 
was too busy to see anybody. Lincoln 
would go away, apparently satisfied. 
This is on the testimony of General 
Sickles. Such a condition of depend- 
ence lasted till after Bull Run. Robert 
L. Wilson, an old friend, was anxious 
for news, and Lincoln and Nicolay were 
coming from the War Department. 
"These war fellows are very strict with 
me," said Lincoln, "and I suppose I 
must obey them till I get the hang of 
things." "But can't you tell me whether 
the news is good or bad, Mr. Presi- 
dent?" He grasped Wilson's arm like 
a vice, and whispered shrilly in his ear, 
"It's d — n bad !" And so it was, but 
it was necessary it should be bad in 



BIOr.RAPHY— ABRAHAM LINCOLN 



order to stir the Xorth and awaken 
Lincoln to the dangers that surrounded 
him from incapables. He had not yet 
appointed Stanton ; and Grant, Sher- 
man, Thomas, McPherson, Hancock, 
Meade, Sheridan were not yet on the 
scene. 

The Great War settled on the land. 
Calls for troops — 75,00 volunteers, 
then 300,000, again 300,000, again 300,- 
000 — came fast and faster. The 
dreaded draft struck alike the coward 
and the courageous, the Copperhead 
and the Abolitionist. The taxes 
doubled, tripled, quadrupled. Bonds 
sold down, down, down, in greenbacks; 
gold rose upward, to 290. Patriotism 
might make a feeble cry, but the voice 
of the substitute-broker was loud in 
the land. Gamblers, cormorants, con- 
tractors, fattened. For one thing the 
nation hungered — victory ! And victory 
did not come. The summers of 1861, 
1862, and till July 4, 1863, were sea- 
sons of the saddest and most humiliat- 
ing history. The great man in the 
White House gradually shifted the en- 
tire load on his own shoulders, and 
at last the machine of war began to 
wreck havoc on the slaveholders. 

John Hay, one of his two chief secre- 
taries, describes the President : "He 
did not sleep well, but spent a good 
while in bed. He was extremely un- 
methodical. He would break through 
every regulation, as fast as it was made. 
Anything that kept the people them- 
selves away from him he disapproved, 
although they nearly annoyed the life 
out of him bv unreasonable complaints 
and requests. He wrote very few let- 
ters, and did not read one in fifty that 
he received." He sent Nicolay or Hay 
on long journeys rather than to write. 
"Sometimes, though rarely, he shut 
himself up and would see no one. 
He was very abstemious — ate less than 
any man I know. He drank nothing 
but water," not from principle how- 
ever. A temperance committee told 
him the army was drinking so much 
whisky it was bringing the curse of the 
Lord on the North. He said the other 
side was drinking more and worse 
whisky. He did not read the news- 



papers. "I know more about it than 
any of them," he said sadly. The kid- 
glove people never understood him, and 
could not learn. "I," said Hay, "consider 
Lincoln to be Republicanism incar- 
nate — with all its faults and all its 
virtues. As, in spite of some rudeness, 
Republicanism is tlie sole hope of a 
sick world, so Lincoln, with all his 
foibles, is the greatest character since 
Christ." 

He studied Calhoun, and set his 
great mind at work to overthrow Cal- 
houn's logic. Of all public men, per- 
haps, Calhoun effected the deepest im- 
pression on him, because Calhoun made 
a fearless presentation of his facts. 
Mr. Lincoln particularly admired that 
sentence of Calhoun : "To legislate 
upon precedent is but to make the error 
of yesterday the law of to-day." 

The Abolitionists set out, one way 
or another, to make him free the slaves, 
on John Quincy Adams' prescription 
that it could be done as a Presidential 
war measure. Generals Fremont and 
Hunter and Colonel Donii Piatt all felt 
his rough hand when they audaciously 
assumed the power of emancipation in 
their military districts. His own plan 
was State emancipation with compen- 
sation to owners. Horace Greeley, 
Wendell Phillips and all the great New 
Englanders thought he went far too 
slow. A committee of ministers from 
a General .\ssembly, certain that they 
came to bun inspired of God — who had 
made that point very clear — were 
answered : "Well, gentlemen, it is not 
very often that one is favored with a 
delegation direct from the Almighty." 
James Gordon Bennett, with his New 
York Herald, was daily handicapping 
the Administration, and stood ready to 
edit a Lincoln organ, if the President 
would especially invite him to the 
White House. Mr. Lincoln said the 
doors were open to all. Neither godly 
nor diabolical contrivances could move 
Abraham Lincoln. "I can see that 
emancipation is coming. Whoever can 
wait for it will see it." Yet this man 
who could not be coaxed nor driven 
was the easiest-going and friendliest 
of men. Leonard Swett said, of his 



THE HOME AUXHJARY AND REFERENCE 



m,-irvelous skill in dealing with senti- 
ment in Kentucky, Missouri and the 
horder States generally: "He was a 
trimmer, and such a trimmer the world 
has never seen." Swett thought Lin- 
coln had never asked for advice in his 
life. Anything he needed counsel about 
he would let others do. It was Swett's 
sentence regarding Lincoln: "He re- 
tained through life all the friends he 
ever had, and he made the wrath of 
his enemies to praise him." Not only 
did he require indomitable will to defer 
the emancipation proclamations until 
the majority of the soldiers and people 
wanted them, but he was the first strong 
supporter of Grant and Sherman 
against Halleck and Stanton, and as 
the people saw him always in accord 
with their views, they began to revere 
him. The soldiers told his stories on 
the battlefield. That keen desire to 
hear about the man himself, which has 
lasted until this day, took hold upon 
mankind, and, when some magnate 
would obtusely complain of Lincoln's 
methods and manners, such a critic was 
thereafter a well-marked character. 
What astonished men the most was 
that, while defeat sickened the Presi- 
dent, and each battle left him looking 
older and still sadder, the kind manner 
never changed, nor did the stream of 
wit How low. .\ notorious bully or- 
dered an ofiicer to flee. The officer 
arrested the bully, who struck with all 
his force at the officer, missing him. 
The officer, in return, struck the bully 
so hard with his fist that the senseless 
victim was taken to the hospital — it was 
said, to die. The officer ran to the 
White House for counsel and explana- 
tion. "I am sorry," said the Presi- 
dent, "you had to kill the man, but 
these are times of war, and a great 
many men deserve killing. This man, 
according to your story, is one of them ; 
so give yourself no uneasiness about 
the matter. I will stand by you." But 
the officer had sought Father Abraham 
for spiritual consolation. His con- 
science was stricken. Lincoln looked 
upon him again : "Well, go home now 
and get some sleep. But if you want 
some advice, hereafter when you strike 



a man, don't hit him with your fist. 
Strike him with a club or a crowbar, 
or something that won"t kill him !" 

A man wanted a pass into Richmond. 
"Happy to oblige you if my passes 
were respected. The fact is, I have 
given passes to 250,000 men to go to 
Richmond, and as yet not one has 
reached the place." Fairfax was raided, 
and a brigadier-general and a number 
of horses were captured. "Well, Pm 
sorry on account of the horses. I can 
make a brigadier-general in five min- 
utes, but it is not an easy matter to 
replace a hundred and ten horses." .V 
troublesome visitor demanded exact 
statistics showing the number of Con- 
federate soldiers in the field. "Twelve 
hundred thousand, according to the 
best authority." The questioner cried : 
"Good heavens !" "Yes, sir, twelve 
hundred thousand — no doubt of it. I 
have no reason to doubt our generals, 
and every time they are whipped they 
say the rebels outnumbered them from 
three or five to one. We have four 
hundred thousand men in the field, and 
three times four makes twelve. Do 
you see?" Alexander PL Stephens, 
\'ice-President of the Confederacy, met 
the President outside of Richmond. He 
was a very small man in a large over- 
coat. Lincoln asked Grant if he had 
seen Stephens in his overcoat. Grant 
had. Had Grant seen Stephens take 
otT the overcoat? Grant had also seen 
that. "Well, didn't you think it was 
the biggest shuck and the littlest ear 
you had ever seen ?" 

The nation touched the tender chord 
in their President's nature when they 
put the power of life and death in his 
liands. He said to Swett : "Get out 
of the way, Swett; to-morrow is 
butcher-day, and I must go through 
these papers and see if I cannot find 
some excuse to let these poor fellows 
ofif." Stanton believed in military cap- 
ital punishment, and plenty of it. Stan- 
ton sent Holt, the chief military prose- 
cutor, "to put a case strong," to 
Lincoln. Soldiers had run back from 
line of battle at Chancellorsville. They 
were now under sentence of death. 
"Holt, you acknowledge these men have 



BIOGRAPHY— ABRAHA^t LINCOLN 



a previous record for bravery. They 
shall not be shot for this one oiTense.'' 
Holt knew Stanton would "explode 
with rage," so he made another argu- 
ment for blood. "Holt, were you ever 
in battle?" "I have never been." 
"Did Stanton ever march in the first 
line, to be shot at by an enemy, like 
these men did?" "I think not, Mr. 
President. " "Well, I tried it, in the 
Blackhawk War, and 1 remember, one 
time, I grew awful weak in the knees 
when I heard the bullets whistle around 
me. and saw the enemy in front of me. 
How my legs carried me forward. I 
cannot now tell, for I thought every 
minute that I would sink to the ground. 
Who knows but these men's legs re- 
fused to carry them? Send this dis- 
patch, ordering them set free." And 
they were set free that day. 

As "the war to free the negro" grew 
more perceptible in its logic, the com- 
plexities of draft-riots. Butternut and 
Copperhead Conventions, unlicensed 
newspaper invective, and sharp military 
criticism, seemed overwhelmingly nu- 
merous. The President delivered up 
Mason and Slidell to England; encour- 
aged Juarez in Mexico: set down \'al- 
landigham of Ohio within the Confed- 
erate lines ; moderated the tone of Se- 
ward's documents ; made peace as of- 
ten as war. Finally, when the time 
was sufficiently ripe, he issued the pre- 
liminary Proclamation of Emancipa- 
tion. On September 22, 1862, he in- 
formed all regions in rebellion, nam- 
ing them, and excepting certain coun- 
ties, that their slaves would be free 
January i, 1863, unless they ceased to 
defy the authority of the Ignited States, 
it was not Abolition as a principle — it 
was emancipation in rebellious regions 
as a threat, and measure of war. 

He called the members of the Cabi- 
net, and, suiumarizing his thoughts and 
feelings, he told them this Proclamation 
and no other would be issued. Gov- 
ernor Seward (Secretary of State) 
suggested a slight change, which was 
adopted ; a day or two later he sug- 
gested still another, which was likewise 
adopted. The President asked the Gov- 
ernor why he had not mentioned both 



changes at once, but Governor Seward 
did not seem to give a satisfactory 
answer. "Seward," said Lincoln, "re- 
minds me of a hired man who came 
to a farmer and told him one of a fa- 
vorite yoke of oxen had fallen down 
dead. After a pause the hired man 
added : 'And the other o.x in that team 
is dead, too.' 'Why didn't you tell 
me at once that both the oxen were 
dead?' 'Because I didn't want to hurt 
you by telling you too much at one 
time." " 

As soon as the responsible head of 
the Government was well under the 
burden which the original Abolitionists 
had first taken up, it seemed as if all 
parties turned to make that burden 
heavier. The South was hit hard, and 
it nerved itself "to deadlier and more 
ungenerous blows." There also formed 
parties of "Unconditional Union men" 
in the North, who claimed to be per- 
turbed with fear of disunion. These 
patriots cheerfully invited the Presi- 
dent to leave the war and come to ad- 
dress them at Springfield. The "letter 
to James S. Conkling" in reply to such 
an invitation is immortal and unan- 
swerable, warning all men, for all time, 
to get out of the attitude of Tories, or 
fire-in-the-rear agitators imder any 
name whatsoever. "You desire peace, 
and you blame me, that you do have 
it." The writer (Lincoln) names 
"three conceivable ways to attain 
peace." "First, to suppress the rebel- 
lion by force and arms. This I am try- 
ing to do. Are you for it? If you 
are, so far we are agreed. If you are 
not for it, a second way is, to give up 
the Union. I am against this. .Are 
you for it? If you are, you should 
say so, plainly. If you are not for 
force, nor yet for dissolution, there only 
remains some imaginable compromise." 
The President gives his proofs that 
com]5romise is impossible. "No paper 
compromise to which the controllers of 
Lee's army are not agreed, can at all 
affect that army." No word of com- 
promise from that army had ever 
reached the President. .Should such an 
offer come, it should not be rejected, 
nor should it be kept secret. "But, to 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



be plain, you are dissatisfied with me 
about the negro. Quite hkely, there 
is a difference of opinion between you 
and myself upon that subject. I cer- 
tainly wish that all men could be free, 
while I suppose you do not.'" "I sug- 
gested compensated emancipation, to 
which you replied that you wished not 
to be taxed to buy negroes."' He then 
argues the constitutionality of the 
Emancipation Proclamation. "Some of 
you profess to think a retraction of the 
Proclamation would operate favorably 
for the Union. Why better after the 
retraction, than before the issue? 
There was more than a year and a half 
of trial to suppress the rebellion before 
the Proclamation issued, the last one 
hundred days of which passed under 
an explicit notice that it was coming, 
unless averted by those in revolt, re- 
turning to their allegiance. The war 
has certainly progressed as favorably 
for us since the issue of the Proclama- 
tion as before."" The President next 
shows that his militarj' men are pleased 
with the military effects of the Procla- 
mation. "You say that you will not 
fight to free negroes. Some of them 
seem willing to fight to free you. But, 
no matter. Fight you, then, exclusive- 
ly, to save the Union. I issued the 
Proclamation on purpose to aid you in 
saving the Union. Whenever you shall 
have conquered all resistance to the 
Union, if I shall urge you to continue 
fighting, it will be an apt time then 
for you to declare you will not fight 
to free negroes. I thought that, in your 
struggle for the Union, to whatever ex- 
tent the negroes should cease helping 
the enemy, to that extent it weakened 
the enemy in his resistance to you. 
Do you think differently? I thought 
that whatever negroes can be got to 
do as soldiers, leaves just so much less 
for white soldiers to do in saving the 
Union. Does it appear otherwise to 
you ?" 

At this point in Father Abraham's 
greatest letter he begins to be eloquent, 
and we quote the closing pages in full : 
"The signs look better. The Father 
of Waters again goes unvexed to sea. 
Thanks to the great Northwest for it ; 



nor jet wholly to them. Three hun- 
dred miles up they met Xew^ England, 
Keystone and Jersey, hewing their way 
right and left. The Sunnj- South, too, 
in more colors than one, also lent a 
hand. On the spot, their part of the 
history was jotted down in black and 
white. The job was a great National 
one ; and let none be barred who bore 
an honorable part in it. And while 
those who have cleared the great river 
niay well be proud, even that is not 
all. It is hard to say that anything 
has been more bravely and well done 
than at Antietam. Murfreesboro. Get- 
tysburg, and on so many fields of lesser 
note. Nor must Uncle Sam's web feet 
be forgotten. At all the watery mar- 
gins they have been present. Not only 
on the deep sea, the broad bay, and 
the rapid river, but also up the narrow, 
muddy bayou, and wherever the ground 
was a little damp, they have been, and 
made their tracks, thanks to all. For 
the great Republic — for the principle 
it lives by and keeps alive — for man's 
vast future — thanks to all. 

"Peace does not appear so distant 
as it did. I hope it will come soon 
and come to stay, and so come as to be 
worth the keeping for all future time. 
It will then have been proved that, 
among free men. there can be no suc- 
cessful appeal from the ballot to the 
bullet: and that they who take such 
appeal are soon to lose their case and 
pay the cost. And then there will be 
some black men who can remember 
that, with silent tongue, clenched teeth, 
and well-poised baj-onet, they have 
helped mankind on to this great con- 
summation ; while I fear there will be 
some white ones, unable to forget that, 
with malignant heart and deceitful 
speech, they strove to hinder it." 

When Mr. Lincoln next stood on the 
east steps of the Capitol, he had been 
endorsed by an overwhelming major- 
ity of the North. He had Grant at 
Richmond ; he had Sherman ranging 
up and down the Confederacy, their 
cities flaming behind. He had Mem- 
phis. Natchez. New Orleans. Mobile. 
Savannah, and the realm of Slavery 
was cut in twain. Father Abraham 



BIOGRAPHY— ABRAHAM LINCOLN 



now wore a beard, and looked twenty 
years older than when he left Spring- 
field. Peace was coming with victory. 
It was then that he grew even more 
gentle. It was then that he said : "\\'ith 
malice toward none ; with charity for 
all" — those magical words that seemed 
to leap with poetry out of the example 
of his life of sorrows, an inimitable 
inscription over his catafalque anon, 
and a precious legacy to the language 
that he spoke. 

In spirit he had not really changed. 
All other things seemed unstable, but 
Father Abraham was the same— far 
better understood now, even by the peo- 
ple who had always believed in him. 
A widow, whose husband had fallen 
in battle, implored that one of her three 
soldier-sons might come home to sup- 
port her. "Certainly," said Father 
Abraham, "if you have given up all, 
and your prop has been taken away, 
you are justly entitled to one of your 
boys." ijut the soldier whom Lincoln 
had thus discharged was killed in bat- 
tle before the order could reach him. 
Again the afflicted mother and widow 
came to Lincoln, whose face was very 
grave as he wrote another discharge. 
"Now." he said, "you have one, and I 
have one of the two boys left ; that is 
no more than right." These mothers 
in Israel never failed to assure Abra- 
ham Lincoln that the next time they 
should meet him, would be in Heaven, 
and it gladdened his heart to know they 
felt so. 

He was like Shakespeare, in that light 
and shade, pathos and humor, played 
across his nature as light winds on 
summer seas. He stood with Grant at, 
Petersburg where Smith's colored 
troops had glorified their race. "I want 
to take a look at those boys," said the 
President. "I read with greatest de- 
light how gallantly they behaved. Dana 
said they took six out of the sixteen 
guns captured that day. I was opposed 
on nearly every side when I first fa- 
vored the raising of colored regiments, 
but they have proven their efficiency. 
When we wanted ever)' able-bodied 
man who could be spared to go to the 
front, and my operators kept objecting 



to the negroes, I used to tell them that 
at such times it was just as well to be 
a little color-blind. I think. General, 
we can say of the black boys what a 
country fellow, who was an old-time 
Abolitionist in Illinois, said when he 
went to a theater in Chicago and saw 
Forrest playing 'Othello.' He was not 
very well up in Shakespeare, and didn't 
know that the tragedian was a white 
man who had blacked up for the pur- 
pose. After the play was over, the 
folks who had invited him to go to 
the show wanted to know what he 
thought of the actors, and he said: 
'Waal, layin' aside all sectional preju- 
dices and any partiality I may have for 
the race, derned if I don't think the 
nigger held his own with any on 'em.' " 
A Tennessee wife implored the re- 
lease of her husband, a rebel prisoner, 
on the ground that he was a religious 
man. "Tell him when you meet him." 
said the President, "that I say I'm 
not much of a judge of religion, but 
that in my opinion the religion which 
sets men to rebel and fight against their 
Government because, as they think, that 
Government does not sufficiently help 
some men to eat their bread in the 
sweat of other men's faces, is not the 
sort of religion upon which people can 
get to Heaven." 

As he entered Richmond, the picture 
of the freed slaves gathering about 
him and hailing him with sharp cries 
as their deliverer, would have con- 
vinced anybody that freedom is a 
precious thing in the opinion of those 
who have been denied it. 

It seemed, in April, 1865, that the 
real troubles were passed. A dozen 
armies had been raised, $3,000,000,000 
had been borrowed, battles, prison- 
camps, cemeteries, rendezvous, navy 
yards, military governments, politics, 
draft, conspiracies — all. all, had gone 
by, and Slavery was blotted out ; its 
champions were prisoners of war, its 
arch-prophets fugitives and e.xiles. On 
what a home-returning might Abraham 
Lincoln look — he who never forgot a 
face. In 1840, he had taken dinner 
with a Sangamon county farmer. 
Now, this "'embattled farmer" shook 



404 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



hands with the triumphant President. 
"Yes," said Lincohi, "I remember you. 
You used to Hve on the Danville road. 
I took dinner with you when I was 
running for the Legislature. I recol- 
lect that we stood talking together out 
at the barn-yard gate while I sharpened 
my jack-knife." "Ya-as," drawled the 
old soldier, "you did. But say, wherever 
did ye put that whetstone? I looked 
for it a dozen times, but I never could 
find it after the day you used it. We 
'lowed as how mebby you took it along 
with ye." "No," said Lincoln ; "no, I 
put it on top of that gate-post — that 
high one." "Well, mebby you did. 
now. Couldn't nobody else have put it 
up there, and none of us ever thought 
to look up there for it." The soldier 
was soon after at home. He wrote at 
once to his friend Abe Lincoln, that he 
had found the whetstone on top of the 
tall post, where it had lain untouched 
for fifteen years, and he did not think 
it would ever be lost again. 

About the 7th and 8th of April, the 
towns of the North were alive with 
music and bright at night with bonfires. 
"Swamp Angels," Fantastic Compan- 
ies," fire brigades, and all the mechan- 
ism of festive joy were in movement. 
The Nation was one; Father Abraham 
had supported Grant and Sherman in 
the dark hours : he had been mountain- 
like among the molehills. Even in the 
highest moments of jubilation, the 
thought of the Greatheart at the White 
House would come upon the people, 
and some latest tale would be told, in 
imitation of his unrivaled art. Early 
on a crisp Saturday morning, about a 
week later, there was placarded at the 
railroad stations, in the post-offices, at 
the taverns, the incredible intelligence 
that -Abraham Lincoln had been assas- 
sinated and was dying. 

As when the perverse shaft of light- 
ning thwarts an inky sky, and shivering 
nature bids the cheek to blanch, so 
came that bolt of destiny upon the peo- 
ple. They had been schooled in blood ; 
the ghastlv deeds of war were come to 
be familiar. But that Father Abraham 
was no more! — that an assassin, ni- 
stead of bearing away the aid and con- 



solation of Father Abraham, had slain 
him ! — it surpassed even the infernal 
realities of war. There settled over 
the land a period of such gloom as his- 
tory does not record of other epochs 
and ages. On the Sunday following, 
on the Wednesday following, through 
the slow weeks thereafter, men heard 
the passionate sobbings of their elo- 
quent of speech, and truly were broken- 
hearted in the general woe. It was 
like the Last Day is painted. It seemed 
the air was thick and sulphurous. Men 
were too sick with sorrow to call for 
vengeance, or pronounce the name of 
the wretched man who had betrayed 
his race. It was truly an awful crime 
against Charity, Mercy, Peace — all the 
sweet angels ! 

It was nearly 10 o'clock before the 
peculiar name of Booth was written on 
the bulletins. Lincoln was no more. 
Particulars came at noon, with the 
trains from the large cities. The little 
theater, with its alley behind and beside 
it, like a carpenter's square, was as well 
fixed on the mind that baleful day as 
it was in after years when it fell upon 
its inmates on an anniversary day, and 
closed the darkest chapter in our 
chronicles. We could see the stage- 
hand holding the saddled horse ; we 
could see the insane actor, the crushed 
tragedian, vaulting on the horse, push- 
ing to the corner of the alley, and 
rattling at right-angles to the left, up 
the rest of the alley, past the startled 
negro's window, out beside the theater- 
front, up the hilly street, over and out 
of sight, but with loud clattering hoofs 
upon the cobblestones. 

Mr. Lincoln, Airs. Lincoln, Major 
Rathbone, and a young lady had en- 
tered the double bo.x at the right, at 
0.20 P. M. ]\Ir. Lincoln had sat at 
the left in the wide space, drawing the 
curtain so the audience could not see 
him after he bowed to it. Booth en- 
tered the theater at 10 o'clock, made 
his way directly to the box, shot the 
President from the rear, leaped over 
the box-railing to the stage, caught his 
spur in the flag that decorated the box 
beneath, hurt his ankle badly, rose, 
stalked across the stage, with a knife 



BIOGRAPHY— WILLIAM H. SEWARD 



405 



in hand, crying "Sic semper tyrannis! 
• — The South is avenj^ed !"' met Withers, 
the orchestra leader, stabbed him 
sHghtly in the neck, and escaped out 
the door into the alley, where the fel- 
low-conspirator held the horse. 

A night-clerk from the hotel oppo- 
site ran in with an army officer, and the 
insensible form of the President was 
borne to the Petersen residence, across 
the street, which shows the tablet com- 
memorating the event. In the theater, 
when men realized that the first Ameri- 
can President had been assassinated, 
they themselves became like insane 
men, crying for wild havoc. About the 
dying form of the martyr the chief 
men of the Nation gathered, and saw 
him breathe his last at 7.22 A. M., 
April 15, 1865. Business ceased 
throughout the land until after Wed- 
nesday. Bells tolled more generally 
than they have ever tolled since. A 
singular and significant literary fact iS 
the paucity of early record concerning 
the assassin. It was only of later 
years, with new generations, that the 
"sacred terror" passed away, and full 
particulars of the night at Ford's 
Theater, with every survivor's narra- 
tive and Booth's career, were given to 
the world, or sheltered in our libraries. 

The body was taken from IMr. Peter- 
sen's home to the White House, where 
it was embalmed, and funeral services 
were held. Then it lay in state in the 
rotunda of the Capitol. On Wednes- 
day the Nation fasted in prayer. On 
Friday the funeral train advanced 
through Baltimore, Harrisburg, Phila- 
delphia, to New York. "And now," 
said Henry Ward Beecher, "the mar- 
tyr is moving in triumphal march, 
mightier than when alive. The Nation 
rises up at every stage of his coming. 
Cities and States are his pall-bearers, 
and the cannon speaks the hours with 
solemn progression." The scene in 
New York was unparalleled. The 
white letters of Charity for all, of 
Malice toward none, glittered en- 
trancingly on the eye. Millions wept, 
and repudiated as inhuman the deed 
which one of their race had done. The 
stately cortege passed on to Albany, 



ButTalo. Cleveland, Columbus, India- 
napolis, and Chicago. At Chicago the 
catafalque was erected in the rotunda 
of the Court House, while the deep 
bell overhead pulsed the moments. 
The stream of weeping human beings 
never dwindled, nor were all the 
mourners able to see their dead. 

On the 3d of May the catafalque was 
placed in the State House at Spring- 
field, to which came forth the ancient 
sons of Illinois, cabin-builders, rail- 
splitters, crippled soldiers, fellow- 
citizens, fellow-pioneers — those who 
had admired Abraham Lincoln the 
longest, who had, to the extent of their 
feeble might, lightened his herculean 
burden, and gained no sordid end in 
liis mighty elevation. All day and 
night this inner circle also came and 
looked on their own hero of their own 
kind. At 10 o'clock on the morning of 
the second day a great choir of voices 
sang "Peace, Troubled Soul!" while 
the lid of the casket was closed to the 
eyes of the world. The military cor- 
tege removed, the Bishop spoke his 
words of faith and renunciation, the 
vault-door opened, the choir chanted 
"I'uveil thy bosom, faithful tomb!" 
c'nid the body of Abraham Lincoln was 
at rest, beyond the hurts of life. 

WILLIAM H. SEWARD 

1801-1872 
Anti-Si.avery Cn.\MPiON 

A year before the Civil W'ar, Wil- 
liam H. Seward was the most distin- 
guished American Statesman who op- 
posed the extension of Slavery and la- 
mented the authorization of "the pecul- 
iar institution" in our organic law. 
Of all the living public men, he had 
longest been the most radical. For 
many years, as the representative of 
but a comparatively small group of 
thinkers, and in the presence of Clay, 
Web.ster, and Calhoun, he made but a 
sorry impression on National affairs : 
yet he fought the good fi.ght and kept 
the faith. It seemed to the adherents 
at large of the new coalition called the 



4o6 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



Xational Republicans, that injustice 
was done to him when first Fremont 
and then Lincohi was made the stand- 
ard-bearer of the new party, rather 
than to entrust its leadership to the 
man who for ten years, beginning with 
the rebukes of Calhoun, had sustained 
all the insults that Fremont received 
from Slavery at the hands of Jefferson 
Davis, Henry A. Wise, Toombs, 
Stephens, and the rest of the slavehold- 
ing Secessionists. 

Time proved that Mr. Seward, even 
as late as i860, was far ahead of his 
age. The slower Lincoln, peace-loving 
by nature, was required to curb the 
impetuous Seward, who might have 
had us at war not only with ourselves, 
but with half the rest of the world be- 
side. 

Mr. Seward was defeated at Chicago, 
in i860, when Lincoln was nominated 
for President, mainly because of the 
complexities of New York politics. 

W'illiam Henry Seward was born 
nearly eight years earlier than Lincoln, 
in Florida, Orange county, N. Y., on 
May 16, 1801, and was the fourth of 
six children. His father, a physician, 
had three slaves who were domestic 
servants. He was sent to L^nion Col- 
lege, Schenectady, and, because his 
father would not dress him as fash- 
ionably as the other students were 
clothed, he ran away to Savannah, Ga., 
where he obtained a teacher's position 
in a new academy. The father secured 
the return of his son by writing an 
irate letter to the trustees, and William 
studied law six months at Goshen, N. 
Y. He then was permitted to join the 
senior class at Union College, and 
graduated in 1820 with honor. He was 
admitted to the bar in 1822, and was 
taken into partnership by Elijah ^Miller, 
of Auburn, N. Y., whose daughter 
Frances he married, October 20, 1824. 
\\'illiam H. Seward was not, up to this 
time, a favorite with his father. 

He was, nevertheless, a fearless 
young man in politics, and lost an ofifice 
on principle as early as 1828. Gov- 
ernor Clinton had appointed him Sur- 
rogate of Cayuga county, and he went 
to Albany. There he attended a John 



Quincy Adams meeting ; Clinton had 
declared for Jackson ; so Seward's ap- 
pointment was rejected by the State 
Senate. The Jeffersonian Democrats 
had split into Bucktails ( Tammany ) 
and Clintonians. Seward's father had 
been a Jeffersonian ; Seward gradually 
\eered about to Clinton, high tariff, antl 
Erie Canal, and became friendly with 
Thurlow Weed, who was so often to 
dim the political hopes of Henry Clay. 
Seward was elected State Senator on 
this ticket in 1830. He was twenty- 
nine, small and slender, with blue eyes, 
light sandy hair, a smooth face, and a 
youthful air. He seemed like a boy 
among the elderly men who sat in the 
Senate, a body which, at that time, was 
also the court of last resort, like the 
English House of Lords. Seward gave 
much attention to the judicial work of 
the Senate. 

In 1833, Dr. Seward, the father, in- 
vited William H. Seward, the son, to 
accompany him to Europe. They 
visited Lafayette at La Grange. When 
the AMiig party formed in 1834, 
Seward ran for Governor, a hopeless 
race, which, however, made him a fut- 
ure leader. For four years he was a 
land agent or attorney in Chautauqua 
County. Li 1838, the Whigs again 
nominated him for Governor, and he 
was triumphantly elected. But the 
Legislature was in the hands of the 
Democrats. During his administration 
a clash between Canada and New York 
State (the wreck of the steamer Caro- 
line and the McLeod arrest) resulted in 
diplomatic complications between Eng- 
land and America. Governor Seward 
did not think Secretary of State Web- 
ster treated him with courtesy. His 
term expired in January, 1843. He 
ever after popularly bore the title of 
"Governor." 

In 1844 he spoke for Clay and 
against Texas, receiving many marks 
of honor from the anti-Slavery voters. 
At Boston he first met Abraham Lin- 
coln. The twain agreed that Slavery 
was the real question of the future. 
Governor Seward made it the keynote 
of all his speeches. The success of his 
labors was rewarded in New York in 



BIOGRArHV-WILLIAM H. SEWARD 



February, 1849, by his election to the 
United States Senate. lie arrived at 
Washington as the curtain was falling 
on Clay, Webster, and Calhoun, just in 
time to behold that last and greatest 
act of compromise that made the dying 
Clay's name immortal. For Seward it 
was an untoward entry. But Governor 
Seward supported Lincoln cheerfully, 
and was offered and accepted the State 
Department. It was probably thought by 
Mr. Weed that Governor Seward could 
control Lincoln, and at Lincoln's 
prompt repudiation of this idea, 
Seward declined to serve, but was in- 
duced to withdraw his refusal. Gov- 
ernor Seward, naturally a gentle and 
cultured man, was by no means in- 
sincere in his feelings of personal de- 
gradation when he heard that Mr. Lin- 
coln said in public, that he had shown 
"Seward shouldn't take the first trick, 
and if the Cabinet slate were to be 
broken anywhere, it would be at the 
top." 

As Secretary of State, Governor 
Seward found ambassadors from the 
Confederate States of America on his 
very threshold. With these audacious 
persons he was soon entangled in a 
controversy concerning Fort Sumter. 
The President was not only determined 
to let events drift, but he was not a 
rapid man of business. He sometimes 
appeared to get behind with the work 
that he really intended to do. Gov- 
ernor Seward was soon demanding "a 
policy," and it is not likely that the two 
men ever cordially admired or trusted 
each other. 

Governor Seward, as Secretary of 
State, dealt, while his hands were tied 
by a civil war, with a haughty and un- 
friendly government in Great Britain, 
whose sympathies were with Slavery. 
The St. Alban, Vt., raid, and the move 
on Mexico by France and England, 
were tantalizing acts, to harry us into 
war wdiile we were weak and divided. 
Mr. Gladstone was eloquently against 
us. Mr. Bright was our firm well- 



wisher. Governor Seward was forced 
to look as far as Russia for a powerful 
friend, and, with great astuteness, he 
bid for the favor of that Empire by the 
purchase of Alaska. 

April 5, 1865, Governor Seward was 
thrown from his carriage, and was so 
badly injured that for a time his life 
was despaired of. His right shoulder 
was dislocated, and his jaw broken on 
both sides. Nine days later, while 
Booth was assassinating President Lin- 
coln in Ford's Theater, an unknown 
man (Payne) burst into Governor 
Seward's chamber, and with a bowie- 
knife stabbed the sick man in the face 
and throat. The wife, aroused by the 
screams of her daughter, was so horri- 
fied by what she saw that she became 
violently ill, and died June 21. The 
(laughter, also a victim of the shock, 
caused by seeing the bloody affray, fell 
ill, and survived only a year. By the 
aid of mechanical contrivances holding 
his face aright, the shattered man was 
able to leave his bed within a few 
months, and he was sometimes carried 
in a chair to the State Department. He 
was cruelly maimed, and piteously 
desolate. 

March 4, 1869, Governor Seward 
very gladly laid down an office which 
the arrogations of Congress had made 
extremely burdensome, and attempted 
to divert his mind by travel. He visited 
liis purchase of Alaska, went down the 
coast to Mexico, crossed the Isthmian 
lands, and returned to New York bv 
way of the West Indies. He then made 
his celebrated journey around the 
world He everywhere evoked expre.s- 
sions of the higbest respect. 

After his return he passed the re- 
mainder of his days either at his home- 
-stead in Auburn, or in a cottage on the 
banks of Owasco Lake. His strength 
failed gradually, but his mind remained 
clear and his temper tranquil. He was 
at work on his notes of travel on the 
very morning of his death, October 10, 
1872. 



40g 



THE HOME AUXH.IARY AND REFERENCE 



SALMON P. CHASE 
1 808- 1 873 

Father ok the Greenback 

Salmon Portland Chase, Father 0/ 
the American Greenback, and first 
Anti-Slavery Chief Justice of the 
United States, was born in Cornish, 
N. H., January 13, 1808. His name, 
Salmon Portland, was given to him to 
commemorate the death of his uncle 
Salmon at Portland. Pie was wont to 
say that he was his uncle's monument. 
He wrote that his earliest recollection 
of himself was of a dangerous attack 
of fever. He was a bright little child 
at school, and possessed a copy of 
"Rollin's Ancient History" (now out 
of vogUe), which he treasured as a 
thing of priceless value. When he was 
eight years old his father removed the 
family to Keene, where he died in 1817. 
Salmon went to Latin school three 
years at Keene. Then his uncle, the 
Episcopal P)ishop of Ohio, took him 
West to Worthington, O., where he 
again attended school, learning Greek, 
and worked on a farm. It was the in- 
tention of the Bishop to educate his 
nephew for the priesthood, and the lad 
bowed devoutly to that wish, receiving 
confirmation with deep conviction and 
awe. In 1822 the Bishop took the 
Presidency of the Cincinnati College, 
which closed in a year, and Salmon was 
sent back to his mother. He studied 
more at Royalton, Vt., and then en- 
tered the junior class at Dartmouth 
College. In the winters he taught 
school and "boarded round." Pie grad- 
uated with honor in 1826, and began 
the study of law in the office of Wil- 
liam Wht, at Washington, D. C, teach- 
ing school si.x hours a day in a private 
seminary in order to defray his ex- 
penses. He was anti-Jackson and anti- 
Slavery in principle, and, being natur- 
ally a censorious young man, narrowly 
restricted with conventions and forms, 
he was shocked by the levity of Con- 
gress, whose sessions he first attended 
in 1828. He especially abominated 
John Randolph ; his idol was William 



Wirt. He was enabled to pass a legal 
examination through the kind heartcd- 
ness of Justice Cranch, because the 
young man intended to begin practice 
in Cincinnati. 

He was married three times: First, 
March 4, 1834, to Kathrine J. Garniss, 
who died December i, 1835; their one 
child died. Second, September 26, 
1839, to Eliza A. Smith, who died 
September 29, 1845 ; the eldest of their 
three children became the celebrated 
and beautiful Kate Chase Sprague ; the 
two other children died. Third, No- 
vember 6, 1846, to Sarah B. D. Ludlow, 
who died in 1852; they had two chil- 
dren, one of whom died. The other be- 
came the wife of W. S. Hoyt, of New 
York City. Thus only two' daughters 
survived him, and he outlived all three 
of his wives. His married life lasted 
only thirteen years. In the entire 
Chase family no sons were left. 

At Cincinnati he undertook the com- 
pilation of "Chase's Statutes of Ohio." 
a work which tried the solidity of his 
intellect and at once introduced him to 
the attention of all the judiciary. Few 
yoimg men have attempted so much, or 
performed a similiar task so success- 
fully. In a word, he gathered the laws 
of Ohio out of several hundred vol- 
umes, and reduced by a thousand-fold 
the labors of all counselors and advo- 
cates in the new State. In 1832 he 
voted for his patron, William Wirt, for 
President. 

James G. Birney, a reformed slave- 
holder, published an Abolition paper, 
The Philanthropist, at Cincinnati. In 
1836 his printing office was gutted, and 
the mob then made an attack on the 
homes of colored persons. The Mayor 
sympathized with the mob. Seeing this 
mob aroused the anti-slavery feelings 
of Mr. Chase. Shortly afterward, he 
defended the escaped slave Matilda, 
and carried an action growing out of 
her case to the Supreme Court of Ohio, 
which dodged the main question, but 
decided in favor of the appellant 
(Birney) on a technicality, which Mr. 
Chase would not deign to note in his 
plea. The Birney mob caused Mr. 
Chase to lay down extreme doctrine 



BIOGRAPHY— SALMON P. CHASE 



409 



touching the fieedom of the press, for 
which he would not recede in war 
times, when Story's newspaper at 
Chicago was suppressed by General 
Burnside (until Mr. Lincoln reversed 
the order). As soon as Tyler became 
President, Mr. Chase publicly advo- 
cated the formation of a new party, 
with a platform (i ) That Slavery must 
stay in its own States; (2) That Slav- 
ery must not dominate in federal 
affairs, and must there be overthrown. 

Although he had not voted for his 
client, Birney, for President, in 1840, 
Mr. Chase called a State Convention at 
Columbus in December, 1841, and there 
formed the Liberty party. In this con- 
vention he was the most influential 
member, wrote the address, and sug- 
gested the State ticket. In 1843 the 
Liberty party at Buffalo again nomi- 
nated Birney for President, Mr. Chase 
writing the platform. In June. 1845, 
Mr. Chase and others called a conven- 
tion at Cincinnati of 2,000 delegates in 
the interest of the Liberty party. Mr. 
Chase wrote the Address. 

Although he attended the Liberty 
Convention of 1847, which nominated 
John P. Hale, Mr. Chase was looking 
on every side for broader politcal 
action, with more power. He called a 
Convention at Columbus in June, and 
this called a Free-Soil Convention later 
at Buft'alo, where he presided. Ex- 
President Van Buren was nominated 
for President, and the Barn-Burners 
joined. This combination of Abolition- 
ists with anti-Slavery men polled a vote 
of 291,263, when Taylor and Fillmore 
were elected. 

So great was the success of his politi- 
cal movements in Ohio that he was able 
to control the Legislature, which by a 
very narrow vote elected him to the 
Ignited States Senate as an Independ- 
ent Democrat or Free-Soiler. 

July 13, 1855, the ex-Senator was 
nominated for Governor of Ohio by a 
union of stray Whigs, Free-Soil Demo- 
crats, and Know-Nothings, called as a 
whole. Republicans. Chase was 
elected, and a solid Republican State 
party at once came into form and or- 
ganization, to hold power for twenty 



years. Governor Chase's administra- 
tion was noted for the slave-hunts that 
v.ere prosecuted by Southerners in 
Ohio, and the energy with which he 
strove to defend the small remaining 
rights of his State. He raised and 
equipped 15,000 State troops, with ar- 
tillery, and had at hand a respectable 
anti-slavery army, while not a man in 
uniform had been seen in Ohio before 
the new Governor was elected. This 
force made Buchanan respect Ohio's 
court decisions against the slave hunt- 
ers. Chase was reelected Governor for 
1858-9. He went into Illinois to aid 
Lincoln's canvass. When John Brown, 
of Ossawatomie, set the ball of civil 
war rolling. Governor Chase wrote to 
I'is Legislature: "While we will not 
disavow just admiration of noble 
qualities by whomsoever displayed, we 
nuist not the less, but rather the more 
earnestly, condemn all inroads into 
States," etc. On this feeling he was 
re-elected to the United States Senate. 
John Brown had appealed to the 
Higher Law." Already, the solemn 
chant of freemen over his fate was set- 
ting up. His soul was marching on. 

Ohio went to Chicago in i860 with 
a solid delegation for Governor Chase. 
Some of Chase's votes nominated Lin- 
coln. Chase could have nominated 
Seward. He had his choice, and Lin- 
coln forgot the debt, despite the feeling 
often displayed by the Ohioan. Gov- 
ernor Chase made a protracted canvass 
for Lincoln in i860. January 3, 1861, 
he arrived at a hotel in Springfield, 
v.here Lincoln called on him, and of- 
fered him the Treasury Department, 
which seemed a subordinate place, so 
strongly did old traditions cling to the 
office of foreign affairs. Governor 
Chase finally accepted the portfolio of 
finance only because Governor Seward 
himself was to be Secretary of State; 
and, again, and in fact, because Mr. 
Lincoln did not feel bound to respect 
the expressed distinction of Governor 
Chase to resign an independent position 
as Senator, which he liked, in order to 
accept a place which linked him to the 
fortunes of a political rival. National 
events, however, were so harassing that 



410 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



he had not time to consult personal in- 
terests. He therefore took the Treas- 
ury, and in doing this he unwittingly 
paved the way to his subsequent eleva- 
tion to the Chief Justiceship. 

His labors as Secretary of the Treas- 
ury were prodigious. But the great 
work of his life, and one of the great- 
est acts of any man, was the successful 
issue of $450,000,000 of greenbacks ; 
which created cash without borrowing : 
which furnished a currency of equal 
value throughout the Nation.. To make 
the greenbacks acceptable, he estab- 
lished the National Banking system, 
which was reenacted in 1882. He or- 
ganized four new bureaus — Internal 
Revenue, Currency, Printing of Cur- 
rency, and Inter-State Commerce. 

Secretary Chase did not like to see 
Lincoln's ward-workers appointed to 
office. There was a sharp touch of 
John Quincy Adams in him — what was 
afterward called "mugwumpery." 
When Lincoln would please two Sena- 
tors at the expense of one Secretary, 
the Secretary would resign. In fact, 
in political parlance, Salmon P. Chase 
clubbed .Abraham Lincoln with his 
resignation from March 5, 1861, until 
it was accepted, June 29, 1864. 

The President did not permit the 
fallen Secretary to depart from Wash- 
ington without sending ]\Ir. Hooper to 
him with the comforting assurance that 
the Chief Justiceship awaited him after 
election, and this news, coming to Gov- 
ernor Chase, sent him into the Presi- 
dential canvass with a will. On De- 
cember 6, Mr. Lincoln sent the follow- 
in short but momentous message to the 
Senate : 

"Executive Mansion, W.^.shing- 
TON, Dec. 6, 1864. 

"To the Senate of the United States : 

"I nominate Salmon P. Chase, of 
Ohio, to be Chief Justice of the Su- 
preme Court of the United States, 
vice Roger B. Taney, deceased. 

Abraham Lincoln." 

This is one of the few times that Mr. 
Lincoln's name will be found spelled 
in full in his own signature. 



Chief Justice Chase was a very large, 
tall, near-sighted man. He attracted 
unusual attention in any gathering of 
men, and was a highly-impressive per- 
son, without speaking. After acquaint- 
ance, he strengthened the earlier im- 
pressions in his auditors. Hard work 
began to tell on him in 1869, and he 
lost flesh so rapidly that he took alarm. 
In the spring of 1870, he went for the 
>ummer to Minnesota, where he stayed 
out-doors nearly all the time. On his 
way back, in the autunm, traveling in 
New York State, on a Pullman car. he 
was stricken with paralysis through his 
entire right side. His hair turned 
white, and the impressive statesman 
and jurist fell in majestic ruin, to the 
sorrow of his admirers. In June, 1871. 
he visited the St. Louis Springs in 
Michigan, and spent two months at 
Waukesha, Wis. He recovered so far 
as to resume his work on the Supreme 
Bench, but again manifestly over-taxed 
himself. He left the court late in April, 
1873, on its adjournment, and visited 
his daughter, Mrs. Hoyt, in New York 
City. There, on May 6, he suffered a 
second and fatal stroke of paralysis, 
lingering alive till May 7th at 10 A. M. 

CHARLES SUMNER. 

1811-1874 

The Scholar in Politics. 

He was born with a twin sister at 
Boston, January 6, 181 1. His father 
was Sheriff of Boston (Suft'olk) for 
fourteen years, and was enabled to send 
Charles, his oldest son, to Harvard Col- 
lege. The son graduated, and studied 
at home for a year. While he was ar- 
dent in the pursuit of knowledge, and 
neglected all youthful games in order 
to maintain his studies, he was not a 
brilliant scholar. Yet he was a person 
of great "approbativeness," and had a 
deep sense of the obligations that edu- 
cation and training imposed on him 
as a member of society. He soon en- 
tered the Dane Law School at Cam- 
bridge, where he studied under Justice 
Story and Professors .'Xshmun and 



BIOGRAPHY—CHARLES SUMNER 



Greenleaf, and was librarian of the law 
library. He graduated in 1833 3^"d en- 
tered the law office of Benjamin Rand, 
in Boston. "Of all men I ever knew 
at his age," says Mr. Story, "he was 
the least susceptible to the charms of 
women. Men he liked best, and with 
them he preferred to talk." This de- 
votion to learning, and indifference to 
one-half of humanity, undoubtedly had 
its ill effects upon the usefulness of the 
great Senator. 

In the winter of 1834 he went to 
Washington, D. C, to study legal pro- 
cedure in the Supreme Court. He rode 
on a railroad train and was delighted 
with the experience. Between Balti- 
more and Washington he saw slaves for 
the first time. "My worst preconcep- 
tion of their appearance and ignorance 
did not fall as low as their actual stu- 
pidity." Nor did he ever overcome his 
natural aversion for the black man as 
an actual brother. In 1836 he became 
an associate editor of the American 
Jurist. He already read Garrison's 
Liberator, and was inclined to attack 
slavery, tooth and nail. 

Charles Sumner, as a young man, 
was very tall and thin, and a rajiid 
walker. He had a thick "head of hair." 
He was so full of "eagerness, energy, 
enthusiasm," that everybody noticed it. 
He was extremely well liked by elderly 
men. He had now, in his own lan- 
guage, "fallen in love with Europa." 
He must travel and study abroad. I le 
therefore settled in Paris, and learned 
to talk French. 

In England he was received as the 
best specimen of Young America so 
far seen. His impressions of Europe 
strengthened his democratic principles. 

He went to Rome, and evened up all 
that he had learned about it at Har- 
vard. This gave him extreme delight. 
He mastered the Italian language and 
studied a good share of its literature, 
v.-orking many hours a day. He then 
' traveled for five months in Germany. 
He studied German in Heidelberg. He 
arrived in New York in May, 1840, 
29 years old. 

July 4, 1845, hs was orator of the 
day at Boston. John Quincy Adams 



was making his anti-Slavery fight -^11 
alone in the House of Representatives, 
and aroused the admiration of Sumner, 
who wrote many articles for the news- 
papers. When Massachusetts at- 
tempted to protect her free colored sea- 
men against the indignities of the laws 
in South Carolina and Louisiana, he 
was a prominent contributor to the ar- 
gument of the day on that question, and 
always on the side of the slave. In 
November of that year, he made his 
first political speech at a meeting in 
P^aneuil Hall, to protest against the ad- 
mission of Texas as a slave State. 
That night he declared the equality and 
brotherhood of all men. In Septem- 
ber, 1846, in Faneuil Hall, he outlined 
the anti-Slavery duties of the Whig 
party. In June, 1848, Sumner for- 
mally left the Whig party and became 
a Free Soiler. In August, 1848, he pre- 
sided at the Faneuil Hall ratification 
of Van Buren's nomination for Presi- 
dent, at Buffalo. In fusion of Free 
Soilers and Democrats, Sumner was 
elected to the United States Senate by 
a majority of one vote, on the twenty- 
sixth ballot, April 24, 185 1, and thus 
practically entered politics at the ripe 
age of forty. On August 26, 1852, 
Sumner escaped from the toils laid 
about him by parliamentary intrigue, 
and made a speech in the Senate against 
the Fugitive Slave law. He wanted 
Slavery abolished. 

On May 19 and 20. 1856, Sumner de- 
livered the speech entitled "The Crime 
against Kansas," which led to the prin- 
cipal event in his career. The address 
was usually called "an unparalleled 
philippic against Slavery." 

After a short session of the Senate, 
on the 22d, Mr. Sumner sat writing at 
his little desk in the Senate, in a pos- 
ture that made it impossible for him to 
rise suddenly, when a strange man ap- 
peared before him, stick in hand, and 
began beating him over the head. Sum- 
ner's hair was thick, Init the blows cut 
open his scalp. In his endeavor to rise 
out of the trap in which he found him- 
self, he wrenched the little desk from 
its fastenings to the floor, and then fell 
unconscious, while the assailant still 



THE HOME AUXn^IARY AND REFERENCE 



continued to beat the prostrate form. 
Two fellow-ruffians. Congressmen Keitt 
and Edmundson, prevented Simonton, 
a reporter, from going to the rescue. 

The ruffian was Congressman Pres- 
ton S. Brooks, known in history as 
"Bully Brooks." The Senate formally 
complained of this act to the House. 
Brooks resigned, and Keitt was cen- 
sured. Brooks was fined $300 in the 
criminal courts of the District. He be- 
came a hero in the South, and his 
"knock-down argument" was recom- 
mended for all "Northern fanatics." 

Within eight months Brooks, the ruf- 
fian, died a dreadful death from mem- 
braneous croup. 

The history of Sumner's sufferings is 
almost as long as the chronicle of his 
education. Beside his wounds, there 
was "a grave and formidable lesion of 
the brain and spinal cord." When, 
months afterward, he was able to travel 
to Jjoston, he was received with extra- 
ordinary honors. He was re-elected 
Senator without opposition, although it 
was not certain he could serve, and 
sailed for Paris, where he was seven 
times treated by the moxa, at the hands 
of Dr. Brown-Sequard, who pro- 
nounced it "the greatest suft"ering that 
could be inflicted on mortal man." In 
December, 1859, he returned to his seat 
in the Senate, which had remained 
empty all the time intervening. If he 
had been a fanatic before, the planters 
might well abhor him now, and he was 
not so weakly supported as when Doug- 
las was the chief cup-bearer of the 
Southern oligarchy. June 4, i860, he 
delivered his celebrated speech on 
"The Barbarism of Slavery," which 
was a far more effective and pitiless 
tirade against Slavery than the address 
that had" maddened Brooks and his fel- 
low-assailants. Mr. Sumner's greatest 
work was done when he sank uncon- 
scious under the blows of Bully Brooks, 
in 1856. He busied himself with ar- 
ranging the United States statutes to 
meet the progress of the war, wherever 
the black race was involved, and made 
the country pay black soldiers as much 
as white ones. Mr. Sumner secured to 



negroes the right to ride on street cars 
in Washington. 

]\Ir. Sumner's celebrated theory of 
State suicide, while it was not acknowl- 
edged, was nevertheless the basis of 
Reconstruction. According to this 
theory, a State on failing to secede, re- 
lajjsed into a territorial condition, the 
same as any region that had never en- 
joyed Statehood. The dominant party 
of the North learned that it was neces- 
sary to realize this theory in order to 
perpetuate the ordinances growing out 
of the war. 

Many of the Abolitionists who were 
out of Congress found life heavy on 
their hands after the constitutional 
amendments of 1865, 1866 and 1869; 
but there remained much legislative 
work for Sumner to do in the way of 
securing civil rights for his wards of 
the black race. When General Grant 
atteinpted to anex San Domingo, Sum- 
ner joined with Schurz in the extra- 
ordinary Senatorial philippics that were 
hurled at their "Csesar." This attitude 
put him in the inglorious wing of the 
Republican party, which split away and 
nominated Greeley against Grant. An 
unhappy marriage late in life contrib- 
uted to increase the disappointments of 
the celebrated Abolitionist. The Legis- 
lature of Massachusetts censured him 
for a bill he had presented in the Senate 
to remove the names of victories on 
Northern battle-flags, in order to sooner 
heal the wounds of war. 

In 1872 the health of the lonely man 
began to fail, and declined through 
the years 1873 and 1874. While he 
was very ill, a committee came from 
Massachusetts, to notify him that the 
resolution of censure had been annulled 
and expunged. Almost his last words 
were: "Take care of my. Civil Rights 
bill." He died at his home in Wash- 
ington, without descendants or attend- 
ant relatives, March 11, 1874. 

ROBERT E. LEE. 
I 807- I 870 

Robert Edward Lee (1807- 1870), 
general of the Confederate States army, 



BIOGRAPHY— ROBERT E. LEE 



and one of the greatest of modern com- 
manders, was born at Stratford, in 
Westmoreland County, Virginia, on 
January 19, 1807. His father was Gen- 
eral Harry Lee, better known in the 
War of Independence as "Light-Horse 
Harry Lee," and afterwards governor 
of \'irginia. 

Robert Lee entered the ^Military 
Academy at West Point in 1825, and 
graduated in 1829, when he received 
a commission in the corps of engineers. 
When the Mexican war broke out, Lee, 
who was then captain, served in the 
army under General Scott. He dis- 
tinguished himself greatly throughout 
the campaign, and was brevetted as 
colonel for his conduct at the seize of 
Chapultepec, where he was wounded. 
In 1852 he was appointed superinten- 
dent of the Academy at West Point, 
and in 1835 he was promoted lieu- 
tenant-colonel of the second regiment 
of cavalry, with which he served in 
Texas. In March, 1861, he was made 
colonel of the first regiment of cavalry, 
but in the following month, learning 
that his native State had withdrawn 
from the L'nion. he resigned as an of- 
ficer of the L^nited States Army, and 
was forthwith put in command of the 
Mrginian forces. When Virginia 
joined the Confederacy he was the third 
of five generals appointed by the 
Southern Congress. Xo adequate op- 
portunity of gaining distinction was af- 
forded him, however, until the begin- 
ning of June, 1862, when he received 
command of Northern Virginia and 
commenced the series of operations, the 
result of which, before the month had 
closed, was to compel McCIellan to ab- 
andon the seige of Richmond. Follow- 
ing up this advantage and Jackson's 
victory at Cedar Run on August 9th, 
Lee advanced in person to lead the 
army that was being formed on the 
south bank of the Rapidan. After 
crossing that river he inflicted upon 
Pope at Manassas the disastrous de- 
feat by which the Federal army was 
compelled to retire within the forti- 
fied lines of Washington. Lee now de- 
cided on the invasion of Maryland, and 
advanced to Frederick City, but, be- 



ing compelled to divide his forces, he 
sustained a check in the passes of South 
^Mountain (September i6th, 17th) 
which compelled him to recross the 
Potomac. After a few weeks' breath- 
ing time he found himself again face 
to face with the Federal Army near 
Fredericksburg, early in November ; on 
December 13th the enemy, having 
crossed the Rappahannock on the pre- 
vious day, assailed his position in 
strength, but was defeated in great loss. 

In the following spring the hostile 
armies still faced one another on the 
Rappahannock, but the brilliant stra- 
tegy of Lee, as exhibited in the battles 
at Chancellorsville (May 2-4) against 
vastly superior forces, resulted in the 
defeat of the enemy, while Lee was left 
free to resume his old policy of throw- 
ing the Federal forces on the defen- 
sive by an advance into Pennsylvania. 
He encountered the enemy near Gettys- 
burg on July 1st, and decided advan- 
tages were gained, but the struggle was 
renewed on the two following days with 
disastrous consequences to him ; he re- 
treated, however, in good order, and 
reached Virginia on the 12th, when the 
campaign of the year practically closed. 
That of 1864 began on May 4, when 
Grant crossed the Rapidan ; the passage 
itself vi'as unresisted ; but subsequent 
progress was hotly contested in a series 
of well-fought battle, which did not 
prevent the Federal general from reach- 
ing the south side of the Appomattox. 
The seige of Petersburg began in June, 
and lasted until April 2, 1865. A week 
afterward Lee surrendered with his 
whole army, thus virtually terminating 
the war. In the same year he was 
elected President of Washington and 
Lee University at Lexington, \'irginia, 
which office he retained until his death 
on October 12, 1870. 

To do justice to his extraordinary 
ability as a general, displayed under 
circumstances of extreme difficulty, 
when his movements were continually 
hampered by political necessities, as 
well as by the lack of material re- 
sources, would require an elaborate mil- 
itary biography. It was no more nobly 
displayed than in the last hopeless 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



stages of the fatal struggle. The per- 
sonal history of Lee is lost in the his- 
tory of the great crisis of America's 
national life. Political friends and foes 
alike acknowledged the disinterested- 
ness and purity of his motives, his self- 
denying sense of duty and the unre- 
pining loyaky with which he accepted 
the ruin of his party. 

WILLIAM T. SHERMAN. 

1 820- 1 89 1 

William Tecumseh Sherman was 
born at Lancaster. Ohio, on the 8th 
of February, 1820. His father, Charles 
R. Sherman, had once been a judge of 
the superior court of Ohio, and his 
brother, Jolin Sherman, became an 
American Senator, Secretary of the 
Treasury and Secretary of State. 
After his father's death in 1829, leav- 
ing a large family and small income, 
A\'illiam was adopted as a son by Sena- 
tor Thomas Ewing, a devoted friend 
of his father, and grew up in his fam- 
ily. Here he formed a warm attach- 
ment for the senator's daughter Ellen, 
then a charming girl, whom he con- 
tinued to love and who in time became 
his wife. 

Senator Ewing gained him admis- 
sion to the West Point Military Acad- 
emy in 1836. Here he was a diligent 
student, though he showed no special 
desire to be a soldier. Graduating in 
184.0, he was commissioned second lieu- 
tenant in the artillery service, and dur- 
ing the years that followed was kept 
busily engaged, at first against the Sem- 
inoles in Florida and afterwards at 
!^loultrie and in California. His mar- 
riage with Ellen Ewing took place in 
Washington in 1850. He was made 
captain in 185 1, and in 1833 he re- 
signed from the army and became a 
banker in San Francisco. 

During the eight years that followed 
Sherman was not very successful in 
business. The bank went out of exis- 
tence in 1857 : then he vainly tried his 
hand as a lawyer in Kansas, and in 
i860 got a position as superintendent of 
a new military academy in Louisiana. 



In January, 1861, the Southern States 
were seceeding and Sherman was 
warmly implored to serve under the flag 
of the South. His reply was warm 
with patriotism : "I will maintain my 
allegiance to the old Constitution as 
long as a fragment of it survives." 

In March he went to Washington, 
where his brother John was just tak- 
ing his seat in the Senate. The two 
tried in vain to induce the President to 
prepare for war; but when Fort Sum- 
ter was fired upon there was a sud- 
den change, seventy-five thousand 
three-months' men were called out, and 
Sherman was sent for. When he 
reached Washington he told the author- 
ities that they were making a great 
mistake by enlisting short-term men. 
You might as well try to put out the 
flames of a burning house with a squirt 
gun," he said, and refused to go to 
Ohio to enroll three-months' volunteers. 
He was one of the few men in the army 
who saw from the start that the gov- 
ernment had a great war, not a tem- 
porary rebellion, on its hands. 

In June Sherman was commissioned 
colonel of an infantry regiment, and at 
the battle of Bull Run, July 21, he com- 
manded a brigade, doing his utmost to 
save the army from defeat. On August 
3d he was made brigadier-general of 
volunteers, and in September was sent 
to Kentucky. In October he was given 
the chief command of the department, 
and the Secretary of War asked him 
how many men he needed. He replied, 
with a keen prevision of coming events, 
"Sixty thousand to drive the enemy out 
of Kentucky and two hundred thou- 
sand to finish the war in this section." 
This was considered so wildly extrava- 
gant that he was removed from the 
command, as an unsafe, if not mentally 
deficient, man, and was put in a sub- 
ordinate position under General Hal- 
leck. It was not long before they 
learned that the man they deemed in- 
sane was wiser than they. 

It was not till April, 1862, that Sher- 
man, as commander of the fifth division 
of General Grant's army, was able to 
show the metal of which he was made. 
On the 6th and "th of that month the 



BIOGRAPHY— WILLIAM T. SHERMAN 



desperate battle of Shiloh was fought, 
and here his coolness, skill and energy 
went far to save the day. Grant wrote 
of him, "At the battle of Shiloh, on the 
first day, he held, with raw troops, the 
key-point of the landing. . . . To his 
individual efforts I am indebted for the 
Successes of that battle." Halleck also 
wrote to the effect that Sherman saved 
the fortunes of the day on the 6th. 
On the /th he led his battered troops 
with heroic energy into the fight, and 
after the victory he pushed out and 
whipped the enemy's cavalry, captur- 
ing a large supply of ammunition. 
Rousseau said of him, "He fights by 
the week.'' During the battle he was 
wounded in the hand and had three 
horses shot under him. 

It was evident that in Sherman the 
North had a fighting soldier, and in 
May he was raised in rank to major- 
general of volunteers. A few days later 
he took an active part in the seige of 
Corinth, which was evacuated on the 
29th. Sherman's ne.xt important work 
was in Grant's operations against 
Vicksburg, which began in December, 
1862, and continued until July, 1863. 
He lead the division that made the first 
direct assault upon Mcksburg, strik- 
ing at the stronghold from the mouth of 
the Yazoo River, on the north side. 
The attempt was unsuccessful, not 
from any lack of courage or skill, but 
simply because the place was too strong 
to be taken by assault. Only a seige 
could reduce it, and this Grant recog- 
nized when he cut loose from his base 
and "swung around to the south." 

In the battles that followed in the 
rear of Mcksburg, Sherman was ac- 
tive; he took part in an assault on the 
city on May 22d, and after its fall 
on July 4th, he marched against Gen- 
eral Johnston and drove him from 
Jackson, the capital of Mississippi. 
About this time he expressed his sen- 
timents as follows : "The people of the 
North must conquer or be conquered. 
There can be no middle course." The 
event proved that he was correct in this 
as in his former utterances. 

Chattanooga, on the Tennessee, was 
the next point of interest. Here Gen- 



eral Thomas, after the day of disaster 
at Chickamauga, led his troops and held 
the place, threatened by Bragg in front 
and by starvation in the rear. Grant 
hurried to his relief, and sent for Sher- 
man, then in command at Memphis, 
four hundred miles away. He re- 
sponded with his usual promptness and 
by a forced march reached Chatta- 
nooga about November 15. It was the 
men under his command who, on the 
25th, led by him, made the phenomenal 
rush up the steep face of Missionary 
Ridge, which swept Bragg and his men 
from their stronghold and put an ef- 
fectual end to the seige. Immediately 
afterwards he marched to the relief of 
Burnside, who was beseiged at Knox- 
ville, his cavalry reaching there on the 
3d of December, to find that the enemy 
had not waited for his coming. He 
wrote in his official report : 

"The men had marched for long pe- 
riods, without regular rations of any 
kind, through mud and over rocks, 
sometimes barefoot, and without a mur- 
mur. Without a moment's rest, after 
a march of over four hundred miles, 
without sleep for three successive 
nights, they crossed the Tennessee 
River, fought their part in the battle 
of Chattanooga, pursued the enemy out 
of Tennessee, then turned once more 
one hundred miles north and compelled 
Longstreet to raise the seige of Knox- 
ville, which had been a source of anx- 
iety to the whole country." 

During the winter that followed 
Sherman made a raid to Meridian, in 
central Mississippi, destroying rail- 
roads and capturing large quantities of 
stores. But the great opportunity in 
his career came after March 12, 1864, 
when Grant was made Commander-in- 
Chief of all the armies. The forces be- 
tween the Mississippi and the .-Mle- 
ghanies were put under Sherman, and 
when Grant projected his great move- 
ment against Lee in the beginning of 
]\Iay, he ordered Sherman to move at 
the same time against Johnston, then 
commanding the Confederate forces in 
his front. Grant wrote to him with 
warm commendation saying: "I express 
my thanks to you and AlcPherson as 



4i6 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



the men to wliom, above all others, I 
feel indebted for whatever I have had 
of success." 

On May 5lh the movement began. 
Of its purpose Sherman in his "jNlem- 
oirs," says, "Neither Atlanta, Augusta 
nor Savannah was the objective, but 
the 'Army of Joe Johnston," go where 
it might." Against that army he moved, 
Johnston retreating, striking as he 
went, Sherman persistently advancing. 
For several months marching and 
fighting were almost continuous. The 
country was broken, and covered with 
brush and woodland, its roads or tracks, 
mean at the best, becoming quagmires 
whenever it rained. At every available 
spot Johnston impeded the march. 
Battles were fought at each defensive 
point, the hardest that at Kenesaw 
jNIountain, where Sherman lost twenty- 
five hundred men. Sherman's progress 
resembled that of Grant. When his 
opponent could not be driven out he 
was flanked and forced to retire to an- 
other strong point. 

The Fabian policy of the cautious 
Johnston did not please the cabinet 
General at Richmond. They wanted 
a more aggressive general, one who 
would seek to drive Sherman back, and 
about mid-summer they removed John- 
ston and put the hard fighter Hood in 
his place. They lost rather than 
gained by the change. Hood made 
furious attacks, lost men by the thou- 
sands, but met with continued defeat, 
and on the ist of September, fearinjj 
to be surrounded in Atlanta and cut off 
from his base of supplies, he evacuated 
that town, leaving it to Sherman's 
troops. 

The news of the fall of Atlanta filled 
the North w-ith delight. Sherman was 
the hero of the hour. At all the chief 
military posts a salute of one hundred 
guns w^as fired in his honor. He had 
won the first great success of the year. 
Grant highly praised the brilliancy of 
his campaign. His official reward was 
promotion to IMajor-General in the 
regular army. There he lay, in the 
heart of the Confederacy, his work 
only begun, not ended. F.efore taking 
another step he awaited the move- 



ments of his antagonists. When they 
came Sherman was delighted. Hood, 
finding himself helpless before his 
strong foe, and knowing it to be use- 
less to strike in front, decided to strike 
from the rear, to cut Sherman's long 
line of communication, and by threat- 
ening his base of supplies, to force him 
to retreat. He could not have done 
anything more to the liking of his 
shrewd antagonist. "If Hood will go 
to Tennessee," said Sherman, with a 
chuckle, "I will supply him with rations 
for the trip." All he did was to send 
General Thomas to Nashville to pro- 
tect his rear, while he himself prepared 
for a new and daring project, to per- 
form which he wanted Hood and his 
veterans out of the way. 

Georgia lay before him. the greatest 
source of supply for the Confederate 
armies "the work-shop and corn-crib 
of the South." Savannah lay on the 
sea, nearly three lumdred miles away. 
The withdrawal of Hood had left the 
field open for him. He could let go his 
base of supplies. Georgia was able to 
feed him and his army. Savannafi 
once reached, the ships of the North 
could bring all -he needed. It was a 
great and spectacular plan, the device 
of a soldier of genius. 

None knew of his project. North or 
Sotith. Nothing so bold was dreamed 
of. He and his army simply disap- 
peared from view and for a month 
nothing was heard of them. There 
was intense anxiety in the North about 
his fate, many fearing that he had 
walked into a trap from which he 
might never escape. President Lin- 
coln did not appear to share this anx- 
iety. He had as much confidence in 
Sherman as in Grant and simply said 
to anxious inquirers, in his humorous 
way, "I know which hole he went in at, 
but I do not know which hole he will 
come out at." 

Meanwhile, Sherman was "marching 
through Georgia," with hardly an 
enemy to oppose him, with scarcely an 
obstacle in his path. He set out from 
Atlanta on November i6th, with an 
army of sixty-two thousand strong. 
Through Georgia he swept, with a 



BIOGRAPHY— WILLIAM T. SHERMAN 



front thirty miles from wing to wing, 
cutting a broad swath through the 
center of the State, gathering food 
from the country, rendering it incap- 
able of furnishing supplies to the Con- 
federacy. It was to the soldiers like a 
holiday march. To the slaves it was 
the "day of jubilee." Thousands of 
them followed the army, flocking from 
every plantation, keeping on for miles 
when told that there was no food to 
give them. They were content to 
starve, if they could only get freedom. 

On December 13th, Fort McAllister, 
near Savannah, was captured. On the 
2 1st the city surrendered. Two days 
afterwards Sherman sent the President 
a dispatch that has become famous: "I 
beg to present you as a Christmas gift 
the city of Savannah, with one hundred 
and fifty guns and plenty of ammuni- 
tion, and about twenty-five thousand 
bales of cotton." The success of the 
daring march was brilliant. Sherman 
wrote. "We have not lost a wagon on 
the trip and our trains are in a better 
condition than when we started." 

The news of this great march filled 
the North with exultation. There was 
a strain of the romantic and unusual in 
it that rivited men's attention. Sher- 
man's enterprise had proved an easy 
and safe one, but it seemed as if he had 
plunged through a sea of danger, and 
men looked upon him as if he was one 
of the daring knight errants of old. For 
a time nothing was talked of but Sher- 
man's wonderful marrh, and the song 
in which it was commemorated is still 
a favorite marching tune. 

But the work of dissecting the Con- 
federacy, which he had set out to do, 
was but half accomplished. After giv- 
ing his men a thorough rest in .Atlanta, 
he set out, on January 15th, 1865, to 
cut it in twain from South to North. 
Northward he went, opposition melting 
away before him. Town after town 
was occupied. Columbia, the beautiful 
capital of South Carolina, took fire 
from burning cotton and was more 
than half consumed. Charlestown, 
which had held out for four years 
against all attacks from the sea, sur- 
rendered without a blow and without 



Sherman's going near it. North Caro- 
lina was reached and here Sherman for 
the first time found a strong force, un- 
der his old opponent. General Johnston, 
gathered to meet him. Only one battle 
was fought, at Bentonville, on Alarch 
21, in which Johnston was beaten with 
heavy loss. He fell back on Raleigh, 
and Sherman was pursuing him when, 
on April nth, news reached him of 
General Lee's surrender two days be- 
fore. 

Further fighting would have been 
nuirder. The Confederacy was con- 
quered. Its leaders recognized this, and 
on April 26, Johnston surrendered, be- 
ing granted the same terms as were 
given to General Lee. The last ap- 
jjearance of Sherman's army in history 
was on May 24, in Washington, where 
it took part in the great two day's re- 
view. Sherman in his "Memoirs," 
says of it as it ajjpeared that day : "It 
was, in my judgment, the most mag- 
nificent army in existence, sixty-five 
thousand men in splendid physique, 
who had just completed a march of 
nearly two thousand miles in a hostile 
country.'' 

With this review the spectacular por- 
tion of Sherman's life ended. He re- 
mained a soldier, honored and revered, 
seeking no political honors, asking for 
no place or privilege. When, in 1868, 
Grant was appointed general of the 
army, Sherman succeeded him as lieu- 
tenant-general. When Grant was in- 
augurated as President, March 4, i86g, 
Sherman was raised to the rank of 
general. He was relieved at his own 
request, November i, 188-^, and was 
succeeded by Sheridan. He then took 
up his residence in St. Louis, after- 
wards removing to New York, where 
he died February 14, 1891. 

An able critic thus sums up Sher- 
man's qualities as a soldier : "Above 
all his other excellencies shone his 
promptitude, celerity, and immeasur- 
able activity. What for some com- 
manders were winter-quarters were to 
lu'm a bivouac. Always ready for the 
start, indefatigable on the march, 
omnipresent in battle, relentless in pur- 
suit. General Sherman made himself 



4i8 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



not only more feared but more re- 
spected by the enemy than any general 
in the national armies, save, perhaps, 
the one who commanded them all." 

Sherman was able not only as a sol- 
dier but as a writer. His "Memoirs" 
tell admirably the story of his military 
career and have given him a high liter- 
ary reputation. As a speaker he was 
ready and apt, and said so many strik- 
ing things that Chauncey Depew de- 
clared that "he never ought to be per- 
mitted to go anywhere without being 
accompanied by a stenographer." He 
was not partisan either in politics or 
religion. In politics no one could tell 
which party he favored, while in re- 
ligion he expressed his creed in the 
following pithy sentence: "If men will 
only act half as well as they know how, 
God will forgive them the balance." 

ULYSSES S. GRANT. 
1822-1885 

Ulysses S. Grant was born on the 
27th of April, 1822, at Point Pleasant, 
Clermont County, Ohio, about twenty- 
five miles from Cincinnati. He is of 
good old Revolutionary stock. His 
great-great-grandfather, Noah Grant, 
was captain of a company of colonial 
militia in the French and Indian war, 
and as one of the patriots fell bravely 
fighting at the battle of White Plains, 
in 1776. 

The family originally came from 
Scotland, and Noah Grant settled in 
Connecticut. The father of Ulysses, 
Jesse Root Grant, was born in West- 
moreland County, Pennsylvania. His 
father, Noah Grant, Jr., who was born 
in Connecticut, began his military 
career as an officer at the battle of Lex- 
ington, and served with honor and de- 
votion through the Revolutionary War. 
When a boy of sixteen Jesse R. Grant 
was sent to Kentucky to learn the trade 
of a tanner, and at the expiration of his 
apprenticeship moved to Ohio, where 
he married Hannah Simpson, and after 
many years of close application to his 
trade, secured a comfortable fortune, 
and turning the tannery over to his 



sons Orville and Simpson, he retired 
from business. 

Ulysses was the eldest son, and had 
necessarily been called upon early to 
assist his father in the routine of 
work. He early developed a fancy for 
horses and a talent for breaking and 
driving them. It is related of him that 
when only seven years old he har- 
nessed a three-year-old colt to a sled 
and hauled wood, and by the time he 
was ten years old he was frequently 
sent by his father to Cincinnati with 
loads of wood and leather to deliver to 
customers. His skill as a rider be- 
came so remarkable that at twelve 
years of age he could stand upon the 
back of a horse going at full speed, 
supporting himself only by the bridle. 
At about the same age he succeeded in 
riding the trick pony at a circus, de- 
spite all efforts to dismount him, the 
ringmaster even unfairly bringing a 
monkey to his assistance, which fas- 
tened itself on the head and shoulders 
of Ulysses. 

At one time, when his father had un- 
dertaken to build the county jail, Ulys- 
ses came in one day with a load of 
logs and reported that there was no one 
to help him load. "Why, how did you 
load this morning?" asked his father, 
in surprise. "Oh, Dave and I loaded," 
he replied. Dave was one of the strong, 
heavy horses of the team. The surpris- 
ing part of it was that the logs would 
have required fifteen or twenty men 
to lift any one of them, but the sturdy 
little boy had hitched the horse to the 
logs, one at a time, and dragged them 
across a fallen tree until one end was 
high enough to back the wagon under 
them ; then with the horse he pulled 
them on the wagon and drove home 
with his load. 

At about twelve years of age, while 
driving a team of horses before a light 
wagon, he was requested to take two 
young women to Georgetown, where he 
lived. There had been a heavy rain, 
and the creek which he had forded on 
the previous day had risen over itr 
banks, and after driving a short dis- 
tance into the water he found that the 
horses were swimming. The water 



BIOGRAPHY— ULYSSES S. GRAXT 



filled the wagon box and the girls be- 
came very much frightened, but Httle 
Ulysses said : "Xow don't be making 
a fuss there. Keep quiet and I'll take 
you through safe ;" and holding the 
horses steadily with the reins, he 
swam them to the opposite bank. 

Ulysses disliked work in the tannery 
and declared that he would not be a 
tanner, but wanted to be a farmer or 
merchant. His father suggested West 
FViint, and the idea took finely with the 
boy, and, on an appointment being se- 
cured, he entered the Military Academy 
at the age of seventeen. There hap- 
pened to be another Grant in the same 
class, and the boys nicknamed U. S. 
Grant "Uncle Sam" to distinguish him 
from the other Grant. 

At the academy Ulysses kept at about 
the middle of his class, and graduated 
from that position. In the dry studies 
he did not take much interest, but in all 
the military exercises, and especially 
in horsemanship, he excelled. 

On the 1st of July, 1843, Grant re- 
ceived the appointment of Brevet Sec- 
ond Lieutenant in the United States 
Army, and was assigned to duty at Jef- 
ferson Barracks, in Missoin-i, where he 
remained until 1844, when he was sent 
with his regiment to Camp Salubrity, 
in Louisiana. The only notable thing 
he remembers doing at this camp was 
learning to smoke cigars. 

But the cloud of war was hovering 
over the locality of our young lieu- 
tenant, and in 1845 he was sent to 
Corpus Christi to take command in the 
army under General Taylor, who was 
then holding himself in readiness for 
orders to pounce upon the Mexicans 
who were menacing the border. Soon 
after his arrival Grant was promoted 
to the rank of second lieutenant, and 
on the 8th of May, 1846. he participated 
in the battle of Palo Alto, and the next 
day again in that of Resaca de la 
Palma. The first battle was a duel with 
cannon, lasting all day. in which Lieu- 
tenant Grant had but little opportunity 
to display his bravery. But the next 
day, the Mexicans, whom our heavy 
cannon had forced to retire in the first 
battle, rallied in a thicket of small tim- 



ber and again fought fiercely a battle 
of infantry in which Grant displayed 
his first qualities of skill and bravery. 

On the 23d of September he partici- 
pated in the fierce battle of Alonterey, 
in which General Taylor marched 
boldly upon the city garrisoned by ten 
thousand Mexican soldiers, and after 
two or three days' fierce fighting in the 
streets and at the fortifications of the 
city, compelled it to surrender. 

This ended his campaign with Gen- 
eral Taylor, and he was soon afterward 
sent with his regiment to join the army 
of General Scott, who was then prepar- 
ing for an attack on \'era Cruz. This 
aft'orded Grant an opportunity of en- 
gaging in the siege and capture of that 
stronghold. His brave conduct here 
marked him for a reward, and he was 
appointed Regimental Quartermaster. 
Notwithstanding his new position, he 
engaged with his regiment in the battle 
of Cerro Gordo, also in those of San 
Antonio, Cherubusco and Molino del 
Rey, in which latter glorious engage- 
ment he so distinguished himself that 
he was promoted to the brevet rank of 
First Lieutenant. At the storming of 
Chepultepec he added to his laurels 
such a record for bravery that he was 
breveted a captain. 

With the capture of the City of 
Mexico, Grant had engaged in every 
battle of the war except Buena Vista. 

Llis military career in Alexico was 
now at an end, and he returned with 
his regiment to New York City, whence 
he was sent to Sackett's Harbor. Here, 
obtaining a short leave of absence, he 
married Miss Julia T. Dent, the daugh- 
ter of a St. Louis merchant. 

In 1849 he went with his regiment 
to Fort Brady, where he remained for 
two years. In 1852 the regiment was 
sent to the Pacific coast, and one bat- 
talion, including Grant's company, was 
ordered to Columbia Barracks, in Ore- 
gon. Grant, however, soon became 
so tired of the life in that wild, remote 
locality that he resigned his commis- 
sion and returned to his wife and civ- 
ilization in St. Louis. 

Being now thrown on his own re- 
sources, he followed one of his boyish 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



inclinations, and settled on a farm 
which Mrs. Grant's father had gi\en 
her. He began by hewing logs for his 
dwelling, and built the house himself. 
Tile farm was small, so it required his 
hardest labor to secure from it a sup- 
port for his family. In the winter he 
and his son hauled wood to St. Louis, 
each driving a team. 

Four years of farming found Grant 
discouraged with results, and moving 
to St. Louis, he opened a real estate 
office, but gave it up for a position in 
the Custom House, which he soon lost 
by the death of the Collector. In i860 
he moved to Galena and engaged with 
his brother in the leather business. 
Scarcely was he settled in his new avo- 
cation when the attack upon Fort Sum- 
ter aroused his military enthusiasm, 
and as soon as the call w-as made for 
volunteers, he took command of a com- 
pany in Galena, and went with it to 
Springfield to report to the Governor 
for duty. Here his fifteen years' ser- 
vice in the regular army made him so 
familiar with all the details of mili- 
tary matters that his merits were soon 
discovered by the Governor, who 
placed him in charge of the Twenty- 
first Illinois Regiment, and, greatly to 
his surprise, sent him the commission 
of Colonel. His regiment w^as soon after 
ordered to guard the line of the I lan- 
nibal and St. Joseph Railroad. From 
this point the regiment went to Ironton, 
]\Io., and while passing through St. 
Louis Colonel Grant received a com- 
mission promoting him to Brigadier- 
General, and assigned him to the com- 
mand of Southeastern ^Missouri, 
Southern Illinois and Western Ken- 
tucky and Tennessee. Reporting to 
General Fremont at St. Louis, he was 
at once instructed to make his head- 
quarters at Cairo, 111., to which place 
he repaired on the 1st of September. 

Grasping the situation with his fine 
military mind, he realized that Paducah 
and Smithland, at the mouths of the 
Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers, 
were two strategic points which should 
not be left to fall into the hands of the 
rebels, who were concentrating their 
forces for the occupation of Kentucky. 



To secure these points, General Grant, 
on the night of the 5th of September, 
embarked his troops on transports un- 
der convoy of two gunboats, and on 
the morning of the 6th arrived at Padu- 
cah and took possession. Grant re- 
turned to Cairo the same day ; General 
C. F. Smith was placed in command of 
Paducah, and troops were sent to take 
possession of Smithland and fortify it 
sufficiently to hold the mouth of the 
Cumberland River. 

General Grant now devoted his time 
to fortifying Cairo and organizing and 
drilling the raw troops who were com- 
ing in every day. There was such a 
lack of efficient officers that General 
Grant had to perform most of the work 
himself, and teach the officers how to 
make out their different reports and 
requisitions. 

During this time General Grant had 
gathered a force of 20,000 troops at 
Cairo. But the rebels, far from being 
idle, had taken possession of Columbus, 
Ky., on the bank of the Mississippi 
River, about twenty miles below Cairo, 
and were rapjdly fortifying its heights 
so as to comriiand the river. To still 
further secure their position, they had 
formed a camp at Belmont, on the .Mis- 
souri shore, imder the protection of 
the guns at Columbus. From this camp 
the rebels intended to make raids in 
]\Iissouri. The position at Columbus 
was a strong one, and if allowed to be 
held would be a constant menace to 
both Paducah and Cairo, besides bar- 
ring the navigation of the Mississippi. 

General Grant did not feel that his 
force was strong enough to capture 
Columbus, but he was quick to see that 
he could inflict a severe punishment on 
the rebels at Belmont, and on the night 
of the 6th of Xovember he, with about 
three thousand men, embarked on 
transports, convoyed by two gun- 
boats, and landed early next morning 
above Columbus, just out of range of 
the enemy's guns, and quickly and 
quietly marching through the forest, 
made an impetuous charge upon the 
camp at Belmont, and swept the rebels 
out of their positions, capturing their 
camp, artillery and many prisoners. 



BIOGRAPHY— ULYSSES S. GRANT 



421 



The repulse of the rebels could be seen 
fiom Columbus and General Polk be- 
gan immediately throwing reinforce- 
ments across the river. This afforded 
I'illow an opportunity to reorganize his 
command, and preparations were 
quickly made to assail the Union forces 
in the rear. But Grant was quick to 
discover the movement, and seeing 
transports crossing from Columbus 
with reinforcements, he hastily burned 
the rebel camp and began his retreat. 
Almost immediately he discovered a 
rebel force between him and his trans- 
ports, and he ordered a charge which 
swept the enemy from before him, and 
gaining the cover of tlie gunboats, he 
embarked and returned to Cairo. 

This battle opened the campaign in 
that military division, and the rebels 
began at once to strengthen their posi- 
tions for active work. They at once 
reinforced Columbus with a large garri- 
son and heavy guns, and fortified 
Howling Green. They also constructed 
Fort Henry, on the Tennessee, and Fort 
Donelson on the Cumberland, about 
twelve miles distant from each other. 
These forts were made very strong, 
guns of the heaviest calibre were 
mounted, and the rebels believed they 
would be able to control the two rivers 
and prevent the ascent of the Union 
fleet and forces. The nearness of the 
forts to each other would enable one 
to reinforce the other, and the rebels 
did not believe that they could be taken. 

General Grant quickly realized the 
great importance of capturing both 
these forts, and secured from General 
Halleck the order for the movement. 
Fort Henry was the first point of opera- 
tion, and on the 2d of February General 
Grant started upon the expedition with 
seventeen thousand men on transports, 
accompanied by seven ironclad gun- 
boats, commanded by Commodore 
F^oote, and, landing the troops a few 
miles below Fort Henry for an attack 
upon the rear, the gunboats steamed 
up within short range and opened a 
terrific fire upon the fort. The fire was 
vigorously returned by the fort, and 
General Tilghman, who was in com- 
mand, stood bravely by his artillerists. 



directing their fire. But the ironclads 
had the advantage of the heaviest guns, 
and completely silenced the fort in an 
hour and a half, and compelled its sur- 
render. Owing to high water and al- 
most impassable roads. Grant's main 
army did not reach the fort in time to 
strike it in the rear, as was intended, 
nor to intercept the main body of the 
garrison, which escaped to Fort Donel- 
son. 

On the I2th of February General 
Grant made the advance on Fort Donel- 
son. The rebels in the meantime had 
been making the greatest preparation 
for the impending struggle, and had not 
ordy largely increased their force, but 
had greatly strengthened the fort, which 
naturally was a strong position, being 
built on a ledge of rocks which over- 
looked the river for miles. It possessed 
water batteries, mounting columbiads 
and similar heavy guns. There were 
ramparts, re-entrants, curtains, salients, 
bastions and rifle-pits, and the ap- 
proaches on both the land and the water 
side were made practically impassable 
by heavy abatis. 

On the afternoon of the 12th there 
were slight skirmishes between the 
rebels on the outer lines and IMcCler- 
nand's and Smith's commands, but Gen- 
eral Grant was wisely investing the fort, 
and holding back from an engagement 
until the gunboats returned with the 
transports and reinforcements, as at 
that time the rebel forces far exceeded 
that of the Union army. 

On the night of the 13th Commodore 
Foote arrived, bringing the much- 
wished-for reinforcements. The next 
day the newly arrived troops were all 
assigned to their positions, and all 
things being in readiness, the fleet of 
gunboats steamed up at about 3 p. m. 
within short range of the fort and 
opened fire. If Commodore Foote an- 
ticipated as easy work as he had ex- 
perienced at Fort Henry, he was 
doomed to disappointment. The rela- 
tive positions of the two forts were 
very dififerent. Fort Henry was on low 
ground, with a river bank overflowing, 
while Fort Donelson looked down on 
the gunboats from an ele\ation of thirty 



422 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



or forty feet, and could discharge her 
solid shot with terrific etifect on the 
gunboats. Such was the disadvantage 
that at the end of an hour and a half 
the gunboats had been so roughly 
handled as to be compelled to draw olf. 
This led the rebels to believe that they 
had won a fictory by driving off the 
gunboats, but, as Colonel Oglesby said : 
"Grant had gone there to take that fort, 
and he would stay until he did it" ; and 
as the rebels saw the Union forces 
growing in numbers every day the siege 
continued, they began to lose hope, and 
Floyd, on a consultation with his gen- 
erals, dcided that they must, if possible, 
cut their way out and escape This plan, 
unfortunately for the Union forces, was 
put into execution while Grant was 
absent on the flagship, having been sent 
for by Commodore Foote. The attack 
naturally fell on the weakest part of 
the line, and the head of the army not 
being on the field to direct the move- 
ment of the forces, one brigade after 
another was forced back, and Pillow 
■was so sure of victory that he sent word 
to Johnston at Nashville that he had 
won the day. But he had "reckoned 
without his host." Grant returned, and 
for the first time became aware of the 
situation. He was surprised at the at- 
tack, and could not understand it until 
he saw that the knapsacks of the rebels 
were packed and their haversacks were 
filled with rations. At once he saw 
that they were fighting their way out, 
and as soon as he communicated this to 
the officers and soldiers, it revived their 
courage, and General Grant at once, by 
a masterly Napoleonic move, reformed 
the lines, and charging the enemy, 
pushed them back into their lines, and 
when night closed the engagement, it 
found the Union forces victorious. 
Floyd now saw that there would be no 
alternative but to surrender, and resign- 
ing the command to Pillow, who in turn 
resigned to Buckner, these two Generals 
stole away in the night, while Forrest, 
with more valor, fought his way out 
with his cavalry and escaped. There 
being no others desirous of taking the 
risk of fighting their way out, Buckner 
then sent a flag of truce to General 



Grant, asking for an armistice and com- 
missioners to arrange for capitulation. 
To this Grant replied : "No terms other 
than an unconditional and immediate 
surrender can be accepted. I propose 
to move immediately upon your 
works!" Buckner realized at once that 
delay would invoke a terrific slaughter 
of rebels, and he complied at once with 
the demand for "unconditional sur- 
render," and Fort Donelson, with 14,- 
623 men, 17 heavy siege guns, 48 pieces 
of field artillery, 20,000 stand of small 
arms, 3,000 horses, besides a large 
quantity of military stores, fell into the 
hands of Grant. 

This was the most signal victory that 
had been secured, and it created the 
most universal joy among all Union 
people, while it had a depressing effect 
upon the rebels. Grant's name was 
heralded all over the land, and the 
greatest gratitude and praise were be- 
stowed upon him. President Lincoln, 
quick to recognize the sterling qualities 
of the hitherto unknown man, rewarded 
him at once with a commission of 
Major-General. 

The fall of Fort Donelson inflicted 
serious damage upon the rebel cause 
far beyond the limits of that fortifica- 
tion. It threw Southern Kentucky and 
a considerable portion of ^Middle Ten- 
nessee into possession of the Federal 
forces, and. together with Fort Henry, 
gave them the navigation of the Cum- 
berland and Tennessee Rivers. It also 
forced the rebels to abandon Columbus, 
Bowling Green and Nashville, and al- 
low large quantities of military stores 
to fall into our hands. It reached still 
further in its effects — it inspired hope 
and confidence in the Union soldiers 
and aroused a fear in the breasts of 
the rebels that they were not invincible, 
after all. 

After this signal defeat. General 
Johnston, the rebel commander, con- 
centrated his scattered forces and estab- 
lished a new defensive line at Island 
Ko. 10, in the Mississippi, and at Mur- 
freesboro, but being soon compelled to 
evacuate Island No. 10, they changed 
their front to Corinth and Chattanooga. 
Grant's successful operations at this 



BIOGRAPHY— ULYSSES S. GRANT 



time were delayed and his plans 
changed by Halleck. his superior in 
rank and his inferior in everything per- 
taining to military matters. In his 
envy of Grant's success and growing 
fame he assigned him to new districts, 
and gave the command of important 
expeditions to other officers, until 
Grant, feeling the injustice so keenly, 
insisted upon being relieved from fur- 
ther duty in the department until he 
could appeal to higher authority. This 
resulted in a slight relaxation of the 
restraint put upon Grant, and with his 
new command he again prepared to 
nio\e for active service. 

In the meantime the rebels had been 
making themselves strong by concen- 
tration, compelling all small Union 
commands in their vicinity to fall back. 
Indications pointed to a coming engage- 
ment on the line of the Tennessee, 
necessary to break the hold the rebels 
were securing in that quarter. On the 
17th of March, 1862, General Grant 
began to concentrate his troops at 
Pittsburgh Landing on the Tennessee, 
where he was to await the arrival of 
Cieneral Buell from Nashville, with 
forty thousand troops. At this time 
Grant had but thirty-five thousand men, 
while the rebels had a force of seventy 
thousand concentrated at Corinth, only 
twenty miles away. General Johnston, 
who was in command at Corinth, real- 
ized the necessity of crushing Grant 
before Buell arrived, and at daylight 
on the 6th of April, the entire rebel 
force, after a quick march from Co- 
rinth, fell upon Grant's army in over- 
whelming numbers, and during the 
entire day one of the most bloody bat- 
tles of the war was fought. The 
carnage was fearful, and the Union 
army was in the greatest danger of 
being swept into hopeless ruin. They 
were driven back to the river in the 
greate.st disorder, and nothing but the 
gunboats saved them from an uncondi- 
tional surrender. Bravery could avail 
but little against the overwhelming ^ 
force of the rebels. This was the des- ' 
perate condition of Grant's army when 
night closed the contest. The rebels 



were confident of a complete victory 
the next morning. 

During the afternoon Buell arrived 
in advance of his troops, and anxiously 
inquired of Grant what preparation he 
had made for a retreat across the river. 
"Why," replied Grant, "7 haz'e not 
despaired of ivhipping them yet." 
"But," continued Buell, "you haven't 
steamboats enough to carry away ten 
thousand men." "Well," replied (irant, 
"there zvon't be more than that many 
left when I get ready to go!" 

In the night 20,000 of PkieH's troops 
arrived in advance of the others and 
crossed the river, where they were 
placed in position for an early resump- 
tion of hostilities the next morning. 
The arrival of fresh troops had so in- 
spired the Union army with confidence 
that at daylight they fell upon the rebels 
in a charge so fierce and impetuous that 
the latter were filled with astonishment. 
Grant knew his strength and advantage, 
and he swept everything before him. 
All day the conflict raged with unpre- 
cedented fury, and at night the defeated 
rebels retreated to Corinth, leaving 
nearly 20,000 men dead on the field. 
Thus ended the battle of Shiloh on the 
first day and that of Pittsburgh Land- 
ing on the second, in which Grant 
wrested a grand victory out of defeat. 

On the 9th of April ^lajor-General 
Halleck arrived and assumed command. 
\\'ith the greatest caution he advanced 
on Corinth, intrenching his position at 
almost every step. In the entire siege, 
which was contemptible in a military 
point of view. General Grant was en- 
tirely ignored by Halleck and was 
practically relieved from command. 
The result of this slow and cautious 
advance was the escape of the rebels 
from Corinth with all their materials 
of war, to the great surprise of Halleck, 
who was doubtless considering his own 
chances of escape should he be attacked 
by the rebels. This fortunately ended 
his personal supervision of military 
movements in the \\'est. for he was 
soon after called to Washington and 
Grant was again placed in command of 
the Army of the Tennessee. He soon 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



after placed Rosecrans in command of 
Corinth and improved the fortifications 
by shortening the lines. His military 
foresight and skill were soon evident, 
for the rebels, under Van Dorn, ad- 
vanced upon Corinth and made a 
vigorous attack, which Rosecrans re- 
pulsed ; and after a fierce battle the 
rebels retreated, pursued by the Union 
forces, leaving on the field nearly 1,500 
ofticers and men and more than 5,000 
wounded, besides losing over 2,000 
prisoners. 

The necessity for opening the Missis- 
sippi River was becoming more evident 
every day, and when General Grant 
requested permission of Halleck to 
make an attack upon Yicksburg, he 
found the General-in-Chief favorable 
to his plan, and he at once began to 
concentrate troops for the great cam- 
paign. His plan was to have the fleet 
co-operate with the land forces, and 
after a number of small battles in 
Mississippi, in which divisions of the 
army were engaged, General Grant 
pushed on with the entire force toward 
Mcksburg as rapidly as possible, issu- 
ing orders for the army to subsist from 
the country. 

The siege of Vicksburg is such a 
history in itself that only general details 
can be given. As a natural military 
stronghold it could scarcely be sur- 
passed by any other position occupied 
by the rebels. This city is located on 
a bluff, two hundred and fifty feet 
above low water mark, while innumer- 
able swamps and bayous extend in all 
directions in the rear through the al- 
most impenetrable forests, and never 
perhaps in the history of any siege since 
the world began were there so many 
natural obstacles to its progress. Every 
means was devised that human ingenu- 
ity could plan. Canals, passes, bayous 
and every other species of water-course 
were tried in the endeavor to pass 
Vicksburg with the fleet and army to a 
point of operation below, but these 
plans all failed. The forests, bayous 
and swamps were too much for human 
ingenuity, and giving up all these plans. 
General Grant concentrated the army in 
front of Vicksburg and decided to send 



the ironclads and transports down the 
Mississippi River under the fire of the 
\'icksburg batteries, and on the i6th of 
April, at night, the fleet, under Admiral 
Porter, steamed past Vicksburg, under 
a terrific fire from the heaviest guns, to 
which all the gunboats replied with 
fearful energy while they floated with 
the current. After the fleet and army 
had reached a point below Vicksburg, 
General Grant worked incessantly to 
prepare for the grand assault which he 
knew must be made. Immediately he 
began a series of fierce assaults from 
day to day on the rebel lines, while 
all the operations of the siege were 
pushed vigorously forward. Nearer 
and nearer the works approached Vicks- 
burg, while mines were sunk and sharp- 
shooters from towers and treetops were 
constantly picking off the rebel gun- 
ners. On the 26th of June, a great 
mine, dug under one of the strongest 
batteries of the enemy, was exploded, 
with the most tremendous force, shak- 
ing the very city to its foundations, 
and strewing the air with dirt, timbers 
and cannon, and the mangled bodies of 
the rebels. This explosion was followed 
by an assault on the enemy's line of 
defense, which had been broken by the 
explosion, but it accomplished nothing. 
At last Grant's works, mounted by 
heavy guns, were all completed, and 
he directed that the general attack be 
made on the morning of the 5th of 
July. Pemberton, the rebel commander 
at Vicksburg, realizing the terrific 
slaughter of his men that would result 
from the assault, sent out a flag of truce 
on the 3d for the appointment of com- 
missioners to arrange for the capitula- 
tion. But Grant demanded uncondi- 
tional surrender, although offering to 
meet Pemberton to arrange details. 
The meeting took place, and Pember- 
ton accepted the terms, which allowed 
the officers and soldiers to be liberated 
on their paroles, taking with them their 
clothing, rations, cooking utensils and a 
limited number of wagons. 

These terms were accepted, and on 
the 4th of July, and by three o'clock 
in the afternoon, Vicksburg was in our 
hands, with all its siege guns, small 



BIOGRAPHY— ULYSSES S. GRANT 



arms and military stores. The force 
surrendered amounted to 27,000 men, 
including 6,000 wounded and sick in 
hospital. 

This grand victory of General Grant's 
was one of the most important of the 
war, and resulted in opening the Mis- 
sissippi from the Ohio to the Gulf. 

General Sherman had, in the mean- 
time, been sent with a force to attack 
Johnston, and succeeded in driving him 
from Jackson to Meridian. 

On the 6th of June a detachment of 
colored troops, aided by the gunboats, 
defeated McCulloch's command of 
3,000 rebels at ]\Iilliken's Bend. 

A rebel force of 8,000 men made an 
attack upon the Union garrison at 
Helena on the 4th of July, but General 
Prentiss, assisted by the gunboats, made 
such a gallant resistance that the rebels 
were signally defeated and driven off. 

As soon as the fall of Vicksburg re- 
lieved the necessity of the large force 
concentrated there. General Grant sent 
reinforcements to Banks, who was be- 
sieging Port Hudson, and on the 8th 
of July that rebel stronghold sur- 
rendered with 10,000 prisoners and 50 
guns. 

Thus were a series of smaller vic- 
tories added to the brilliant conquest of 
\'icksburg, to the great discomfiture of 
the rebels and the depression of their 
cause. This successful campaign raised 
the fame of Grant above all the envious 
falsehood and villainous influences that 
had been brought to bear against him. 
He had proven himself the military su- 
perior not only of the rebel generals, 
but also of his enemies among the 
officers of our own army, and yet with- 
out pride or retaliation he pushed ahead 
and gave his noble services to the cause 
he so dearly loved. 

After the fall of Mcksburg, President 
Lincoln and the Secretary of W^ar so 
fully appreciated the ability of Grant 
that he was made Major-General of 
the regular army, which outranks a Ma- 
jor-General of volunteers. 

In September General Grant was 
thrown from his horse in New Orleans, 
and for nearly three weeks was con- 
fined to his bed. During this time the 



Union forces, under Rosecrans, re- 
ceived the well-remembered defeat at 
Chickamauga. Bragg's forces having 
been weakened by detachments being 
sent to other points, and Rosecrans 
feeling sure of success, pressed on after 
^^>'^^gS' who retreated through Chatta- 
nooga until he received the reinforce- 
ments of Buckner's, Longstreet's and 
Polk's commands. Then, with an army 
of eighty thousand men, he turned upon 
Rosecrans and almost crushed his army 
at Chickamauga, inflicting a loss of si.x- 
teen thousand men, killed, wounded and 
missing, and besieged Rosecrans in 
Chattanooga, where he was in the most 
critical situation. 

General Grant, as soon as he learned 
of the disaster at Chickamauga and the 
dangerous position of Rosecrans, re- 
lieved him of the command and Gen- 
eral Thomas was appointed in his place, 
with instructions telegraphed to hold 
Chattanooga at all hazards until rein- 
forcements could reach him. The reply 
of Thomas was brief and business- 
like: "We'll hold the town till we 
starve." General Grant immediately 
set out for Chattanooga, and reached 
it on the 23d of October, when he com- 
menced his plans of operation at once 
by opening a line of communication 
for reinforcements and supplies. Gen- 
eral Sherman was ordered forward 
with all possible speed, and by a forced 
march, under the greatest difficulties of 
bad roads and flooded streams, that 
faithful warrior hurried forward his 
troops to reinforce Chattanooga. 

As soon as Sherman arrived. Gen- 
eral Grant was ready for offensive 
operations. He sent General Sherman, 
on the night of the 23d of November, 
across the Tennessee River to hold a 
position ready for attack upon Mission- 
ary Ridge. On the 24th General 
Hooker stormed Lookout Mountain and 
swept away the rebels in the greatest 
disorder from their position. The next 
day the entire army charged the rebels 
in one of the most terrific battles of 
the war, and when night came the rebels 
had been swept from every point, and 
in a wild rout they were fleeing toward 
Atlanta with General Grant in pursuit. 



426 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



and the road strewn with everything 
that they could cast away in their wild 
rush for life and liberty. 

Thus again did General Grant turn 
into a glorious victory the impending 
defeat and surrender which had hung 
over the besieged army at Chattanooga. 
The successful management of this bat- 
tle is one of the most remarkable events 
in history, and its result was to drive 
back the rebels from Kentucky and 
Tennessee and prepare the Union army 
for finally breaking the back of the re- 
bellion in Georgia. 

The news of the great victory created 
the wildest enthusiasm for General 
Grant throughout the country, and on 
the 4th of February, 1864, a bill was 
passed in Congress reviving the grade 
of Lieutenant-General in the army, and 
calling General Grant to the command 
of all the armies of the United States. 
This at once relieved him from subjec- 
tion to inefficient superiors and placed 
him in supreme command, subject only 
to the President. The bill was ap- 
proved by Mr. Lincoln on the ist of 
March, and on the 9th General Grant 
received his commission. 

General Grant at once decided to end 
the rebellion on the banks of the Po- 
tomac, and began reorganizing the army 
and concentrating a great force in the 
East, knowing that the rebels would be 
compelled to withdraw or decrease their 
troops at all other points to defend 
Richmond and support Lee, thus leav- 
ing the West and South at the mercy 
of Sherman, Thomas, McPherson and 
similar able and faithful generals. 

As soon as General Grant began to 
develop his plans all roads seemed to 
lead to the Potomac, and from every 
direction the martial tread of armies 
was heard. After locating and instruct- 
ing his generals of the Eastern army, 
he gave to General Sherman a grand 
expedition, which only Grant and Sher- 
man were capable of accomplishing, 
that of cutting the Confederacy in two, 
and breaking the back of the rebellion 
by that daring march from Atlanta to 
the sea. 

For the first time in the history of 
the war the control of the army and its 



military movements were in the hands 
of the two military giants of the coun- 
try, and the result was soon to De what 
might have taken place two years earlier 
under their control — the end of the war. 
Lee had defeated every other General 
of the Army of the Potomac who had 
confronted him, and General Grant 
knew that the war would only end with 
the overthrow of the military leader 
of the rebellion. The time had come 
for his defeat, and no one knew it so 
well as Grant. The following ideas, 
expressed in one of his reports as 
Lieutenant-General, are worthy of the 
genius of Napoleon: 

"From an early period in the rebellion 
I had been impressed with the idea that 
active and continuous operations of all 
the troops that could be brought into 
the field, regardless of season and 
weather, were necessary to speedy ter- 
mination of the war. The resources 
of the enemy and his numerical strength 
were very inferior to ours ; but, as an 
oftset to this, we had a vast territory, 
with a population hostile to the Gov- 
ernment, to garrison, and long lines of 
rivers and railroad communications to 
protect, to enable us to supply the op- 
erating armies. 

"The armies in the East and West 
acted independently and without con- 
cert — like a balky team, no two pulling 
together — enabling the enemy to use to 
great advantage his interior lines of 
communication for transporting troops 
from east to west, reinforcing the army 
most vigorously pressed and to furlough 
large numbers during seasons of inac- 
tivity on our part, to go to their homes 
and to the work of providing for the 
support of their armies. It was a ques- 
tion whether our numerical strength and 
resources were not more than balanced 
by these disadvantages and the enemy's 
superior position. 

"From the first I was firm in the con- 
viction that no peace could be had that 
could be stable and conducive to the 
happiness of the people of the North 
and South until the military power of 
the rebellion was entirely broken up. 

"I therefore determined, first, to use 
the greatest number of troops practic- 



BIOGRAPHY— ULYSSES S. GRANT 



427 



able against the armed force of the 
enemy, preventing him from using the 
same force at different seasons against 
first one and then another of our armies, 
and the possibility of repose for refit- 
ting and producing necessary supplies 
for carrying on resistance ; secondly, to 
hammer continuously against the armed 
force of the enemy and his resources, 
until, by mere attrition, if in no other 
way, there should be nothing left to 
him but an ecjual submission with the 
loyal sections of our common country 
to the Constitution and laws of the land. 

"These views have been kept con- 
stantly in mind, and orders given and 
campaigns made to carry them out. 
Whether they might have been better 
in conception and execution is for the 
people, who mourn the loss of friends 
fallen, and who have to pay the pecun- 
iary cost, to say. All that I can say is 
that what I have done has been done 
conscientiously, to the best of my ability 
and in what I conceived to be for the 
best interests of the whole country." 

Relying implicitly on Sherman's 
ability to sweep irresistibly through 
Georgia to Savannah and thence north- 
ward, destroying railroads, devasting 
the country, capture Charleston, Colum- 
bia and other rebel strongholds. Gen- 
eral Grant began his preparations. 

On the 3d of May, 1864, at midnight. 
General Grant moved his whole army 
and crossed the Rapidan before day- 
light. Pushing on toward Spotts- 
sylvania his army swept through the 
Wilderness, and he disposed his troops 
in position to prevent every possible 
surprise. 

Lee, in his perfect confidence secured 
by all previous experience with the 
Army of the Potomac, determined to 
fall upon Grant by surprise, and, by 
cutting his army in two. sweep him 
from the field. On the morning of the 
5th Lee suddenly appeared, rushing im- 
petuously upon the center of Grant's 
army, with his troops massed and bent 
upon dividing it and sweeping it in 
hopeless defeat across the Rapidan. 
But for once Lee had met his superior, 
and although he had forced the fight 
upon his own familiar ground, with his 



own plan and at chosen time, he found 
himself at the close of the first day's 
terrific battle pressed back upon the 
field and six thousand of his men 
weltering in their blood. He realized 
that he had a desperate undertaking 
before him, and doubtless "bitterly 
thought of the morrow" as he waited 
for daylight to renew his carnage. The 
second day dawned, and fiercely 
through all its long hours the battle 
raged at every point, with each army 
pushing back divisions of the other and 
victory refusing to perch upon either 
standard. When night again closed 
upon the weary combatants, twenty 
thousand men lay dead and wounded 
on the fearful field. 

It may appropriately be said that 
Lee was very much discouraged, and 
during the night he retreated to seek his 
intrenchments near Spottsylvania Court 
House; but Grant, with worthy 
courage and invincible determination, 
started in immediate pursuit, and the 
next day a running fight was kept up 
in a parallel line, but the dense growth 
of the trees and underbrush in the 
Wilderness was so thick that the two 
armies could scarcely see each other. 

Thus passed the third day, and on 
the next morning General Grant made 
the attack upon Lee in his works, and 
drove the rebels from their outer in- 
trenchments with a loss of about three 
thousand prisoners. Night again came, 
and the armies slept, as it were, with 
their hands on each other's throats. 
The next morning Grant was up at 
daylight, thundering away with his bat- 
teries at the rebel breastworks, and all 
day continued without an intermission. 
The next day it was resumed and 
fought with indescribable fury, and 
ended with an irresistible charge upon 
the enemy's works, sweeping them 
from the outer line and capturing two 
thousand prisoners. The loss in this 
day's terrific struggle was nearly ten 
thousand men on each side. LTp to that 
time five thousand rebel prisoners had 
been taken, while only a few stragglers 
here and there had been secured from 
our army. It was at the close of this 
day's fighting that General Grant said 



428 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



in his laconic message to the War De- 
partment: "/ propose to fight it out 
on this line if it takes me all summer." 

On the next day, the i ith, the armies 
were so completely exhausted that there 
was no general engagement, but Grant 
was laying his plans, and at midnight 
General Hancock, in a terrific thunder- 
storm, charged the enemy's lines with 
such impetuous fury that he drove the 
rebels back from their intrenchments 
in that division, capturing over three 
thousand prisoners and thirty guns. 
This brave charge brought on a general 
engagement, which continued the re- 
mainder of the night and all the next 
day, with a loss in killed and wounded 
equal to that of the day previous. 
Had it not been for [Meade's delay in 
reinforcing Hancock, an overwhelming 
victory would evidently have been 
gained over the rebels, but in the half 
hour in which the reinforcements were 
behind Lee had strengthened the force 
in front of Hancock until their position 
could not be carried, and the brave 
General was forced to abandon the cap- 
tured intrenchments and fall back. 

This day's battle resulted in forcing 
Lee to fall back to his inner lines, and 
General Grant took up a new position 
nearer the enemy. But he had formed 
a plan for z flank movement, and by 
a quick march carried his army south to 
a position beyond Spottsylvania Court 
House. Lee, however, had the shortest 
line of march, and, being on the alert, 
threw his force with great celerity into 
the intrenchments he had previously 
prepared in front of Grant's new posi- 
tion, with a view to prevent a march 
upon Richmond. 

When General Grant had secured his 
new position he sent Sheridan with his 
cavalry to destroy the railroads and 
break Lee's communication with Rich- 
mond. This raid was successful in 
breaking railroad communication and 
in defeating Stuart's cavalry ; and cut- 
ting his way through the country. 
Sheridan established his communica- 
tions with Butler at Bermuda Hun- 
dred. 

General Grant followed after this 
raiti and took up a new position at 



Guinea Station. The movements of 
General Grant had caused great un- 
easiness to Lee, who began to fear that 
his line of communication would be cut 
of!', and that Grant would make a 
forced march and capture Richmond. 
He was therefore compelled to abandon 
his position and push on toward Rich- 
mond. His line of march was only a 
few miles from that of the Union 
forces, with whom he was keeping 
abreast. General Grant's army had 
been increased to one hundred and fifty 
thousand men, and as it swept on irre- 
sistibly Lee dared not risk an attack, 
and could only keep up with it and 
watch for some ung^iarded moment or 
some false military move ; but Grant 
was not the General to permit such op- 
portunities. 

General Grant's plan of operations 
against Richmond had been matured 
with a view of uniting his army with 
the forces under Butler, whose move- 
ment began from Fortress Monroe and 
ended by taking up a strong position 
at Bermuda Hundred, which afforded 
an excellent base for operations against 
either Petersburg or Richmond. Know- 
ing that he was sure of reinforcements 
on the south side of Richmond. Gen- 
eral Grant pushed on with his army, 
hoping any moment to catch Lee at a 
disadvantage and to crush him. 

General Grant reached Cool Arbor 
on the 1st of June, at which point he 
was within a few miles of Richmond 
with his line stretching nearly ten 
miles, at which point Lee made a vig- 
orous assault upon the weakest part 
of the line, hoping to break it ; but he 
was forced to fall back behind his forti- 
fications, where Grant in turn made an 
attack upon him on the morning of the 
3d. This was a gigantic conflict in 
which three hundred thousand men 
were engaged. Day after day the bat- 
tle raged with terrible slaughter, with- 
out any particular advantage percept- 
ible ; but Grant knew that his blows 
were having a distressing eft'ect upon 
Lee. On the night of the 5th the 
rebels in desperation charged upon the 
lines of the Union Anny, under sup- 
port of a fearful fire from their heavy 



BIOGRAPHY— ULYSSES S. GRANT 



batteries, but they were met with a 
solid sheet of flame from our cannon, 
which poured forth the most deadly 
volleys of grape and canister, sweep- 
ing the rebels away like wheat before a 
sickle. Appalled at the terrible destruc- 
tion the rebels turned and fled leav- 
ing their dead on the field. 

On the nth General Grant executed 
one of the most brilliant moves of the 
war, and while menacing Lee with skir- 
mishers to conceal his object, he began 
a flank movement, and by a rapid march 
reached and crossed the James River, 
and forming a junction with General 
Butler, took up a position south of 
Richmond. Scarcely had the junction 
been formed before Grant began his at- 
tack upon Petersburg. 

Lee was completely outwitted by this 
movement, and had it not been for the 
delay of General Grant's subordinates 
in carrying out his instructions Lee 
would have found the Union army in 
full possession of Petersburg when he 
arrived. It had not, however, been 
taken, and he poured his rebels into its 
fortifications until they were bristling 
at every point with bayonets and frown- 
ing with cannon. Then came the long, 
tedious siege and daily terrific strug- 
gles of the two armies. 

While battling with Lee, General 
Grant did not forget the great impor- 
tance of destroying the railroads and 
cutting off Lee's communications with 
the South To effectually isolate Peters- 
burg, General Grant ordered all the 
cavalry force of his army to not only 
destroy communications, but to join 
Hunter near Lynchburg, or to push on 
and unite with Sherman in Georgia, if 
the obstacles met were not too formid- 
able 

All this time General Grant was mak- 
ing his position stronger and weaving 
the net around Petersburg that could 
not be broken through. To encourage 
him still more, he heard of Sherman's 
success in taking .Ktlanta, and he knew 
that the invincible old warrior, with 
his hundred thousand men, would soon 
be thundering toward the sea in his 
march of destruction, and if he only 
hurried in his Northern march, he 



would doubtless be in at the death of 
the rebellion. Sherman's march had 
been one of the most remarkable and 
destructive in military history, and had 
been as irresistible as that of the old 
Roman legions. He had carried the 
war home to the South, and had not 
only cut the Confederacy in two, but 
had cut their communications and de- 
stroyed their supplies by sweeping a 
path of desolation sixty miles wide and 
three hundred miles long, in which rail- 
roads and everything that could aid the 
rebellion were destroyed, and beef, cat- 
tle, sheep, hogs, fowl, horses and mules 
captured for use of the army. 

At this time it was evident that Lee 
v.as contemplating the evacuation of 
Petersburg and uniting with Johnston ; 
but General Grant was on the alert for 
such a movement and ready to pounce 
on the enemy. He fully realized that 
if Lee was permitted to escape and 
form a junction with Johnston's army 
they would attempt to crush Sherman, 
and he was resolved to give Lee no 
rest or opportunity to strike another 
blow. 

At the first movement of Lee which 
indicated that he had commenced the 
evacuation of Petersburg, Grant hurled 
his forces upon him and stormed his 
intrenchments in a terrific contest which 
lasted for three days. On the night 
of the third day, w'hich was the 3d of 
April, 1865, Lee abandoned Petersburg 
and fled in the vain attempt to save his 
fated army. This retreat gave us Rich- 
mond and Petersburg; but Lee was yet 
to be taken, and as he fled down the 
north bank of the Appomattox he was 
vigorously pursued by the victorious 
army of the Union. With splendid 
military skill General Grant had sent 
Sheridan by a shorter route to throw 
the Fifth Army Corps across the path 
of the rebel retreat, and to the con- 
sternation of Lee he found himself sur- 
rounded and cut off from his supplies. 
In every direction Sheridan, Meade, 
Ord, Humphrey and other Generals 
of divisions were driving the rebels in 
at every attempt to escape, capturing 
prisoners, arms, militarj' stores at al- 
most every charge. The very rations 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



for the rebels had been captured, and 
in their half famished condition they 
lacked strength to make further resist- 
ance. Lee had evidently given up hope 
when he abandoned Petersburg, and 
in anticipation of surrender he allowed 
his soldiers to drop out of line along 
his entire route and return to their 
homes, until at the time he was com- 
pletely surrounded at Appamattox 
Court House his army did not contain 
over ten thousand men in line. 

General Grant, at this point, with real 
sympathy for the miserable remnant 
of the once proud army, and to save 
them from slaughter, sent the follow- 
ing dispatch to General Lee: 

"General : — The result of the last 
week must convince you of the hope- 
lessness of further resistance on the 
part of the Army of Northern Virginia 
in this struggle. I feel that it is so, 
and regard it my duty to shift from 
myself the responsibility of any further 
eflusion of blood, by asking of you the 
surrender of that portion of the Con- 
federate States Army known as the 
Army of Northern Virginia." 

To this note Lee replied at once ask- 
ing for the terms that would be offered 
on condition of surrender. 

In reply General Grant insisted upon 
but one condition, namely: "That the 
men and officers surrendered shall be 
disqualified for taking up arms against 
the Government of the LTnited States 
until properly exchanged." To this Lee 
replied in a manner that indicated his 
desire to delay the unpleasnat matter 
of surrender as long as possible, and 
he expressed his wish to meet with 
General Grant rather more to arrange 
for terms of peace than for a surrender. 

General Grant, after putting his 
troops in motion around Appomattox 
Court House, so that Lee could not 
mistake the alternative, sent the fol- 
lowing note: 

"Gener.vl: Your note of yesterday 
is received. I have no authority to 
treat on the subject of peace; the meet- 
ing proposed for ten o'clock a. m. to- 
day could do no good. I will state, 
however. General, that I am equally 
anxious for peace with yourself, and 



the whole North entertains the same 
feeling. The terms upon which peace 
can be had are well understood. By the 
South laying down their arms they will 
hasten that most desirable event, save 
thousands of human lives and hundreds 
of millions of property not yet de- 
stroyed. Seriously hoping that all our 
difficulties may be settled without the 
loss of another life, I subscribe my- 
self," etc. 

Lee, knowing that the surrender was 
inevitable, no longer parlied for delay, 
but sought for definite terms of sur- 
render and accepted them. 

Never before was a surrender con- 
ducted on more honorable terms or with 
kinder regard for the feelings of the 
vanquished, and the exhausted rebel 
soldiers were the first to raise the wild 
cheer of joy at the news of the sur- 
render; then one united shout arose 
from the throats of the L^nion army, 
which was caught up in a imiversal hur- 
rah of triump throughout the land as 
soon as the joyful news was heralded 
over the wires. Peace at last ! What 
glorious significance there was in the 
news ! 

The great rebellion was crushed, and 
it only remained for Johnston to sur- 
render to Sherman, which he did on 
the 25th of April, and the other rebel 
commands throughout the country 
either to surrender to the Union troops 
in their front or to disband and return 
to their homes, to release our great 
army from further duty in the field. 

The world had never before wit- 
nessed such a spectacle as the quiet, 
orderly and peaceful disbanding and 
dispersing of such an immense army, 
and it gave an additional guarantee of 
the stability of our republican institu- 
tions to realize that fierce soldiers could 
so quickly be returned to the arts of 
peace. 

In token of the high appreciation 
of the country for the noble and pa- 
triotic services of Lieutenant-General 
Grant, he was on the 25th of July, 
1866, promoted to the rank of General, 
the highest military grade possible in 
our army. 

A still further compliment to his abil- 



BIOGRAPHY—ULYSSES S. GRANT 



ity was paid h\- his appointment as 
Secretary of War ad interim, on the 
1 2th of August. 1867. By the recon- 
struction acts of Alarch, 1867, military 
commanders were appointed for the 
several districts into which the South 
was divided by the acts. These com- 
manders General Grant advised, in his 
official instructions, to use great mod- 
eration and kindness toward the people 
of the South, and in all his duties, both 
as General of the army and as Secre- 
tary of War, he acted with excellent 
discretion and ability. 

It must be said, in justice to Gen- 
eral Grant, that he did not wish to 
accept the office of Secretary of War, 
and counseled the retaining of Mr. 
Stanton, and it was only when he saw 
that President Johnson was determined 
upon Stanton's removal that he ac- 
cepted it, that it might not, in his own 
language, fall into the hands of some 
incompetent or unpatriotic person. 

When President Johnson, without 
any reasonable pretext, removed Gen- 
erals Sheridan, Sickles and Pope from 
their commands in the South, General 
Grant earnestly advised the President 
against the unwise act, but when John- 
son persisted in his removal of the 
very men whom General Grant had 
recommended for the positions, he 
quietly accjuiesced, and earnestly co- 
operated with the newly appointed com- 
manders in the work of reconstruction. 

One of the most beneficial services 
he rendered the country during his 
exercise of the office was the reduction 
of various expenses, by cutting down 
the number of employes in the Freed- 
man's Bureau, also by transferring the 
duties of the Bureaus of Rebel Archives 
and of exchange of prisoners to the 
office of the Adjutant-General, besides 
closing many departments and offices 
which were the outgrowth of the war 
and whose sphere of usefulness had 
ceased with the war. In various other 
ways he cut down expenses connected 
with the War Department. 

When the Senate met and refused to 
concur in the removal of Mr. Stan- 
ton, and decided that he be rein.stated, 
General Grant at once quietly acqui- 



esced and relinquished the office. 
President Johnson asserted that General 
Grant had promised that he would in 
this event either resign the Secretary- 
ship or remain and resist the reinstate- 
ment of Mr. Stanton. This promise 
General Grant denied having made, and 
this was the question of veracity be- 
tween the President and General Grant, 
on which the country generally stood 
by the General of the army. 

On the 2ist of May, 1868, the Na- 
tional Republican Convention, which 
met in Chicago, by acclamation nomi- 
nated General Grant as their candidate 
for President of the United States. 
Just two days previous to the meeting 
of the convention, there had been held 
also in Chicago a convention of soldiers 
and _ sailors, who had unanimously 
nominated General Grant as their can- 
didate for the presidency, which was a 
double indorsement of his sterling quali- 
ties and fitness for the position, more 
especially as many of the soldiers and 
sailors were War Democrats. 

To the committee notifying General 
Grant of his nomination, he expressed 
the following sentiments in the conclud- 
ing portion of his speech : 

"If elected to the office of President 
of the United States it will be my en- 
deavor to administer all the laws in 
good faith, with economy, and with 
the view of giving peace, quiet and 
protection everywhere. In times like 
the present it is impossible, or at least 
eminently improper, to lay down a 
policy to be adhered to, right or wrong, 
through an administration of four 
years. New political issues, not fore- 
seen, are constantly arising: the views 
of the public on old ones are constantly 
changing; and a purely administrative 
officer should always be left free to 
execute the will of the people. I always 
have respected that will, and always 
shall. Peace and universal prosperity, 
its sequence, with economy of adminis- 
tration, will lighten the burden of taxa- 
tion, while it constantly reduces the 
national debt. Let us have peace!"' 

The Democratic party nominated 
Horatio Seymour, a very popular man 
and an able statesman, as their candi- 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFEREXXE 



date, and the contest was naturally an 
exciting one. General Grant received 
at the election 3,016,353 of the popular 
vote and Seymour 2,906,631. The elec- 
toral \ote stood 214 for Grant and 80 
for Seymour. 

On the 4th of March, 1869, General 
Grant made his inaugural address and 
took the oath of office, upon which he 
entered with the confidence and highest 
respect of the entire country, regard- 
less of party. In the sentiment he had 
previously uttered, "Let us have peace," 
the white wings of peace were hovering 
over the land, and the swords had been 
beaten into plowshares. 

There were, however, many difficul- 
ties presenting themselves in his admin- 
istration. Some of the Southern States 
were still undergoing reconstruction, 
while many political difficulties were 
constantly presenting themselves. One 
very important question was that of the 
w^elfare of the freedmen who had been 
cast upon the generosity of the gov- 
ernment to work out political equality 
in the land, and to educate them and 
prepare them for self-support. Besides 
there were the usual intricacies of for- 
eign relations, and many issues of a 
local and sectional as well as general 
interest to be disposed of, which have 
puzzled many a wise statesman. 

But such was General Grant's uni- 
form and satisfactory administration 
of the executive office that he was nomi- 
nated for re-election by the National 
Republican Convention in 1872, and at 
the election he received 292 electoral 
votes, which placed him in the executive 
chair for a second term. 

General Grant had long desired to 
make an extensive tour of foreign coun- 
tries, and at the close of his second 
term he resolved to put his plans into 
execution. Starting soon after on a 
tour around the world, he visited Eng- 
land. France, Germany, Austria, Russia, 
Switzerland, Belgium, Italy, Spain, 
Turkey, India and China. 

Everywhere he traveled he received 
the highest courtesies and most perfect 
ovations. His fame had reached the 
remotest ends of the earth, and men 



who could not speak a word of our lan- 
guage gathered to do him honor. 

On his return he again became one 
of the citizens of our great Republic, 
and has since been engaged in various 
business pursuits, having been one of 
the most active promoters of the pro- 
posed lines of railroads in !\Iexico. 

He died at ]Mount McGregor, N. Y., 
July 23, 1885. 

THOMAS JONATHAN JACKSON. 

(Stonew.\ll J.\ckson.) 

1824-1863. 

Thomas Jonathan Jackson (1824- 
1863), "Stonewall Jackson," a distin- 
guished Confederate General in the 
American Civil War, was born in Har- 
rison County, ^'irginia, 21st of January, 
1824, and came of the Scotch-Irish 
stock to whose hardy virtues the Middle 
States of America are largely indebted 
for the pure and resolute virtues of 
their people. His early education was 
only such as could be furnished by an 
obscure country school. Thence he 
passed to West Point JMilitary Aca- 
demy, where, though he was at first 
impeded by his meagre acquirements, 
his indomitable courage and conscien- 
tious diligence eventually raised him to 
a foremost place. At West Point he 
exhibited the qualities by which he was 
distinguished in the splendor of his 
career — courage, patience, constancy of 
purpose, inflexible fidelity to duty, and 
an artless simplicity of character which 
engaged instant and universal confi- 
dence. Graduating at twenty-two, he 
was appointed Lieutenant of Artillery 
in the army of the L'nited States, and 
participated with distinction in several 
of the most important battles in ]\Iexico. 
After the war he resigned his commis- 
sion and accepted the professorship of 
natural philosophy in the Mrginia 
^Military Institute at Lexington, a posi- 
tion which he held until the outbreak 
of hostilities between the L^nion and 
the Confederate States. During his 
sojourn at Le.xington he entered the 
Presbyterian communion, and was re- 



BIOGRAPHY— THOMAS JONATHAN JACKSON 



markable ever after for the fervor of 
his religious devotion. In pohtical 
discussions or agitations, Major Jack- 
son — such was his title by brevet — had 
never engaged ; but in principle and by 
profession he was a State-right Demo- 
crat of the Virginia school. In other 
words, he maintained the legitimacy of 
negro slavery and the sovereign right 
of a State to withdraw from the Union, 
and therefore to the secession move- 
ment of 1861 he at once accorded his 
sympathy. On the organization of the 
Virginia troops he was commissioned 
Colonel of Infantry by Governor 
Letcher, who, long intimate with him, 
adequately appreciated his yet undis- 
closed military genius. 

Jackson's first exploit in the war of 
secession was the capture on May 3, 
1861, of the Federal arsenal at Harper's 
Ferry. .Soon afterward he received the 
command of a brigade — the brigade 
which by its immovable fortitude at 
Bull Run turned the tide of battle in 
that long-doubtful struggle, and from 
the admiration of its comrades extorted 
for itself and its chief the now historic 
name of "Stonewall." 

Detached from the army at Manassas 
for separate service in the Shenandoah 
\ alley, Jackson soon signalized his 
genius for war. Placing himself be- 
tween the converging columns of 
Shields, Milroy and Banks, he struck 
one after the other, and with a force 
inferior to his adversaries separately, 
he eventually drove them back upon 
Washington in utter defeat. In this 
"campaign of the valley" Jackson dis- 
played true military instinct and the 
highest military art. By vigilance, 
sagacity, celerity and secrecy of move- 
ment, and faultless, tactful skill on the 
field of battle, he achieved the greatest 
possible results with the smallest pos- 
sible means. Flis reputation was now 
fixed in the estimation alike of friend 
and foe; and, while the Confederate 
States were filled with the renown of 
his achievements, the Federal forces 
were in constant terror of his prowess. 
Having stayed the invasion of Virginia 
along the line of the valley, Jackson 



repaired to Richmond to concert with 
Lee the deliverance of the Confederate 
capital, then closely pressed by Mc- 
Clellan. Appointed meanwhile to the 
command of a corps he suddenly re- 
vealed himself on the right flank of the 
Federal army at Mechanicsville, and in 
a series of desperately fought engage- 
ments he routed the besieging army and 
drove McClellan to shelter at Harri- 
son's Landing. Richmond relieved, 
Jackson, without pause, hastened to 
confront Pope, who was menacing the 
city from the north. In the battle of 
Cedar Run he inflicted signal defeat 
upon that General and compelled him 
to retrace his steps across the Rappa- 
hannock. 

Reinforced by McClellan's army and 
fresh troops from the Northern States, 
Pope made a stand at Manassas, but 
in the second battle on that field he 
suffered an overthrow as decisive as 
that sustained by McDowell in the first 
fight at Bull Run. As usual, Jackson's 
corps bore the brunt of the battle, and, 
as usual, to his skill and courage the 
Confederate army was mainly in- 
debted for its successes. Following up 
the victory by the invasion of Mary- 
land, Lee detached Jackson for an at- 
tack on Harper's Ferry, again in the 
hands of the Federalists, and garrisoned 
by 12,000 troops. In a few days the 
surrender of the place, with all its force 
and munitions of war, was announced 
to Lee. who, slowly retiring before Mc- 
Clellan, anxiously expected the arrival 
of Jackson, that he might turn and 
crush his pursuer. But before he could 
effect the desired junction Lee was 
brought to bay at Antietam and com- 
pelled to accept battle under every dis- 
advantage. Jackson now arrived, how- 
ever, with two of his divisions, and his 
presence not only averted an otherwise 
inevitable disaster, but rescued the Con- 
federate army from the destruction 
which awaited it if defeated with its 
rear resting on the river. Henceforth 
Jackson's operations were under the 
immediate eye and command of Lee, 
and while at Fredericksburg and Chan- 
cellorsville his gallantry was as con- 
spicious as ever; to his illustrious chief 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



belongs the glory of those liard-fought 
fields. 

On the afternoon of May 2, 1863, 
Jackson fought his last battle. Exe- 
cuting a plan of his own conception, he 
suddenly struck the flank of the nth 
Federal corps and drove it pellmell be- 
fore him. Night fell with the hostile 
forces in close proximity ; and, while 
Jackson was making a reconnaisance 
with a view to pressing the pursuit, he 
was fired on in the dark by men of his 
own command, and received wounds of 
which he died OJi ]\Iay 10, 1863. His 
death smote the Confederates with a 
pang of unspeakable anguish. The fall 
of their foremost chieftain was be- 
wailed as the omen of the fall of the 
party. 

In deportment Jackson was grave 
and measured ; but he relaxed on ap- 
proach and his address was bland and 



gracious. In conversation he con- 
veyed the impression of a frank, firm 
character and of an intellect clear and 
direct, but in no wise of superior order. 
No opinion floated languidly in his un- 
derstanding; he held all his beliefs with 
an intense earnestness of conviction, 
and he was prompt and resolute in 
carrying his convictions into action. 
He engaged in the war of secession 
with an unfaltering faith in the justice 
of the cause and an unhesitating per- 
suasion of its triumph. He was the 
idol of his troops. At his command 
they would cheerfully endure any sac- 
rifice or confront any peril. On the 
field of battle he was never known to 
lose his self-possession, or to be sur- 
prised by any fluctuation of fortune ; 
his quick eye would detect the exigent 
moment, and his unerring judgment di- 
rect the decisive maneuver. 



GEOGRAPHY AND ACHIEVEMENTS— THE EARTH 435 

BOOK III 

GEOGRAPHY AND ACHIEVEMENTS 

THE EARTH, THE SUN, THE MOON 
THE PLANETS 



TPIE EARTH. 

To a spectator so placed as to have 
an unobstructed view all round, the 
earth appears a circular plain, on whose 
circumference the vault of heaven 
seems to rest. Accordingly, in ancient 
times, even philosophers long looked 
upon the earth as a flat disc swimming 
upon the water. But many appearances 
were soon observed to be at variance 
with this idea, and even in antiquity, 
the spherical form of the earth began 
to be suspected by individuals. It is 
only by assuming the earth to be spher- 
ical, that we can explain how our circle 
of vision becomes wider as our posi- 
tion is more elevated ; and how the tops 
of towers, mountains, masts of ships, 
and the like come first into view as 
we approach them. There are many 
other proofs that the earth is a globe. 
Thus, as we advance from the poles 
towards the equator, new stars, former- 
ly invisible, come gradually into view ; 
the shadow of the earth upon the moon 
during an eclipse is always round ; the 
same momentary appearance in the 
heavens is seen at different hours of the 
day in different places on the earth's 
surface ; and lastly, the earth, since 
1 5 19, has been circumnavigated innu- 
merable times. The objection to this 
view that readily arises from our un- 
thinking impressions of up and down, 
which immediately suggests the picture 
of the inhabitants of the opposite side 
of the earth — our antipodes — with their 
heads downwards, is easily got over by 
considering that on all parts of the 
earth's surface, down is towards the 
earth's center. 



It is not, however, strictly true that 
the earth is a sphere; it is slightly Bat- 
tened or compressed at two opposite 
points — the poles — as has been proved 
by actual measurement of degrees of 
latitude, and by obserxations of the 
pendulum. It is found that a degree of 
a meridian is not everywhere of the 
same length as it would be if the earth 
were a perfect sphere, but increases 
from the equator to the poles ; from 
which it is rightly inferred that the 
earth is flattened there. A pendulum, 
again, of a given length is found to 
move faster when carried towards the 
poles, and slower when carried towards 
the equator, which shows that the force 
of gravity is less at the equator than 
at the poles, or, in other words, that 
the center, the seat of gravity, is more 
distant at the former than at the latter. 
The diminished force of gravity at the 
equator has, it is true, another cause, 
namely, the centrifugal force arising 
from the rotation of the earth, which 
acts counter to gravitation, and is 
necessarily greatest at the equator, and 
gradually lessens as we move north- 
wards or southwards, till at the poles it 
is nothing. But the diminution of the 
force of gravity at the equator arising 
from the centrifugal force amounts to 
only 1,289 oi the whole force; while 
the diminution indicated by the pendu- 
lum is 1-194. The difference, or 1-580 
nearly, remains assignable to the 
greater distance of the surface from 
the center at the equator than at the 
poles. 

We have now seen that the earth is 
a sphere slightly flattened at its poles 
— what is called by geometers an ellip- 



436 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFEREXCE 



tical spheroid — of a mean radius of 
somewhat less than four thousand 
miles. We have next to consider its 
mass and density. Nothing astonishes 
the young student more than the idea 
of weighing the earth ; but there are 
several ways of doing it ; and unless 
we could do it, we never could know 
its densit)'. (i.) The first niethocl is 
by observing how much the attraction 
of a mountain deflects a plummet from 
the vertical line. This being observed, 
if we can ascertain the actual weight 
of the mountain, we can calculate that 
of the earth. In this way, Dr. Maske- 
lyne, in the years of 1774-1776, by ex- 
periments at Schihallion, in Perthshire, 
a large mountain mass lying east and 
west, and steep on both sides — calcu- 
lated the earth's mean density to be 
five times greater than that of water. 
The observed deflection of the plummet 
in these experiments was between four 
to five inches. (2.) In the method just 
described, there must always be uncer- 
tainty, however accurate the observa- 
tions, in regard to the mass or weight 
of the mountain. The method known 
as Cavendish's experiment is much 
freer from liability to error. This ex- 
periment was first made by f-fenry Cav- 
endish on the suggestion of Michel, and 
has since been repeated by Reich of 
Freyberg, and Mr. Francis F)aily. The 
apparatus used by Mr. I'>ai1y was two 
small balls at the exiremities of a fine 
rod suspended by a wire, and their posi- 
tion carefully observed by the aid of 
a telescope. Farge balls of lead, placed 
on a turning-frame, are then brought 
near them in such a way that they can 
affect them only by the force of their 
attraction. On the large balls being so 
placed, the small ones move towards 
them through a small space, which is 
carefully measured. The position of 
the large balls is then reversed, and 
the change of position of the small 
balls is again observed. Many obser- 
vations are made, till the exact amount 
of the deviation of the small balls is 
ascertained beyond doubt. Then by 
calculation the amount of attraction of 
the large balls to produce this devia- 
tion is easily obtained. Having reached 



this, the next question is, what would 
their attraction be if they were as large 
as the earth ? This is easily answered, 
and hence, as we know the attractive 
force of the earth, we can at once com- 
pare its mean density with that of lead. 
Mr. Rally's experiments lead to the re- 
sult that the earth's mean density is 
5.67 times that of water. (3.) A third 
mode has lately been adopted by the 
Astronomer-royal, by comparison of 
two invariable pendulums, one at the 
earth's surface, the other at the bottom 
of a pit at ITarton Colliery, near New- 
castle, one thousand two hundred and 
fifty feet below the surface. The den- 
sity of the earth, as ascertained from 
this experiment, is between si.x and 
seven times that of water; but for va- 
rious reasons this result is not to be.- 
accepted as against that of the Caven- 
dish experiment, and it is said that the 
Astronomer-royal was himself dissatis- 
fied with it, and meant to repeat the ex- 
])criment with new precautions. The 
density of the earth being known, its 
mass is easily calculated, and made a 
unit of mass for measuring that of the 
other bodies in the sy.stem. It is found 
that the mass of the earth compared 
with that of the sun is .0000028173. 

The earth, as a member of the solar 
system, moves along with the other 
planets round the sun from west to 
east. This is contrary to our sensible 
impressions, according to which the sun 
seems to move round the earth ; and it 
was not till a few centuries ago that 
men were able to get over this illusion. 
This journey round the sun is per- 
formed in about three hundred and 
sixty-five and a quarter days, which we 
call a year (solar year). The earth's 
path or orbit is not strictly a circle, 
but an ellipse of small eccentricity, in 
one of the foci of which is the sun. 
It follows that the earth is not equally 
distant from the sun at all times of the 
year; it is nearest or in perihelion, at 
the beginning of the year, or when the 
northern hemisphere has winter; and at 
its greatest distance, or aphelion, about 
the middle of the year, or during the 
summer of the northern hemisphere. 
The difiference of distance, however, is 



GEOGRAPHY AND ACIIIEVEMEXTS— THE EARTH 



437 



comparativelj' too small to exercise any 
perceptible influence on the heat de- 
rived from the sun, and the variation of 
the seasons has a quite different cause. 
The least distance of the sun from the 
earth is over ninety-four millions of 
miles, and the greatest over ninety-six 
millions ; the mean distance is com- 
monly stated at ninety-five millions. If 
the mean distance be taken as unity, 
then the greatest and least are respect- 
ively represented by 1.01679 antl 
0.98321. It follows that the earth 
yearly describes a path of upwards of 
five hundred and ninety-six millions of 
miles, so that its \elocity in its orbit is 
about ninety-nine thousand feet or 
nineteen miles in a second. 

Besides its annual motion round the 
sun the earth has a daily motion or ro- 
tation on its axis, or shorter diameter, 
which is performed from west to east, 
and occupies exactly twenty-three 
hours, fifty-six minutes, four seconds 
of mean time. On this motion depend 
the rising and setting of the sun. or the 
vicissitudes of day and night. The rel- 
ative lengths of day and night depend 
upon the angle formed by the earth's 
axis with the plane of its orbit. If the 
axis were perpendicular to the plane of 
the orbit, day and night would be equal 
during the whole year over all the 
earth, and there would be no change 
of seasons ; but the axis makes with 
the orbit an angle of 23! S^, and the 
consequence of this is all that variety of 
seasons and of climates that we find on 
the earth's surface: for it is only for 
a small strip (theoretically, for a mere 
line) lying under the equator that the 
days and nights are equal all the year; 
at all other places, this equality only 
occurs on the two days in each year 
when the sun seems to pass through the 
celestial equator, /. c, about the 21st of 
March and 23d of September. From 
March 21, the sun departs from the 
equator towards the north, till, about 
June 21, he has reached a north declina- 
tion of 23^^, when he again ap- 
proaches the equator, which he reaches 
about September 23. He then advances 
southward, and about December 21 has 
reached a south declination of 233^^". 



when he turns once more towards the 
equator, at which he arrives ]\Iarch 21. 
The 2ist of June is the longest day in 
the northern hemisphere, and the 
shortest in the southern; with the 21st 
of December it is the reverse. 

The velocity of the earth's rotation 
on its axis evidently increases grad- 
ually from the poles to the equator, 
where it is about equal to that of a 
musket-ball, being at the rate of 
twenty-four thousand eight hundreti 
and forty miles a day, or about one 
thousand four hundred and forty feet 
in a second. 

A direct proof of the rotation of 
the earth is furnished by its compres- 
sion at the poles. There are indubit- 
able indications that the earth was or- 
iginally fluid, or at least soft ; and in 
that condition it must have assumed 
the spherical shape. The only cause, 
then, that can be assigned for the fact 
that it has not done so, is its rotation 
on its axis. Calculation also shows that 
the amount of compression which the 
earth actually has, corres])onds exactly 
to what its known velocity and mass 
must have produced. Experiments 
with the pendulum, too, show a de- 
crease of the force of gra\ity from the 
poles toward the equator: and though a 
part of this decrease is owing to the 
want of perfect sphericity, the greatest 
part arises from the centrifugal force 
caused by the motion of rotation. An- 
other direct proof of the same hypo- 
thesis may be drawn from the obser- 
vation, that bodies dropped from a con- 
siderable height deviate towards the 
east from the vertical line. This fact 
has been established by the experiments 
of Benzenberg and others. In former 
times, it was believed that if the earth 
actually revolved in the direction of the 
east, a stone dropped from the top of 
a tower would fall, not exactly at the 
foot of the tower, but to the west of it. 
Now, as experience, it was argued, 
shows that this is not the case — that 
the stone, in fact, does fall at the bot- 
tom — we have here a proof that the 
pretended rotation of the earth does not 
take place. Even Tycho Brahe and 
Riccioli held this objection to tile doc- 



438 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



trine to be unanswerable. But the facts 
of the case were just the reverse. 
Newton, with his wonted clearness of 
vision, saw that, in consequence of the 
earth's motion from west to east, bodies 
descending from a height must decline 
from the perpendicular, not westward, 
but eastward.; since, by their greater 
distance from the earth's center, they 
acquire at the top a greater eastward 
velocity than the surface of the earth 
has at the bottom, and retain that ve- 
locity during their descent. He there- 
fore proposed that more e.xact observa- 
tions should be made to ascertain the 
fact ; but it was not till more than a 
century afterwards that experiments of 
sufficient delicacy were made to bring 
out the ex])ected result satisfactorily. 
It is difficult to find an elevation suf- 
ficiently great for the purpose, as sev- 
eral hundred feet give merely a slight 
deviation, which it requires great ac- 
curacy to observe. If a height of ten 
thousand feet could be made available, 
the deviation would be not less than 
seven and one-half feet. The analogy 
of our earth to the other planets may 
also be adduced, the rotation of which 
with the exception of the smallest and 
the most distant is distinctly discern- 
ible. Finally, an additional proof of 
the earth's rotation was lately given 
by Leon Foucault's striking experiment 
with the ])endulum. The principle of 
the experiment is this : That a pendu- 
lum once set in motion, and swinging 
freely, continues to swing in the same 
plane, while at any place at a distance 
from the equator the plane of the mer- 
idian continues to change its position 
relative to this fixed plane. The ob- 
jection taken to the doctrine of rota- 
tion from the fact that we are uncon- 
scious of any motion, has little weight. 
The movement of a vessel in smooth 
water is not felt, though far less uni- 
form than that of the earth : and as the 
atmosphere accompanies the earth in 
its motion, there is no feeling of cut- 
ting through it to break the illusion of 
rest. 

If the turning of the earth on its 
a.xis is thus proved to be the cause of 
the apparent daily motion of the heav- 



ens, it is an easy step to consider the 
annual motion of the sun through the 
constellations of the zodiac as also ap- 
parent, and arising from a revolution 
of the earth about the sun in the same 
direction of west to east. If we con- 
sider that the mass of the sun is about 
three hundred and fifty-nine thousand 
times greater than that of the earth, 
and that by the laws of mechanics, two 
bodies that revolve round each other, 
must revolve about their common cen- 
ter of gravity, the idea of the sun re- 
\ol\ing about the earth is seen to be 
sim])Iy impossible. The common cen- 
ter of gravity of the two bodies being 
distant from the center of each in- 
versely as their respective masses, is 
calculated to be only two hundred and 
sixty-seven miles from the center of the 
sun, and therefore far within his body, 
which has a diameter of eight hundred 
and eighty-two thousand miles. But by 
help of a figure, it is easy to show that 
the apparent motion of the sun on the 
ecliptic naturally arises from a motion 
of the earth about the sun. The mo- 
tions of the planets also, that appear 
so complicated and irregular as seen by 
us, can only be satisfactorily explained 
by assuming that they too revolve 
round the sun in the same direction as 
the earth. 

That the interior of the earth is the 
seat of intense heat is a familiar truth. 
Volcanic phenomena give us ocular 
demonstration of it. Mining experi- 
ences, moreover, have furnished us 
with an almost ttniform rate at which 
the heat increases, and this is generally 
computed to be about one degree F"ah- 
renheit for every fifty-five feet of de- 
scent. But mining experiences are 
necessarily very limited. The deepest 
mine in England, that of the Rose- 
bridge colliery, near Wigan, takes us 
down only two thousand four hundred 
and forty-five feet, and to a tempera- 
ture not much exceeding ninety degrees 
Fahrenheit. It is hot enough to make 
the work exceedingly trying to the 
miners, but that is all. This, however, 
is (so to speak) scarcely traversing the 
earth's epidermis. But if we may as- 
sume a uniform increase of heat in de- 



GEOGRAPHY AND ACH1E\EME\"TS— THE SUN 



scending, the temperature at a depth 
of fifty miles may be expressed in fig- 
ures as four thousand eight hundred 
degrees Fahrenheit. In other words, 
at less than an eighth of the distance 
which lies between the circumference 
of the earth and its center, the heat 
would be about twenty-two times the 
heat of boiling water at the sea level. 
Proportionate figinxs might, of course, 
express the heat at greater depths still, 
but figures fail to convey any idea to 
the mind of that which must neces- 
sarily transcend all imagination. Suf- 
fice it so say that in a descending series 
we must eventually come to a heat so 
great that no substance with which we 
are acquainted could, under any condi- 
tions which we can imagine, exist in it 
in either solid or lluid form. And we 
conclude, therefore, that if the earth's 
center be not itself in a gaseous con- 
dition (and there is reason to think 
that it may not be so) there must be a 
gaseous zone somewhere between a 
solid center and a solid circumference. 
Nor can the all-powerful imagination 
accomplish the descent with any ap- 
proach to ease. The distance we may 
suppose to be nearly four thousand 
three hundred miles; but along a line 
of this length connecting the surface 
of the earth with its center, we may 
safely assume that conditions would 
vary greatly, and ( since heat and pres- 
sure have to be balanced one against 
the other) probably by no means uni- 
formly. We can measure the power 
of pressure upon the surface, but in 
the nether depths its power is in part 
open to conjecture, nor can we say how 
soon we may reach a debatable zone, 
at which the expansiveness of heat 
may overcome the compressive force of 
gravitation. Nor, again, could we ven- 
ture to expect to find that zone itself 
always at a uniform depth. Here and 
there it seems to approach the surface. 
The volcano is nature's safety-valve, 
and the cavernous rumbles of the earth- 
quake warn us that there are im- 
prisoned gases beneath our feet, which 
pressure but imperfectly prevents from 
escaping. Upon other grounds, also, it 
is quite evident that our experience, 



limited as it is to the surface of the 
earth, may tend to mislead us in regard 
fo what lies beneath the surface ; for, 
if pressure increased uniformly with 
depth, the average density of the earth 
would be much greater than what, upon 
astronomical data, we know it to be. 
The earth as a whole, is about five and 
a half times as heavy as it would be 
if it were entirely composed of water ; 
or, technically expressed, the density of 
water is one, and the mean density of 
the globe is five and a half. But five 
and a half is only about double the den- 
sity of rock matter upon the surface; 
whereas, if nothing but steadily in- 
creasing pressure be supposed, it would 
vastly exceed this. There is, therefore, 
only one possible explanation. Heat, 
intense heat, somewhere or other, over- 
comes pressure and converts everything 
into gas ; and if it were in our power 
to try experiments, and to feed the sub- 
terranean crucible with the most intrac- 
table substance — asbestos, fire-proof 
safes, or what we will — all would there 
share the same fate — instant evanes- 
cence. 

THE SUN. 

No one probably knows how grand a 
planet the sun is. Its size camiot be 
conceived. But let us weigh it and get 
some idea of its great dimensions. Put 
the sun and earth in the scales and 
add the planet Jupiter to the latter and 
the sun would weigh more, and yet Ju- 
piter weighs three times as much as 
all the other planets put together. W'e 
will then throw all the other planets in 
the scale with the earth, and yet the 
sun will not move. Aladdin's wonder- 
ful lamp would not make the sun 
budge. Don't let us give it up, how- 
e\er, but throw in one hundred thou- 
sand globes and then altogether we will 
have three hundred thousand globes, 
but still the sun would not budge. 
We'll add thirty thousand more worlds 
and the sun then moves until it just 
balances the enormous weight of three 
hundred and thirty thousand worlds. 
By this it will be seen that the attrac- 
tive power of the sun must be very 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



great to keep such an enormous mass 
in control. The earth weighs six sex- 
tilHons of tons. If a man possessed 
the same number of dollars and began 
counting them out at the rate of ten 
dollars a minute, the time which would 
have elapsed since the time of Adam 
and Eve, nearly six thousand years, 
would be a mere incident in comparison 
to the period during which the calcu- 
lation would have to continue. The 
weight of the earth is so great that it is 
flying through the air only controlled 
by the laws of gravitation. The ve- 
locity of this globe is so great that it 
goes through space at the rate of eigh- 
teen miles a second. The distance of 
the sun from the earth is estimated at 
about ninety-five millions miles, and yet 
it is held secure by the resistless arms 
of gravitation. The earth cannot get 
away, for the sun holds it in its power. 
Look at Jupiter, the gigantic; it is fif- 
teen times larger than the earth, and 
yet the sun holds Jupiter. The planets 
are the slaves of the sun, which by the 
wonderful power of gravitation holds 
everything in the power of the great 
orbit. The sun is the source of all life, 
and the heat from it is so great that 
we are able to live only on account of 
it. If the sun was to lose its heat for 
one month, the earth would die. Dur- 
ing the past three years the surface of 
the sun has been covered with spots, 
commonly called "sun spots." They 
have been so large in some instances 
that they have been seen without the 
aid of a telescope. Some of these 
spots are larger than the earth. They 
a])pear on the surface like holes into 
which streams of molten metal seemed 
to continually pour. The sun is simply 
a ball of gases, and the matter found 
in it is composed of iron, gold and 
silver, copper and granite. Indeed 
these substances are so great that they 
would make three hundred thousand 
globes like that in which we live and 
work. The spots are like vapors, which 
appear and disappear at times. Last 
year the sun was full of these spots. 
It has been noticed that they appear 
about once in every eleven years. The 
cavity is so enormous in some of the 



spots that the earth could be dropped 
into it and disappear like a billiard ball. 
On the i6th of .April, 1S82, these spots 
were watched and it was found that the 
surface of the great body was changing 
in a most wonderful manner. They 
gave a terror to the scene. Just as the 
sun disappeared below the horizon it 
was noticed that a pale green arch of 
light appeared above the horizon, just 
over the point where the sun had gone 
down. This was followed in time by 
bright streams of light shooting up to 
the zenith, after which the atirora bore- 
alis was visible in the sky. There was 
no sound, and the flaming heavens were 
as silent as death. It was a pantomime 
played by ghosts of fire. Attention was 
then called to the corona of the sun. 
It appeared to be a shell of scarlet fire, 
and was only to be seen at a total 
eclipse; but it had lately been seen by 
aid of powerful telescopes in the day- 
light. The sun is a globe of matter 
heated to a gaseous condition. The 
sheet of scarlet fire is supposed to have 
been caused by long ago and constant 
eruptions, sending up showers of red 
flames and heat from the inside of 
the sun. The sun will doubtless die in 
the course of the next ten million years. 
We will wait till that time and see what 
happens. It is now going through a 
process of cooling. All life would cease 
throughout the solar system and the 
earth would be lighted only by the 
stars. At present an envelope or crust 
is being seen on the edge of the great 
orbit of day. This will in time cover 
the entire surface and then the radiant 
splendors of the sun will be invisible. 

THE MOON 
The moon is a .satellite of the earth, 
around which it revolves from west to 
east in a period of one month, and in 
consequence accompanying the earth in 
its motion round the sun. As the 
moon, to an observer on the earth, ad- 
vances more than 13° to the east daily, 
whilst the corresponding advance of 
the sun is barely 1°, her progress 
among the stars is much more notable 
than that of the latter. This rapid 
angular motion, the continued and 



GEOGRAPHY AND ACHIEVEMENTS— THE MOON 



regular variation of her illuminated 
surface, and her large apparent size 
( heing nearly equal to that of the sun), 
have rendered the moon an object of 
general interest ; while her importance 
as the principal nocturnal substitute 
for the sun, and her special value to 
navigators and geographers in the de- 
termination of longitudes, have ren- 
dered the liinor theory the object of the 
most thorough and careful investiga- 
tion. 

The first peculiarity about the moon 
that strikes a casual observer, is the 
constant and regular change of her 
illuminated surface from a thin cres- 
cent to a circle, and vice versa, and a 
corresponding change in the time of 
her appearance above the horizon. 
These changes depend upon the posi- 
tion of the moon relative to the earth 
and the sun, for it is only the half of 
the moon facing the sun that is illumi- 
nated by his rays, and the whole of this 
illuminated portion can only be seen 
from the earth when the sun, earth and 
moon are in a straight line ( the line of 
sycygies), and the earth is between the 
sun and moon. When the moon is in 
the line of syzygies, but between the 
earth and the sun, no part of her illumi- 
nated disc can be seen from the earth. 
In the former case, the moon is said to 
be /)(//, and in the latter, nezv. A few 
hours after the "new moon," the moon 
appears a little to the east of the sun as 
a thin crescent, with the horns pointing 
toward the east, and as she increases 
her angular distance from the sun at 
the rate of about 12° daily, the crescent 
of light becomes broader, till, after the 
lapse of a little more than seven days, 
at which time she is 90° in advance of 
the sun, she presents the appearance 
of a semi-circle of light. The moon is 
then said to have completed her first 
quarter. Continuing her course, she 
becomes "gibbous ;" and at the fifteenth 
or sixteenth day from new moon, at- 
tains a position 180° in advance of the 
sun, and now presents the apjiearanee 
known as full moon. From this point 
she begins to approach the sun, again 
appearing gibbous, and after a third 
period of more than seven days. 



reaches a point 90^ west of him, and 
enters her last quarter. Here, again, 
she appears as a semi-circle of light, 
the illuminated portion being that which 
was not illuminated at the end of the 
first quarter. The moon now rapidly 
approaching the sun, resumes the cres- 
cent form, but this time with horns 
pointing zi'estward, the crescent becom- 
ing thinner and thinner, till the moon 
reaches the position of new moon, and 
disappears. From "full moon" to "new 
moon," the moon is said to be zvaning; 
and from "new moon" to "full moon," 
zcaxing. The earth as seen from the 
moon presents similar phases, and has, 
consequently, at the time of new moon, 
the appearance of a round illuminated 
disc, and at full moon, is invisible. 
This explains the peculiar phenomenon 
occasionally observed when the moon is 
near the sun (either before or after 
new moon), of the part of the moon's 
face which is unilluminated by the sun 
appearing faintly visible, owing to the 
reflection upon it of strong earth-light. 
This ])henomenon is designated by the 
Scottish peasantry as "the new mune 
wi' the auld mune in her airms." At 
new moon the moon of course comes 
above the horizon about the same time 
as the sun, and sets with him, but rises 
each day about fifty minutes later than 
on the day previous, and at the end of 
the first quarter, rises at midday, and 
sets at midnight, continuing to lag be- 
hind the sun. When at the full, she 
rises about sunset, and sets about sun- 
rise, and at the commencement of her 
last quarter, she rises at midnight and 
set at midday. From repeated obser- 
vations of the moon's horizontal paral- 
lax, and of the occulation by her of the 
fixed stars, her mean distance from the 
earth has been estimated at 237,600 
miles, and as her angular diameter 
averages 31 minutes 26 seconds, her 
actual diameter is 2,153 miles, or a 
little less than three-fifths of the earth's 
diameter. Her volume is, therefore, 
about i-49th of that of the earth, and 
her destiny being only .577 (that of the 
earth being taken as unity), her mass is 
only i-88th of the earth's mass; con- 
sequently, the force of gravity at her 



442 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



surface is so much less than it is at the 
surface of the earth, that a body which 
weighs one thousand pounds here, 
would at the moon weigh only one 
hundred and sixty-three pounds. 

The moon revolves round the earth 
in an elliptic orbit, with the earth in the 
focus ; the eccentricity of the ellipse be- 
ing equal to .05491 or half its major axis 
or more than three and one-quarter 
times that of the earth's orbit. The 
plane of her orbit does not coincide 
with the ecliptic, but is inclined to it 
at an angle of 5° 8' 47-9"' and inter- 
sects it in two opposite points, which 
are called the Nodes. The point at 
which the moon is nearest to the earth 
is called her perigee, and that at which 
she is farthest from it her apogee, and 
the line joining these two points is 
called the line of apsides. Were the 
moon's orbit a true ellipse, which, ow- 
ing to various irregularities known as 
perturbations, it is not, the lunar theory 
would be exceedingly simple ; but these 
perturbations, which, in the case of the 
planets, produce a sensible variation in 
their orbit only after many revolutions, 
cause, in the case of the moon, a dis- 
tinct and well-marked deviation from 
her previous course in a single revolu- 
tion. The retrogradation of her nodes 
along the elliptic causes a continual 
change in the plane of her orbit, so that 
if, during one revolution around the 
earth, she occults certain stars, at the 
next revolution she will pass to one 
side of them, and will remove farther 
and farther from them in each succes- 
sive revolution. A little consideration 
will show that by this continual change 
of her orbit, the moon will, in course of 
time, pass over or occult every star 
situated within 5° 24' 30" of the eclip- 
tic. The motion of the nodes is so 
rapid that they perform a complete cir- 
cuit of the orbit in 6793.39 mean solar 
days, or 18.6 years. Another impor- 
tant change in the moon's orbit is the 
revolution of the line of apsides, by 
which the perigee and apogee are con- 
tinually changing their position rela- 
tive to the earth and sun. This revolu- 
tion is more than twice as rapid as that 
(jf the nodes, being performed in 



3232.57 mean solar days, or 8.85 solar 
years. 

The moon, like all other satellites, as 
far as at present known, revolves round 
her own axis in precisely the same time 
that she revolves round the earth ; she 
thus presents always the same face to 
us, and consequently, though her com- 
parative proximity has enabled us to 
become better acquainted with her sur- 
face than with that of any other 
heavenly body, our knowledge is con- 
fined to one-half of her surface, with 
the slight exception of the knowledge 
obtained from her libration. To the 
inhabitants of the side of the moon 
next the earth — if the moon had in- 
habitants, which is very improbable — 
the latter would appear as a luminary 
about 2° in diameter, immovably fixed 
in their sky, or at least changing its 
position only to the extent due to the 
moon's libration. The earth would 
thus seem to them to have a disc about 
fifteen times larger than that of the 
sun. 

The surface of the moon, as seen 
from the earth, presents a most irregu- 
lar grouping of light and shade. The 
dark portions were named by the earl- 
ier astronomers as seas, lakes, etc., and 
still retain these names, although there 
is strong evidence against the suppo- 
sition that the moon, or at least that 
portion of it presented to us, contains 
any water. The brighter parts of the 
moon are mountains, as is proved by 
the fact of their casting shadows when 
the sun's rays fall upon them obliquely, 
and also by the ragged appearance 
presented by the interior illuminated 
border of the moon, an appearance 
which can only be satisfactorily ac- 
counted for on the supposition that the 
surface of the moon is not level, in 
which case the higher portions will be 
illuminated some time before the light 
reaches the level parts ; and it is ob- 
served that as the illumination pro- 
ceeds, bright spots start up in advance 
of it, and when the moon is on the 
wane, these same spots continue to 
shine for some time after the surround- 
ing surface is immersed in gloom. The 
mountains occur either singly, when 



GEOGRAPHY AND ACHIEVEMENTS^THE PLANETS 



443 



they are generally of a circular form, 
and are called craters, or in groups, 
which are mostly annular, and form a 
sort of wall enclosing a deep depres- 
sion or plain, in which are situated one 
or more conical mountains. The 
craters are not unfrequently eight or 
ten miles in diameter, and some of the 
walled plains measure more than one 
hundred miles across. The principal 
mountain range is the Appenines, which 
crosses the surface from northeast to 
southwest, and attains, according to 
some authorities, an altitude of about 
twenty thousand feet, though Sir John 
Herschel gives about two miles as the 
probable limit of elevation above the 
moon's surface. The heights are esti- 
mated from a micrometric measure- 
ment of the length of their shadows, a 
method not, in this case, susceptible of 
much accuracy. The moon everywhere 
presents traces of volcanic agency, but 
no active volcanoes have yet been dis- 
covered, nor is there any sign of re- 
cent volcanic action. Seen through the 
telescope she presents a bleak, desolate 
ap])earance, without indications of ani- 
mal or vegetable existence. She ap- 
]iears to be devoid of an atmosphere, or 
if one exists, it must be of exceeding 
rarity. 

The influence of the moon in causing 
tides has long been well known, and 
there is some reason for supposing that 
she produces a similar effect on the 
atmosphere, combining with other 
causes in the generation of winds. 
Those winds which prevail about the 
time of new and full moon, and at the 
vernal and autumnal equinoxes, are 
particularly ascribed to her influence. 
On the supposition that the moon might 
also affect organic nature, experiments 
were instituted by Mead, Hoffman 
and others ; but no certain results were 
attained. The periodicity which has 
often been noticed in certain diseases, 
especially in insanity (hence called lun- 
acy), was long supposed to have some 
connection with lunar influence, and 
this opinion is held to some extent at 
the present day. The chemical effects 
of the moon's rays are, so far as is at 
present known, feeble, though in par- 



ticular instances they exhibit an actin- 
ism as powerful as that of the sun. 
Decomposition of animal matter takes 
place more rapidly in moonshine than 
in darkness, and the moon's rays, when 
concentrated, have a sensible effect on 
the thermometer. 



THE PLANETS. 

The planets are those heavenly bodies 
(including the Earth) which belong to 
our solar system, and revolve in eclip- 
tic orbits round the sun. They are of- 
ten denominated primarx planets, to 
distinguish them from their moons or 
satellites, which are called secondarv 
planets. The name planet is of con- 
siderable antiquity, and was applied to 
these dependants of the sun to distin- 
guish them from the myriads of lu- 
minous bodies which stud the sky, and 
which present to the naked eye no in- 
dication of change of place. The plan- 
ets at present known are, in the order 
of their distance from the sun. Mer- 
cury, Venus, the Earth, Mars, the Plan- 
etoids, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and 
Neptune. Six of these, Mercury, 
\'enus, the Earth ( which was not, 
however, then reckoned a planet). 
Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, were known 
to the ancients ; Uranus was discov- 
ered by Sir William Herschel in 1781 ; 
and Neptune, after having its position 
and elements determined theoretically 
by Leverrier and Adams, was discov- 
ered by M. Challis, and afterwards bv 
Dr. Galle, in 1846. The Planetoids, of 
which more than two hundred and 
twenty are now known, have all been 
discovered during the last century. Six 
of the planets, the Earth, Mars, Jupiter, 
Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, are at- 
tended by one or more satellites ; Ura- 
nus (generally). Neptune, almost the 
whole of the Planetoids, and all the 
satellites except the Moon, are invisible 
to the naked eye. The visible planets 
can be at once distinguished from the 
fixed stars by their clear, steady light, 
while the latter have a sparking or 
twinkling appearance. The compara- 
tive proximity of the planets may be 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



proved by examining them tlirough a 
telescope of moderate power, when they 
appear as round kiminous disks, while 
the fixed stars exhibit no increase of 
magnitude. The planets, as observed 
from the Earth, move sometimes from 
west to east, sometimes from east to 
west, and for some time remain sta- 
tionary at the point where progression 
ends and retrogression commences. 
This irregularity in th*ir movements 
was very puzzling to the ancient astron- 
omers, who invented various hypothe- 
ses to account for it. The system of 
Copernicus, by assuming the sun, and 
not the Earth, as the center of the 
system, explained with admirable sim- 
plicity what seemed before a maze of 
confusion. 

The planetary orbits differ consider- 
ably in their degrees of eccentricity, the 
Planetoids, Mars and Mercury being 
most, and the larger planets least ec- 
centric. No two planets move exactly 
in the same plane, though, as a gen- 
eral rule, the planes of the larger 
planets most nearly coincide with that 
of the ecliptic. The later are conse- 
quently always to be found within a 
small strip of the heavens extending 
on both sides of the ecliptic, while the 
others have a far wider range. Ac- 
cording to Kepler's Laws, the nearer 
the planet is to the sun the shorter is 
the time of its revolution. The ar- 
rangement of the planets in the solar 
system bears no k-nown relation to their 
relative size or weight, for though Aler- 
cury, Venus and the Earth follow the 
same order in size and distance from 
the sun, yet Mars, which is farther 
from the sun, is much less than either 
the Earth or Venus, and the Planetoids, 
which are still farther off, are the least 
of all. Jupiter, which is next in order, 
is by far the largest, being about one 
and one-half times as large as all the 
others together ; and as we proceed far- 
ther outwards, the planets become 
smaller and smaller, Saturn being less 
than Jupiter, Uranus than Saturn, and 
Neptune than Uranus. 

With reference to their distance from 
the sun, as compared with that of the 
Earth, the planets are divided into su- 



perior and inferior; Mercury and 
Venus are consequently the only "in- 
ferior" planets, all the others being "su- 
perior." The inferior planets must al- 
ways be on the same side of the Earth 
as the sun is, and can never be above 
the horizon of any place ( not in a very 
high latitude) at midnight; they are 
always invisible at their superior and 
inferior conjunctions, except when, at 
the latter, a transit takes place. The 
superior planets are likewise invisible 
at conjunction, but when in opposition 
they are seen with greatest distinctness, 
being then due south at midnight. The 
time which elapses from one conjunc- 
tion to its corresponding conjunction is 
called the synodic period of a planet, 
and in the case of the inferior planets 
must always be greater than the true 
period of revolution. 

Mercury, the planet which is nearest 
the sun, is also, with the exception of 
the Planetoids, the smallest (being only 
three times the size of the moon ) and 
performs its revolution round the sun 
in the shortest time. Its greatest elong- 
ation is never more than 28° 45', and 
consequently it is never above the hor- 
izon more than two hours after sun- 
set, or the same time before sunrise ; on 
this account, and from its small ap- 
parent size (5" to 12"), it is seldom 
distinctly observable by the naked eye. 
It shines with a peculiarly vivid white 
or rose-colored light, and exhibits no 
spots. 

Fen US, the next in order of distance 
and period, is to us the most brilliant of 
all the planets. Its orbit is more nearly 
a circle than any of the others, and 
when at its inferior conjunction, it ap- 
proaches nearer the Earth than any 
other planet. Its apparent angular di- 
mensions thence carry from lo" at the 
superior, 70" at the inferior conjunc- 
tion. Its greatest elongation varies 
from 45° to 47° 12', and therefore it 
can never be above the horizon for 
much more than three hours after sun- 
set, or the same time before sunrise. 
While moving from the inferior to the 
superior conjunction, \'enus is a morn- 
ing star; and during the other half of 
its synodic period, an evening star. 



GEOGRAPHY AXn ACHIEXEMENTS— THE PLANETS 



445 



When this planet is at an elongation of 
40°, its brillancy is greatest, far sur- 
passing that of the other planets. 
and rendering a minute examination 
through the telescope impossible. .At 
this period it sometimes becomes visible 
in the daytime, and after sunset is so 
bright as to throw a distinct shadow. 
Astronomers have repeatedly attempted 
to ascertain the nature and characteris- 
tics of its surface, but its brightness so 
dazzles the eyes as to render the correct- 
ness of their observations at best doubt- 
ful. From the changes in the position 
of dusky patches on its surface, which 
have been frequently noticed, it is con- 
cluded that it revolves on its axis, and 
that its equator is inclined to the plane 
of its orbit at an angle of 75° : but many 
astronomers (Sir John Herschel in- 
cluded) profess to doubt these conclu- 
sions. Both ^'enus and ]\Iercury neces- 
sarily exhibit phases like the moon. 

The Earth, the next planet in order, 
is described elsewhere ; it has a single 
satellite, the Moon. 

Mars, the first of the superior planets, 
is nnich inferior in size to the two pre- 
\ious. its \olume being about one-half 
of the Earth's, and, after Mercury, its 
orbit is much more eccentric than those 
of the other planets. When it is near- 
est to the Earth (('. e., in opposition), 
its apparent angular diameter is 30" ; 
but when farthest from it (;'. e., in con- 
junction), its diameter is not more than 
4". It shines with a fiery red light, and 
is a brilliant object in the heavens at 
midnight when near opposition ; when 
seen through the telescope its surface 
appears to be covered with irregular 
blotches, some of dazzling white. The 
red spots are surmised to be land ; the 
green, water, while the white spots at 
the poles are with some reason supposed 
to be snow, since they decrease when 
most exposed to the sun, and increase 
under the contrary circumstances. Two 
small satellites of this planet were dis- 
covered in August, 1877. 

The Planetoids. — After Mars in or- 
der come the Planetoids, formerly, but 
improperly, called Asteroids. They are 
a numerous group of very small planets 
situated in the solar system between 



Mars and Jupiter. The number now 
known is two hundred and twenty. 
They are believed to be fragments of 
one older planet ; their distances from 
the sun are from 200,000,000 to 300,- 
000,000 miles, and the largest is not over 
three hundred miles in diameter. 

Jupiter, the next in order, is the larg- 
est of all the planets, its bulk being 
more than one thousand four hundrecl 
times that of the Earth, though, from 
its small density, its mass is only three 
hundred and thirty-eight times more. 
After A^enus it is the brightest of all 
the planets and the largest in apparent 
size, its angular diameter varying from 
30" to 45". When looked at through 
a telescope, it is seen to be considerably 
flattened at the poles, owing to its rapid 
revolution on its own axis ; and its sur- 
face is crossed in a direction parallel to 
its equator by three or four distinct and 
strongly marked belts, and a few others 
of a varying nature. Spots also appear 
and remain for some time on its sur- 
face, by means of which its revolution 
on its axis has been ascertained. This 
planet is attended by four satellites, 
which are easily observable through an 
ordinary telescope, and which have ren- 
dered an immense service in the deter- 
mination of longitudes at sea, and of 
the motion and velocity of light. The 
satellites, which were discovered by 
Galileo, were proved by Sir William 
Herschel to revolve on their own axis 
in the same time they revolve round 
their primary. The smallest is about 
the same size as our moon, the others 
are considerably larger. 

Saturn, next in position, is about 
seven hundred and thirty-five times 
larger in volume, though only about one 
hundred times greater in mass than the 
Earth. Its apparent diameter when in 
opposition is 18", and there is a con- 
siderable flattening towards the poles. 
Its surface is traversed by dusky belts 
much less distinctly marked than those 
of Jupiter, owing doubtless in great part 
to its inferior brightness ; its general 
color is a dull white or yellowish, but 
the shaded portions, when seen dis- 
tinctly, arc of a glaucous color. The 
most remarkable peculiarity of Saturn 



446 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



is its ring, or series of concentric rings, 
each one parallel and in the same plane 
with the others and with the planet's 
equator; the rings are at present sup- 
posed to be three in number, the two 
outermost are bright, Mke the planet 
itself, while the innermost is of a pur- 
plish color, and is only discernabic 
through a powerful telescope. The 
rings are not always visible when 
Saturn is in the "opposite" half of its 
orbit, for when the plane of the rings 
is intermediate between that of the 
Earth's orbit and of the ecliptic, their 
dark surface is turned toward us, and 
when the sun is in their plane only the 
narrow edge is illumined ; in both of 
these cases the ring is invisible from 
the Earth. Its plane being inclined at 
an angle of 28° to the ecliptic, we see 
the two surfaces of the ring alternately 
for periods of fifteen years at a time ; 
and at the middle of each period, the 
rings attain their maximum obliquity to 
the ecliptic, and are then best seen from 
the Earth. It is hardly necessary to 
remark that at the end of each period 
they become invisible. Saturn has also 
no less than eight satellites, seven of 
which revolve round it in orbits little re- 
moved from the plane of the ring, while 
the eighth, which is the second in size, 
is considerably inclined to it. The satel- 
lites are all situated outside of the ring, 
and the largest of them is nearly equal 
to the planet Mars in size. 

Uranus, the next planet in position, 
was discovered accidentally by the elder 
Herschel, on March 13, 1781, and was 
named "the Georgium Sidus" and 
"Herschel," but these names soon fell 
into disuse. It is about ninety-six 
(some astronomers say eighty-two) 
times greater than the Earth in volume 
and twenty (according to others, fif- 
teen) times in mass; but though so 
large, its distance is so much greater in 
proportion that astronomers have been 
unable to gain much information con- 
cerning it. No spots or belts have 
hitherto been discovered on its surface, 
and consequently its time of rotation 
and the position of its axis are un- 
known. It is attended by a number of 
satellites, but so minute do these bodies 



appear, that astronomers hitherto have 
been unable to agree as to their exact 
number ; Sir William Herschel reckoned 
six, while other astronomers believe in 
the existence of four, five and eight, 
respectively. That there are at least 
four is without doubt. 

Neptune is the next and outermost 
member of the solar system, and, at a 
distance of nearly 3,000,000,000 miles 
from the center of the system, slowly 
performs its revolution around the sun, 
accomplishing the complete circuit in 
about 165 solar years. It is about 84 
times larger than the Earth, but from 
its extreme remoteness is of almost in- 
appreciable magnitude when seen 
through an ordinary telescope. It was 
the disturbance in the motion of Uranus 
caused by the attractive force of this 
planet which led Leverrier and Adams 
to a calculation of its size and position, 
on the supposition of its existence ; and 
the directions which were given by the 
former to Dr. Galle, of Berlin, specify- 
ing its exact position in the heavens, 
led that astronomer to its discovery on 
September 23, 1846. ]\Ir. Lassell, of 
Liverpool, has discovered that Neptune 
is attended by one satellite. The satel- 
lites of Uranus and Neptune dififer 
from the other planets, primary and 
secondary, in the direction of their 
motion, which is from east to west, and 
in the case of the former, in planes 
nearly perpendicular to the ecliptic. 
Both Uranus and Neptune were ob- 
served long before the times of Her- 
schel and Leverrier, but they were 
always supposed to be stars. Uranus 
is known to have been observed by 
Flamsteed between 1690 and 1714, and 
Neptune by Lalande in 1795. 

AGRICULTURE. 

The ancient Egyptians attained a pro- 
ficiency in the pursuit of the art far in 
advance of anything seen in Europe 
until the end of the Seventeenth Cen- 
tury, if we except the work of the 
Saracens in Spain, who revived agricul- 
ture, as they did other arts and sciences. 
The Egyptian inscriptures and frescoes 
testify to an amazing state of enlighten- 



GEOGRAPHY AND ACHIEVEMENTS— AGRICULTURE 



447 



meiit among the farmers on the banks 
of the Nile thousands of years ago. 
Not only did Egypt produce corn 
enough for her own teeming population, 
but she annually exported millions of 
bushels of breadstuffs. Egyptian culti- 
vators of the soil were familiar with 
the value of rotation of crops, and 
adapted their crops to the season and 
soil. They were expert breeders of 
poultry, and made a practice of artificial 
hatching. Their sheep and cattle were 
admirably cared for, being fed hay dur- 
ing the yearly inundation and pastured 
in meadows of green clover at other 
times. Their paintings which illustrate 
rural affairs show advanced methods 
oi plowing, sowing and harvesting, with 
well kept farms and farm buildings. 

The Saracens and their successors, 
the Moors, practiced husbandry as an 
art. To this day remains of their noble 
works testify to their wonderful sys- 
tem of irrigation and to their enlight- 
ened cultivation of the soil. In the rest 
of Europe numerous wars and the 
feudal system made agricultural prog- 
ress scarcely possible. The condition 
of the masses was such that they had 
neither the means nor the will to im- 
prove their holdings. All that they 
raised beyond the barest necessities 
of life was taken by those above them. 
Rye, barley and oats afforded food and 
drink. Even the aristocracy of Europe 
had few edibles other than these and 
wheat. It is said that until the end of 
the reign of Henry V'lII, there were no 
salads or edible roots raised in England 
and that Queen Catherine, if she wished 
a salad, was obliged to send to Holland 
or Inlanders to get it. 

Agriculture partook of the general 
improvement which resulted from the 
invention of printing and the revival of 
learning, but its progress was slow. 
During the Nineteenth Century more 
advancement has been made in the prac- 
tice and science of agriculture than dur- 
ing the whole preceding period of his- 
tory, although at the beginning of the 
century the study of agriculture and 
the improvement of its methods had 
already received a considerable impetus. 

In the United States, in 1862, Con- 



gress passed a bill providing for the 
"endowment, support and maintenance" 
of colleges of agriculture and the me- 
chanic arts in the several States. The 
course of instruction covers a period 
of four years. The curriculum is com- 
prehensive, and includes besides lan- 
guage, literature, history and general 
science, botany, geology, zoology, ento- 
mology, horticulture, veterinary science 
and the various interests associated with 
theoretical and applied agriculture. As 
a rule, the tuition is free, so that any 
student who is able to pay his living 
expenses may take advantage of the 
opportunities offered. 

The English Parliament in i88g cre- 
ated a Board of Agriculture, whose 
duties in many respects resemble those 
of the Agricultural Department of the 
United States. Since then experimental 
farms under the auspices of the Gov- 
ernment and the various agricultural 
colleges are conducted with success. 
France and Germany have long carried 
on experiment farms. One of the best 
Government experiment farms in the 
world is in Germany, at Mockern, near 
Leipsic, in Saxony. It was established 
in 1851. 

The Governmental experiment sta- 
tions in the United States date from 
the establishment of the agricultural 
colleges in 1862. Each college endeav- 
ored to teach the practice of husbandry 
as well as the theory. Farms were 
bought and cultivated under the direc- 
tion of the colleges. These became 
experiment stations. Recent legislation 
has syslemized the work of these farms ; 
regular reports are required from them 
by the Department of Agriculture and 
copies of such reports are sent to every 
other such station. There are now one 
or more experiment stations in each 
State and Territory of the Union. The 
Department of Agriculture itself in- 
vestigates and experiments in both lab- 
oratory and farm. Useful information 
has been collected and recorded on a 
multitude of subjects, and all of this 
valuable luatter is at the service of 
every farmer in the land. The com- 
missionership of agriculture was estab- 
lished in 1862. In i88q it was made 



448 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



a department of the Government, and 
its chief became an officer of the 
Cabinet. The department embraces the 
weather bureau; also the bureaus of 
forestry, agricultural chemistry, botany, 
entomology, pomology, animal industry, 
vegetable pathology, and of experiment 
stations. It pays particular attention 
to overcoming the enemies of crops, 
both insects and diseases, having sent 
costly expeditions to foreign lands in 
order that they might be studied in their 
native haunts. 

The motto of the British Royal Agri- 
cultural Society is "Science with Prac- 
tice." It is typical of the agricultural 
progress of the century. Science has 
been applied to farming in innumerable 
ways. Geologists, chemists, physiolo- 
gists, statisticians, architects and me- 
chanists have helped the farmer solve 
his problems. At first the tillers of 
the soil would have nothing to do with 
scientific aid, and opposed all innova- 
tions. But as capital and skill were 
brought to bear on farming by wealthy 
and enlightened cultivators of the soil, 
wonderful results were obtained ; and, 
gradually, such object lessons had their 
effect on the masses. At the end of 
the Eighteenth Century, in England, 
millions of acres of wastes, commons 
and open field farms were enclosed and 
the present system of British farming, 
by which the land is owned by landlords 
occupied by tenants, and farmed by 
laborers, came into general use. 
Through long misuse or neglect the land 
had become impoverished and it was 
necessary to expand much ingenuity 
and capital on restoring its fertility. 
Men addressed themselves to the prob- 
lem with zest. Attention was given 
to the best methods of draining, manur- 
ing, and to the rotation of crops. Earm 
buildings were better planned and con- 
structed, live stock was improved and 
better cared for. 

The system of thorough drainage and 
deep plowing introduced by Smith, of 
Deanston, about 1834, is, with modifica- 
tions, the one in use to-day. Good 
drainage has restored the prosperity 
of clay farms and made them sometimes 



more productive than the best naturally 
drained ones. 

Agricultural chemists have made a 
science of manuring. At the begin- 
ning of the century, as a rule, little 
attention was paid to this necessary part 
of farming. Half-rotted straw was 
the usual fertilizer, although many sub- 
stances have been used to enrich the 
soil from time immemorial. Until the 
present day the feeding of plants had 
not been really understood and manur- 
ing had been done almost blindly. 
Chemistry and geology have demon- 
strated what is necessary to plant life 
and what stimulates growth. Besides 
water, carbonic acid and ammonia, 
plants feed on certain mineral sub- 
stances, such as lime, potash, magnesia, 
soda, sulphate and phosphates. Cer- 
tain crops exhaust the resources of the 
soil, and these must then be restored 
artificially. Davy, Sprengel and Liebig 
led the way in the study of agricultural 
chemistry with valuable results. From 
1835 onwards the use of nitrate of 
soda, guano, bones and superphosphate 
spread. j\Ianufactured guano proved 
almost as valuable as the natural Peru- 
vian supply. Science has taught the 
farmer to use for enriching the land 
many things which were formerly 
wasted. Almost every vegetable and 
animal substance, in one state or an- 
other, can be used as manure, and 
properly applied supply the needs of 
plants. There is to-day no lack of 
materials and guides to the farmer who 
would improve and preserve the fertil- 
ity of the soil. So thoroughly has the 
science of fertilizing been studied and 
set forth by competent men that the 
ignorance and blindness of a century 
ago seem incredible. 

In the United States the farmer has 
had a virgin soil to deal with. For 
years he used it wastefully, but of late 
he is realizing the wisdom of more 
careful husbandry, especially in the 
East, where worn out land has testified 
to the fact that the supplies stored 
in the soil by nature throughout ages 
can be exhausted soon by unthrifty 
use. 



GEOGRAPHY AND ACHIEVEMENTS— AGRICULTURE 



440 



Irrigation is not a product of the 
Nineteentli Century, for it seems to be 
almost as old as agriculture itself. The 
irrigation works of Egypt, Babylonia, 
Assyria and China were built so long 
ago that no one can name the dates 
of their construction. Yet irrigation 
plays an important part in the agri- 
culttire of to-day. In India an elaborate 
system of irrigation works has been 
built to prevent terrible famines, which 
cause tmtold suffering in arid but 
densely populated sections of that 
crowded land. In Madras alone 6,000,- 
000 acres are watered. Great Britain 
has found these irrigation works profit- 
able investments, returning from 6 to 
30 per cent, per annum on the money 
invested, and resulting in annual crops 
\alues of millions of pounds. France 
has blossomed like a garden with her 
small, well-tilled irrigated farms and 
her thrifty agricultural population has 
grown rich. In the western part of the 
United States hot and arid lands have 
been made to bear luxuriant vegetation ; 
water has been brought from far under 
the earth's crust and by means of ar- 
tesian wells and windmills distributed 
over the thirsty land. The irrigation of 
orchards and fruit lands in California 
has resulted in fruit unrivaled in size 
and beauty, which, by means of cold 
storage and refrigerating processes, is 
sent all over the world. 

During the Nineteenth Centtiry much 
attention has been paid to the breeding 
of li\e stock. Great improvements have 
been made in all breeds of domesticated 
animals. Not only have individual 
specimens of high merit been produced, 
but all over the civilized world there 
is a much better quality to be found. 
Contagious diseases, such as pleuro- 
pneumonia and rinderpest, have been 
combatted successfully and by quaran- 
tine have been limited to small districts, 
preventing the spreading of the plague. 

Agricultural fairs have done miich to 
improve and encourage the improve- 
ment of live stock, as has the fashion of 
bleeding pedigree animals. Among 
wealthy landowners in England, about 
the middle of the last century, there 
was a "pedigree mania," and fabulous 



prices were paid for cattle of particular 
breeds. This drew attention lo the good 
points of the animals and resulted in 
a general distribution of offshoots from 
line stock. Inspired by the success of 
British stock breeders, Americans im- 
ported cattle from the best herds, and 
the effect u]3on the cattle in the United 
States was instantaneous. In 1867 J. 
O. Sheldon, of Geneva, New York, sold 
forty head of shorthorns, known as 
the "Duchess," for $42,300. In 1873 
a single scion of the same family 
brought $40,600 at public auction, and 
an eight months' old calf sold for $27,- 
000. These extraordinary prices at- 
tracted the attention of farmers all over 
the country to the importance of the 
selection and breeding of cattle. As 
often happens, the pupil has distanced 
the teacher, and the average animal in 
the herds of the United States is to-day 
above that of Great Britain. The 
Jersey was imported in 1850. Having 
become acclimated and improved in 
strength, size and quality, she is now 
one of our best dairy breeds. About 
1857 the IIolstein-Friesian breed was 
introduced. 

Horses, sheep and pigs also have been 
much improved during the century. 
The trotting horse is a product of 
New England. The Puritans regarded 
the race course as a snare of the devil 
and taught their horses to trot instead 
of to run, little dreaming that the trot- 
ting match in years to come would be 
the cause of gambling like any other 
trial of speed on the turf. Lady Suf- 
folk made the first trotting record below 
2.30 less than sixty years ago. In the 
United States to-day there are thou- 
sands of horses who can trot a mile 
in less time. The trotting horse affected 
materially the art of the wagon and 
carriage builder in the Northern States. 
Carriage wagons and even agricultural 
machines have been constructed more 
and more with regard to lightness and 
beauty, and it is said that the average 
farm wagon of New England is prettier 
and lighter in draft than the carriages 
used by the nobility and gentry of 
Europe. 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



Spanish merino sheep were first im- 
ported to the United States in 1809. 
The extremely high price of wool at 
this period induced farmers to pay espe- 
cial attention to the breeding of sheep 
and the production of wool. In 1812 
unwashed wool sold for ?2.50 a pound 
and merino lambs brought as much as 
$i,ooo apiece. This was practically the 
beginning of the enormous sheep in- 
dustry of the United States. 

The American hog is another de- 
velopment of the century. The swine 
brought from the Old World throve 
and multiplied abundantly in the forests 
of the New World, with their plentiful 
mast. The Western farmer had only 
to turn his hogs into the woods in the 
early spring and herd them with their 
progeny ; at the first approach of winter 
to fatten for a few weeks on corn 
before killing. Huge droves of them 
bred in this way were sent yearly 
through the Southern States, where the 
planters bought them as food for their 
slaves. Since clearing the forests, the 
enormous corn crops of the West have 
rendered easy the production of much 
finer pork, and the American hog, the 
result of judicious crossing of improved 
English breeds, is as nearly perfect as 
possible. 

During the three-year drought in the 
States west of the Mississippi the 
Kansas hens saved Kansas. That the 
suffering in that State was far less than 
that in Nebraska and Iowa was due 
to the hens. Living on sunflower seed, 
a plant that required little or no water, 
they produced their crop of eggs with 
unfailing regularity, the only crop which 
was unaffected by the terrible drought. 

In the middle of the last century 
there were not more than half a dozen 
breeds of poultry in the United States ; 
now there are over one hundred gen- 
erally distributed through the country. 
Many inventions have made artificial 
hatching easy and profitable, and hens 
go on laying, while chicks are hatched 
and cared for by machinery. The 
average number of eggs laid by one hen 
has been increased, by original methods 
discovered in the United States, to from 



seventy-five to one hundred and sev- 
enty-five per annum. 

Dairy farming during the last quar- 
ter century has grown greatly in Great 
Britain and her colonies, but the United 
States has made far more progress in 
the art. Germany, Denmark and Scan- 
dinavia have long paid much attention 
to dairying, but conducted on a scientific 
basis, it is a comparatively new depar- 
ture for the Anglo-Saxon. Dairy 
schools, literature, exhibitions and so- 
cieties and new and improved imple- 
ments have all contributed to progress. 
In 1877 the centrifugal cream separator 
was invented by Lefeldt, and, since 
then, there have been introduced won- 
derful churns, butter-driers, milk-test- 
ers, refrigerators, heaters and cheese- 
making apparatus. Creameries or but- 
ter factories have become common, and 
almost all of their work is done by 
machinery, much of which is operated 
by steam. 

Bee culture has undergone marvelous 
changes during the century of progress 
and invention. Adjustable hives, ex- 
tractors and comb foundations are 
among the aids to raisers of honey. 

Agricultural machinery is almost en- 
tirely a Nineteenth Century product, 
and it is American invention which has 
made the marvelous changes which have 
lightened the labor of the farmer all 
over the world. For thousands of 
years there was but little improvement 
in agricultural implements. The tools 
for the cultivation of the soil at the 
beginning of the century were but little 
better than those in use in the days of 
the Pharaohs. Indeed, during the 
Middle Ages so much that man had 
formerly possessed or known was for- 
gotten or lost that it is doubtful if the 
period between the revival of learning 
and the dawn of the Nineteenth Cen- 
tury had brought things to a state equal 
to that in Egypt four thousand years 
ago. In the first half of the Eighteenth 
Century that agricultural genius, Jethro 
Tull, applied irons to his plows, but few 
were the people who followed his ex- 
cellent example. His own laborers re- 
belled against his innovations and 
will full}- broke his implements. Early 



GEOGRAPHY AND ACHIE\EMENTS— AGRICULTURE 



in the Nineteeth Century the plow used 
in the United States had a wooden 
mold board, sometimes covered with 
sheet iron, while the share was of 
wrought iron. This was succeeded by 
the cast iron plow, which has been grad- 
ually developed into an efficient ma- 
chine made of greatly lessened weight 
and draft and made almost entirely of 
polished steel. The improved plow of 
to-day cuts the soil to a depth of several 
inches and turns it over, exposing it to 
the air, thus pulverizing and loosening 
it and fitting it for the reception of seed 
and for a vigorous and healthy growth 
of crops. There are plows which free 
rich soil from stone, plows for making 
surface drains, mole-plows, which bur- 
row under the surface without turning 
a furrow, and others for regulating the 
depth of furrows. There are also plows 
\\hich cut off a thin slice of land for 
the purpose of killing weeds, and spe- 
cial plows for use on hill sides. Indeed, 
so infinite is the variety of modern 
plows that it is impossible to enumerate 
them here. 

Steam plows seem to have been in 
general use in England before they were 
operated to any extent in the United 
States, but the first cultivation of grow- 
ing crops by steam was carried on in 
Louisiana in 1871 on a sugar plantation 
belonging to Effingham Lawrence. 

Axes, scythes, hoes, spades and al- 
most every tool for manual labor on 
the farm has been vastly improved by 
American ingenuity, but a greater gain 
has been the substitution of beast for 
man in performing farm work and the 
frequent application of steam to agri- 
cultural machinery. In harvesting, first 
the sickle gave way to the cradle, and 
then the cradle to the reaper drawn by 
horses, which is on large farms being 
superseded by the steam reaper. 

In 1822 Henry Ogle, of Alnwick, 
England, is said to have invented the 
foundation of the mowing and reaping 
machines of to-day when he brought 
forth the finger-bar. His machine was 
received with angry prejudice by the 
working people, who threatened to kill 
its manufacture if it was not with- 
drawn. In 1826 Rev. Patrick Bell built 



a machine which was used for a few 
years and then discarded. At last, in 
1831, Cyrus McCormick, of Virginia, 
invented a successful grain harvesting 
machine, built from that day to this. 
It was first successfully operated on 
the farm of John Steele, near Steele's 
Tavern, Virginia. Two years later 
Obed Hussey built a machine which 
was much like the McCormick reaper, 
except that it had no heel and no divider 
and no platform on which the cut grain 
could accumulate. Both of these ma- 
chines were shown in 185 1 at the Great 
Exhibition of the Industry of All Na- 
tions in London. Under the auspices 
of the Royal Agricultural Society of 
England they were tested in the field, 
and the "Grand Council Medal" was 
awarded to the McCormick one, which 
was referred to by judges as being 
worth to the people of England "the 
whole cost of the exposition." 

Step by step the reaper was improved. 
L'ntil 1849 it was used just as it was 
for cutting grass, as well as for harvest- 
ing grain, but in that year A. J. Pur- 
viance, of Ohio, obtained patents for 
inventions which made a more suitable 
machine for the double use. The list 
of inventions which made harvesting 
and mowing machines the perfect auto- 
matons that they are to-day is a long 
one. Numerous attachments have been 
added, and reaping machines now not 
only cut grain, but gather it and com- 
press it into bundles, holding it while 
a mechanical binder draws twine around 
it, fastening it securely and discharging 
sheaf after sheaf. 

The McCormick reaper is to-day used 
all over the world, harvesting grain in 
every civilized country, and the French 
Government decorated its inventor with 
the Legion of Honor for "having done 
more for the cause of agriculture than 
any living man." 

Many interesting stories are told of 
the difficulties with which ]\IcCormick 
had to contend when he was struggling 
to introduce his machine. The reapers, 
which he made in a small blacksmith 
shop on his farm, were taken by team 
from Rockbridge County, \'irginia, 
across the Blue Ridge, thence by boat 



THE HO.ME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



down the James River to Norfolk, 
shipped from Norfolk to New Orleans, 
b}' river to distributing points in Ohio, 
Illinois and ^lissouri. He had not the 
means to manufacture the machines at 
his own cost, and it was not until he 
had traveled as an agent among the 
farmers of the West and obtained 
orders for his machines in four States 
that a firm in Cincinnati could be per- 
suaded to undertake their manufacture. 
Mr. ]\IcCormick had still to go with 
his machines to his customers and, ex- 
plaining their operation, prove that they 
would do their work satisfactorily be- 
fore the buyers would pay for them. 
He perseveringly continued his toil as 
agent and instructor until his reapers 
had won their own way to popularity 
and needed no booming. 

It is estimated that nearly a million 
harvesting and mowing machines to- 
gether were used in the fields of the 
Ignited States during the summer of 
1898. Thousands of these machines 
are exported annually, but their chief 
beneficiary is the American farmer. It 
is through their powerful aid that he 
has cultivated the great grain fields of 
the West and that he is able to compete 
with the cheap labor of the Old World. 

Less than fifty years ago the square- 
tooth harrow was universally used, but 
to-day there is an infinite variety of 
harrows, clod-mashers and kindred 
machines. In 1857 Share's harrow 
appeared. It was followed by the disk 
harrow, the smoothing harrows, spring- 
tooth and rotary harrows. 

Among the greatest economizers of 
labor in agricultural machinery are the 
drills and sowing machines. There are 
different sorts for different kinds of 
seed, and they deposit the seed in the 
ground with more exactness and pre- 
cision than is possible with the most 
careful sowing by hand, the drill being 
adjusted to measure spaces and quanti- 
ties with unfailing regularity; whether 
operated by hand, horse or steam, the 
same result is accomplished with differ- 
ent degrees of speed. Manure dis- 
tributers take the place of the dis- 
agreeable work with cart and shovel, 
avoiding all danger of unequal distribu- 



tion; and there are hoes which can be 
operated by horse power without injury 
to the growing crop; turnip-thinners, 
which automatically thin out the rows 
where the plants are too thick, leav- 
ing tufts growing at the proper dis- 
tances ; haymakers, which enable the 
farmer to make hay while the sun 
shines faster than he dreamed of a 
quarter of a century ago, scattering it 
so as to expose it to the sun and air, 
and yet others by means of which the 
new mown hay can be cured and dried 
without taking the sun into considera- 
tion or caring whether he shines or not. 
A successful horse-fork appeared in 
Pennsylvania in 1848. Since then great 
improvements have been made in hay 
forking and carrying machinery, so that 
the farmer is saved the severe labor of 
pitching the hay to the back of the 
mow by hand. Hay can be cut, raked, 
cured, pitched and unloaded by ma- 
chinery. 

As early as 1858, at a show in Eng- 
land, there were exhibited over forty- 
eight threshing machines, most of which 
were worked by steam. Experimental 
threshing machines were made as long 
ago as the first quarter of the Eigh- 
teenth Century, but none that was 
practical seems to have appeared until 
in 1786, when Meikle, of Scotland, in- 
vented one which contained some of 
the essential features of those of to- 
day, so that with m'any modifications 
and alterations, of course, the complex 
modern threshing machine, comprising 
straw-carriers or elevators, separators 
and winnowing apparatus, is a direct 
evolution of it. The threshing machine 
has been carried to such a state of 
perfection that it is capable of perform- 
ing a whole series of operations, from 
feeding the grain to delivering, stacked 
or sorted and weighed, the straw, grain 
and chaff. There are various modifi- 
cations of the threshing machine, such 
as cloverhullers, cornshellers and other 
seed separators. Some threshers are 
fixtures in barns or mills, but as a rule 
they are portable. 

The cotton gin of to-day does not 
differ substantially from that invented 
in 1793 by Eli Whitney. 



GEOGRAPHY AND ACHIEVEMENTS— AGRICULTURE 



Eli Whitney, the inventor of the cot- 
ton gin, was born at Westborough, Mas- 
sachusetts, December 8, 1765, and was 
educated at Yale College, where he paid 
his expenses partly by school teaching, 
partly by mechanical labor. Having 
graduated in 1792, he went to Georgia 
as a teacher, but finding a generous 
patron in the widow of General Greene, 
of the Revolutionary Army, he resided 
upon her estate and studied law. The 
cotton culture at this period, especially 
that of the best kind, the "green seed." 
was limited by the slow and difficult 
work of separating the cotton from the 
seed by hand ; but Mrs. Greene told her 
complaining neighbors that she was sure 
Whitney could help them out of their 
trouble, for he could make anything. 
At their desire, he set to work under 
great disadvantages, for he had to make 
his own tools, and even draw his own 
wire ; but the reports of his success 
]irompted some lawless people to break 
into his workshop and steal his machine 
and get others made before he could 
secure a patent. He, however, formed 
a partnership with a Mr. Miller in 1793, 
and went to Connecticut to manufacture 
cotton gins ; but the lawsuits in defense 
of his rights took all his profits, like- 
wise $50,000 voted him by the State of 
South Carolina. He afterward amassed 
a fortune in the manufacture of fire- 
arms, but received but barren honor 
from the gin. one of the most important 
of the whole series of inventions con- 
nected with the cotton manufacture. 
The machinery invented by ]\Ir. Whit- 
ney is composed of a hopper, having 
one side formed of strong parallel wires 
placed so close together as to exclude 
the passage of the seeds from within. 
The cotton is dragged through the ap- 
pertures by means of circular saws 
attached to a large roller, and made to 
revolve between the wires, the seeds 
sinking to the bottom of the hopper. 

Steam has revolutionized many agri- 
cultural processes, as it has so many 
other departments of industry. There 
are now hundreds of manufacturers 
who turn out annually thousands of 
farm-engines. The farm-engine is often 
stationary, but there are many which 



can travel from farm to farm, chief 
among them being the itinerant thresh- 
ing machine. Steam and water and 
wind are all used to supply motive 
power for numerous operations, such 
as grinding feed, sawing wood, shelling 
corn, cutting fodder, churning and 
pumping. 

Agriculture has remained during the 
century, as in all probability it will for 
man}' centuries to come, the chief 
source of livelihood of the world's 
workers. 

It is only within recent times that 
the world has awakened to the impor- 
tance of scientific forestry. In this 
work the United States has been lag- 
gard, the vast tracts of timber in this 
country having been regarded as prac- 
tically inexhaustible. Yet it is estimated 
that at the present rate of cutting forest 
land the United States cannot long 
meet the demand made upon it. By 
far the greater part of the white pine 
has been cut, and vast inroads have 
been made into the supply of other 
timbers. The State of New Jersey 
afl'ords a painful illustration of the 
waste caused by wanton destruction of 
forests. Long ago it was "lumbered 
out," yet 2,750,000 acres, or sixty per 
cent, of the whole land area, are fit for 
nothing but growing wood. From a 
commercial standpoint, as well as be- 
cause of the efl:'ect of trees on climate 
and waterflow, men ha\e come to see 
that the preservation of the forests and 
their replenishing is of importance. 
The decay of Spain, once the granary 
of the world, is ascribed by some 
authorities as due in part to the destruc- 
tion of the forests, and that sections of 
Asia no longer "flow with milk and 
honey" as in Biblical times, but furnish 
havens for hordes of bandits, is alleged 
to be due to the same cause. 

Forests were disposed of to private 
individuals in wasteful fashion in 
Europe until about fifty years ago, when 
the reaction came. In France, since 
1870, no sales have been made, but a 
policy of increasing forest land has been 
pursued, and $40,000,000 has been spent 
for re-foresting dunes and devastated 
mountain sides. In Prussia, since 1831, 



454 



THE HOME AUXM.L\RV AND REFERENCE 



trees have been planted to take the place 
of those cut down. Austria began the 
policy in 1872. and England inaug- 
urated a reserve forestry scheme in 
India in 1873. In America New York 
has led, having first instituted a forest 
commission in 1885, and Maine, New 
Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Wiscon- 
sin have since established special com- 
missions in charge of the enforcement 
of forestry laws. The President was 
authorized by act of j\Iarch 3, 1891, 
to make public forest reservations, and 
seventeen such, with an area of 17,500.- 
000 acres, were established in Colorado, 
New Mexico, California, Arizona, 
Wyoming, Washington and Oregon 
previous to 1897. In February 22, 
1897, President Cleveland proclaimed 
thirteen additional reserves, comprising 
21,379,000 acres. Since then other re- 
serves have been made. 

Arbor Day has been established, and 
in this way the importance of forestry 
has been impressed upon the people. 

A factor of importance to the farmer 
and a development of the latter part 
of the Nineteenth Century is the 
Weather Bureau, which, established in 
nearly every civilized country, has re- 
sulted in saving millions of dollars 
worth of farm products, and also has 
been of great service to mariners, warn- 
ing them of impending storms and 
enabling them to save not only their 
ships, but their lives. The science of 
meteorology has reached such an ad- 
vanced stage that it is possible for the 
forecaster to predict the weather thirty- 
six hours in advance with dependable 
accuracy. The popular impression as 
to the unreliability of the Weather 
Bureau is due to the fact that the er- 
roneous predictions attract most atten- 
tion. As a matter of fact, this forecaster 
is right, as statistics show, in eighty-five 
cases out of a hundred. 

Meteorology, or the science of the 
weather, is a new study. Of course, 
. rudimentary myths, relating to the 
weather have been current since the 
earliest days, and farmers' almanacs 
are nothing new. The first instance of 
the principles of natural philosophy be- 
ing brought to bear on the explanation 



of the complex phenomena of the 
weather was in the publication of Dal- 
ton's meteorological essays in 1793. 
Since then meteorology has become 
more nearly an exact science, succes- 
sive discoveries having placed the 
weather philosophy of the untutored on 
a scientific basis. Beginning in 1854, 
meteorological reports were collected 
and sent out daily by Professor Joseph 
Henry, of the Smithsonian Institution. 
This was made possible by the tele- 
graph, and with its expansion the 
weather service in various nations be- 
gan to improve. The meteorological 
department of the English Board of 
Trade was established by Admiral Fitz- 
roy in 1857. 

These services were, however, on a 
small scale, and were principally for 
the use of mariners. But with the de- 
velopment of the science it was thought 
that a wider service might be estab- 
lished. Through the efforts of Dr. I. 
A. Lapham, of Wisconsin, a resolution 
officially creating a weather service for 
the United States was passed, and on 
November 4, 1870, the first weather 
bulletins, based on simultaneous obser- 
vations, were sent out to twenty cities 
from Washington. The work was put 
in charge of the Signal Service of the 
War Department, and Professor Cleve- 
land Abbe originated the present system 
of weather forecasts. The popularity 
and success of the predictions and their 
benefit to the farmer led to the bureau 
being placed under the direction of the 
Agricultural Department July i, 1891. 
The success of the Weather Bureau 
under the Agricultural Department has 
been phenomenal. In his report for 
1895 the Secretary of Agriculture de- 
:lares that warnings of cold waves alone 
secured from freezing more than 
$2,275,000 worth of perishable agricul- 
tural products, which otherwise would 
have been lost. That report has also 
this to say concerning the Weather 
Bureau : "The possibilities of useful- 
ness to agriculture, manufacture and 
commerce are almost without limit in 
the increasing accuracy and capabilities 
of the Weather Bureau. The time is 
not probably far distant when its rec- 



GEOGRAPHY AND ACHIEVEMENTS— MINING AND METALS 



ords, warnings and forecasts will be 
constantly in demand as evidence in 
the courts of justice and also by those 
purposing large investments in certain 
kinds of agricultural crops, in perish- 
able fruits, in commercial ventures, and 
in manufacturing plants. Weather 
Bureau forecasts in the not distant fu- 
ture will, no doubt, be consulted and 
awarded credibility just as thermome- 
ters are to-day. The usefulness of the 
meteorological branch of the service, 
wisely and economically administered, 
is beyond computation." 

MINING AND METALS. 

Seventy per cent, of the total weight 
of minerals mined is coal. Yet the 
grimy black substance which we have 
come to regard as an absolute necessity 
to our very existence was practically 
unknown to our forefathers except as 
an obnoxious and unwelcome substitute 
for fire-wood. The opening of the last 
century found the world in comparative 
ignorance of its industrial value. 

In 1239 a charter was granted the 
freemen of Newcastle, giving them per- 
mission to dig and gather coal in the 
Castle fields, and here the history of 
coal as a commercial product may be 
said to have begun. When Newcastle 
coal was offered for sale in London 
it was indignantly rejected by the city 
fathers as an innovation inimical to the 
health and happiness of the city, and 
it was not until after much persuasion 
that permission was given to unload it. 
In 1300 a proclamation was issued by 
the King prohibiting its use within the 
city walls, and imposing a fine upon 
those who persisted in burning it. The 
license granted the freemen of New- 
castle was revoked, and the coal ques- 
tion was supposed to have been settled 
forever. During the reign of Edward 
III the prohibitive law was repealed 
and the Newcastle freemen were again 
allowed to dig and gather coals and 
ship them to London. During the reign 
of Elizabeth its use was again pro- 
hibited in London during the sitting of 
Parliament, as it was claimed to be 
injurious to the health of the country 



squires during their sojourn in the 
city. But notwithstanding the many 
obstacles placed in the course of its 
progress, the use of coal spread rapid- 
ly, and the middle of the Eighteenth 
Century found it used almost exclu- 
sively in the smelting of iron and for 
other industrial purposes all over Eng- 
land. 

Although the early history of coal is 
thus distinctly linked with the history 
of England, its later history is common 
to nearly all the great nations of the 
world. 

The first discovery of coal in America 
was made at Ottawa, Illinois, as is 
chronicled by Father Hennepin, a Jesuit 
^explorer, who visited that section in 
1679. The first coal mine was exca- 
vated near Richmond, \'irginia, the 
discovery having been made by a small 
boy while fishing on the James River, 
the bituminous vein being exposed along 
the shores of the stream. Ten years 
later the famous strata of bituminous 
coal was discovered around Pittsburgh, 
and at the beginning of the Nineteenth 
Century shipments were made to Phila- 
delphia. Anthracite coal was discovered 
by a hunter, Nicho Allen, near Wilkes- 
barre. Pa., in 1792. Like many other 
important discoveries, it was accidental. 
Allen encamped one night and built his 
fire upon some small black stones that 
lay scattered about in profusion. Hav- 
ing cooked his supper, he went to sleep 
as usual, and when he awoke in the 
middle of the night he found himself 
lying in a bed of flames. The stones 
were all on fire, and he barely escaped 
with his life. He told the story of his 
adventure far and wide, and shortly 
afterwards a company v/as organized to 
mine and ship the black stones to Phila- 
delphia. Colonel Shoemaker, a worthy 
Colonial gentleman, was at the head of 
the enterprise, and upon his recom- 
mendation most of the first consignment 
was sold. The people, however, did 
not understand how to use the coal, 
and there was a popular feeling of in- 
dignation against Colonel Shoemaker, 
who was denounced by the city authori- 
ties as a rascal for having palmed off 
rocks upon them as coal. Since then 



4S6 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



Philadelphia has grown to be a great 
city largely through the agency of those 
same black rocks, and the anthracite 
coal fields of Pennsylvania yield over 
70,000,000 tons annually. 

It would be hard to estimate the 
amount of money the United States has 
made out of coal. One small region 
in Eastern Pennsylvania produces every 
year coal to a greater value than all the 
gold mines of the Rockies, Canada and 
Alaska. Adding to this the value of 
our annual production of two hundred 
and seventy odd million tons of bitu- 
minous coal, it can be said safely that 
we get more than three times as much 
wealth out of our coal mines as out of 
our gold mines. The great Appalachian' 
field produces 200,000,000 tons annu- 
ally. Indiana, Kentucky and Illinois 
have an immense output. Utah, Mon- 
tana, Colorado, Washington and Wyo- 
ming are also rich in coal deposits, 
and fields of incalculable value have 
been in late years discovered in Alaska. 
There is scarcely a country on earth 
where coal has not been discovered in 
greater or less quantities. The follow- 
ing table is the latest estimate of geol- 
ogists regarding the world's coal pro- 
ducting territory : China, 200,000 
square miles ; United States, east of the 
Rockies, 192,000 square miles; Canada, 
65,000; India, 35,000; Xew South 
Wales, 24,000; Russia, 20,000; United 
Kingdom, 11,500; Spain, 5,500; Japan, 
5.000; France, 2,080; Austria-Hungary, 
1,790; Germany, 1,770; Belgium, 510. 

Although the English coal area is 
comparatively small, nevertheless that 
country was for years the center of the 
coal production of the world, and for 
many years mined more than half the 
total amount used by the world. But 
her coal production is being gradually 
overshadowed by that of the United 
States. The English coal veins are 
shallow. The Newcastle coal fields, her 
richest, have veins from three to six 
feet thick, while the Pennsylvania an- 
thracite veins run from thirty to sixty 
feet in thickness, and the Pittsburgh 
bituminous veins from ten to sixteen 
feet. Some of the English veins are 
already worked down 3,887 feet, and 



at the present rate of mining it is esti- 
mated that if it is worked down to 
4,000 feet, English coal will be ex- 
hausted in about 200 years. It is there- 
fore possible that England's glory as a 
manufacturing nation must soon be on 
the wane. It is also self-evident that 
the United States, with its vast supplies 
of that mineral, and the magnificent 
facilities for transportation, already 
the chief manufacturing nation of the 
world, is destined to increase its leail 
enormously. The coal mining systems 
perfected during the Nineteenth Cen- 
tury, and their equipment of colossal 
machiner)', are among the wonders of 
the engineering and mechanical world. 
The modern coal mine of a large scale 
is really an underground city, with ave- 
nues and streets extending for many 
miles. One of the largest of these 
subterranean towns is near Newcastle, 
England, and contains not less than fifty 
miles of passages, the result of excava- 
tions wrought by human hands. 

The mode of working the coal mines 
has undergone a complete revolution. 
The older process was, after reaching 
the strata to be operated, to take out 
as much of the material in stalls as 
was considered safe. This left a pillar 
to support the roof of the mine, and 
thus only a portion of the material was 
available. In 1816, by the introduction 
of the Davy Safety lamp, it was ren- 
dered possible to work in what were 
very dangerous circumstances, and less 
and less wall was left in the form of 
pillars. This was called the "long 
wall working," and is the method in 
use at the present day. The system 
consists in the excavating first of long 
roadways through the strata, the super- 
incumbent strata sinking down on the 
top of the wastes left behind by the 
miners. 

The ventilation of mines had long 
engrossed the attention of engineers 
and legislatures. The first radical im- 
provement brought about in this direc- 
tion occurred in the year 1820, when 
the workings were divided into distinct 
portions or panels so as to insure a 
direct passage of air from the down- 
cast to the upcast shaft. These shafts 



GEOGRAPHY AND ACHIEVEMENTS— MIXING AND METALS 



are, in reality, very deep wells sunk 
at either end of the mine. The air 
from the downcast rushes through the 
passage and seeks egress by way of the 
upcast. The draught of air thus cre- 
ated, while it carried away a certain 
amount of impurities, was insufficient 
to provide air for inhalation by the 
army of workers. To accomplish this 
a large furnace was placed at the foot 
of the upcast shaft, the intense heat 
arising from this furnace rarified the 
column of foul air admitted above it, 
thus causing it to ascend and make 
room for the colder air from the down- 
cast shaft. For many years this method 
•was without a rival. \'arious pumps, 
fans and pneumatic screws were tried 
without success. But in 1849 ^^i Eng- 
lish mine owner named Powell put into 
his mine a large centrifugal fan, de- 
signed by Brunton. It operated on a 
vertical axis and was placed at the 
surface. Although it was a marked 
improvement on the old furnace sys- 
tem, the new ventilator made slow 
progress until Guibal introduced an- 
other large fan at the London Exhibi- 
tion. Since then the many advantages 
to be derived from mechanical means 
of ventilation at the surface have be- 
come more fully recognized, and fans, 
some of which run at terrific speed, are 
in use at all modern coUeries. 

The haulage of coal from the dig- 
gings through the devious passages to 
the foot of the mine shaft is another 
item in coal mining which has been 
greatly improved. The use of cast iron 
tramways dates back to 1767, and about 
1820 George Stephenson introduced me- 
chanical haulage underground, al- 
though its success was not ultimate 
until the use of wire ropes became 
general. Until 1845, or thereabouts, 
the underground haulage was accom- 
plished chiefly by women and children, 
who were treated by their overseers as 
veritable beasts of burden. The pas- 
sage of the legislative acts about this 
time compelled proprietors to use ponies 
and horses underground. For many 
years chains and ropes were used for 
mechanical hauling and winding, a 
practice which entailed great danger — 



so much so that the chains had to be 
abandoned altogether. Until the year 
1862 flat hempen ropes were used ex- 
clusively. Then Xewell brought his 
metallic wire ropes to such a state of 
perfection that they were substituted 
for the hempen ones. Up to the present 
day the steel rope is without a rival, 
and it has done much to make mechan- 
ical haulage both possible and general. 
The rope is usually driven by an engine 
at the surface, but sometimes the engine 
is placed underground and run by steam 
or compressed air. The speed of hoist- 
ing or winding, as it is termed, com- 
pares favorably with that of railway 
trains. At many of the large mines 
the coal is lifted a depth of half a 
mile in less than a minute. Owing to 
greatly improved appliances in shaft 
machinery accidents are very rare. In 
the best regulated coal mines there are 
automatic appliances, in case of the 
cage becoming liberated from the rope, 
to prevent its falling down the shaft 
again. 

The greatest danger to which the 
coal miner's life is, and always has been, 
exposed is that which awaits him in 
the form of explosions of inflammable 
gases. In the early years of the century 
these explosions received the attention 
of all the leading scientists. Until the 
introduction of Sir Humphrey Davy's 
safety lamp in 1816. coal mines were 
tested before the men entered them by 
"trying the candle" ; the presence of the 
deadly fire-damp being shown by the 
flame assuming a bluish color, and 
other gases by various peculiarities in 
the tint and shape of the flame. Com- 
plicated improvements which have since 
been made on the Davy lamp, together 
with the introduction of electric light 
wherever available, have in recent years 
combined to reduce this danger to a 
minimum. 

Next to coal, iron has been the great- 
est factor in the phenomenal industrial 
progress attained by the genius and 
wisdom of the Nineteenth Century. 
The history of iron and the manufac- 
ture and use of steel are as old as 
civilization itself. The Chinese were 
familiar with steel fully 2600 B. C, 



458 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



ancient Chinese writings containing 
descriptions of the processes used in its 
conversion. The Phoenicians were also 
acquainted with the use of extremely 
hardened iron (properly speaking, 
steel), as their numerous and beautiful 
works in ornamental metallurgy, and 
the cutting and engraving of precious 
stones, for which they were conspicuous 
among the nations of antiquity, neces- 
sarily involved. During the jMiddle 
Ages the strength and durability of iron 
led to its extensive manufacture and use 
for defensive purposes, and the iron- 
monger and blacksmith occupied promi- 
nent positions among the craftmen of 
that darkened period of the world's 
history. 

Crude casts or "Pig" iron is the most 
widely used metal of modern times, 
and the most indispensable in the in- 
dustrial arts, either as the material out 
of which articles may be formed by 
the operation of casting, or as the sub- 
stance from which the purer forms of 
the metal may be obtained. 

The history of the metallurgy of iron 
and steel during the Nineteenth Cen- 
tury is marked by four epoch-making 
inventions, beside which all others sink 
into comparative obscurity. These four 
inventions, which completely revolu- 
tionized the industry to which they were 
applied are : The hot blast for blast 
furnaces, invented by James Neilson 
in 1828, which doubled the output of 
the blast furnace without any extra 
fuel ; the Bessemer process for the con- 
version of steel, invented in 1856: the 
Siemens regenerating furnace in 1862; 
and the Gilchrist-Thomas or basic proc- 
ess of making steel from iron contain- 
ing phorphorus, invented in 1880. In 
following the development of the iron 
industry it is well to remember that the 
blast furnace producing cast iron has 
two offices to perform. It has to re- 
duce the ore to a state of metal, which 
process is eflfected in the central and 
upper part of the furnace by the action 
of carbon and carbonic monoxide. The 
reduced metal is then melted, and in 
this operation it absorbs carbon and 
becomes cast iron, while the foreign 
matters of the ore fuse with the coke- 



ash and are withdrawn in the form of 
slag. 

The very early iron furnaces did not 
produce cast iron, unless by accident ; 
they produced a steely wrought iron 
that did not melt, but had to be picked 
out of the furnace. This was due to 
the fact that the furnaces, being very 
small, used charcoal as fuel, which had 
great power of reduction, but would not 
make sufficient heat to melt the iron. 
In 1828 Neilson conceived the idea of 
feeding all kinds of furnaces with 
blasts of hot air. The invention proved 
a great success and effected a great 
saving in fuel, with a phenomenal in- 
crease in the production of the English ■ 
furnaces. No further notable improve- 
ments were made until 1845, when 
Budd conceived the idea of utilizing the 
gas which escaped from the mouth of 
the furnace by drawing it below and 
heating the air for the hot blast with 
it. Soon after this the closed top to 
the furnace was invented. 

With the exception of some special 
processes, entailing endless toil and 
great expense, the majority of steel in 
early days was converted from cast iron 
by the puddling process. This consisted 
in melting the cast iron in the form of 
pigs on the hearth of a reverbatory 
furnace, in contact with iron cinder 
and iron ore, accompanied by a con- 
stant stirring of the melted metal, or 
"puddling," as it is termed. After be- 
ing worked into shape by hammers and 
rolls it was closed in cases of horn 
shavings and heated to a high tempera- 
ture for many hours, \^'hen removed 
from the casting the metal showed a 
blistered surface, and was called blister 
steel. Puddling in this fashion neces- 
sarily involved a great amount of hard 
manual labor, and various attempts 
were made to get rid of it. ^lany minor 
inventions were made for the produc- 
tion of steel before the great revolu- 
tionary one of Sir Henry Bessemer put 
in its appearance in 1856. This is 
regarded one of the greatest inventions 
the world has ever seen, and has done 
more than almost anything else to 
revolutionize industry. Bessemer began 
his experiments in the production of 



GEOGRAPHY AND ACHIEVEMENTS— MINING AND METALS 



459 



steel from pig iron by use of the air 
blast. Cast iron was melted in a rever- 
batory furnace, from which it ran into 
a vessel in whose bottom were a num- 
ber of blow holes through which a blast 
of air was maintained. As the hot iron 
ran into the vessel, and as the blast 
was forced through it, its carbon and 
silicon were burned out and such com- 
bustion taking place heated the iron to 
an exceedingly high temperature. It 
was originally intended to withdraw the 
metal when the carbon was sufficiently 
reduced. But this was impracticable, 
except in rare cases, as the least trace 
of phosphorus impaired the quality of 
the steel. The system of blowing the 
metal to the complete exhaustion of the 
carbon, and afterwards adding a cer- 
tain quantity of cast iron, was gener- 
ally adopted. By varying the proportion 
of the materials added, it was possible 
to produce steel of any required per- 
centage of carbon. Shortly after it 
was introduced into this country, Holley 
developed a system of hydraulic ma- 
chinery for the operation of the proc- 
ess. The metal is now treated in an 
egg-shaped converter, mounted on trun- 
nions, and large enough to treat at 
once from one to twenty tons of melted 
iron. It is automatically turned on its 
side to receive the charge, the blast is 
turned on and it is brought in an up- 
right position to receive the blow. As 
the air passes through the melted mass, 
a vivid flame bursts from its mouth. 
The carbon and silicon having been 
burned out, the converter is turned 
again on its side to receive the carbon- 
izing charge of ferro-manganese or 
sjjiegeleisen, and the effect of any trace 
of phosphorus is partly overcome by 
the manganese thus added. The steel, 
which has been reduced to the consist- 
ency of water by the intense heat, is 
poured from the converter into moulds. 
Under the old steel processes these units 
were of but a few pounds weight, 
whereas the Bessemer process converts 
the steel into units of many tons. But 
thus far steel could only be made out 
of very pure iron, the presence of any 
considerable trace of phosphorus being 
ruinous. In 1878 Sidney Gilchrist 



Thomas announced that he had suc- 
ceeded in reducing the phosphorus in 
the Bessemer process by the use of 
lime. After exhaustive experiments the 
basic Bessemer process was evolved by 
Thomas and his cousin, Gilchrist. This 
process consists in lining the converter 
with specially made bricks composed 
largely of lime and magnesia, and in 
throwing a quantity of lime into the 
converter before it receives the charge 
of iron. After the blow- is given, there 
is a period of some minutes of after- 
blow after the carbon is all gone. The 
etTect of this after-blow in the presence 
of the basic material is to remove the 
phosphorus almost entirely. In i860 
Sir William Siemen's regenerative fur- 
nace was completed. 

The principal peculiarity of this in- 
vention is the way in which the heat- 
ing is efifected. The gas from the pro- 
ducer and the air for its combustion 
are made to pass through chambers of 
intensely heated fire-brick piled up 
loosely. Before they leave the furnace 
the products of combustion pass 
through two other such chambers. By 
the manipulation of valves, the course 
of the gas and air is changed. A sort 
of cumulative efifect is produced by 
the process, and a most intense heat is 
developed at the expense of a com- 
paratively small amount of fuel. Appli- 
cations of the Siemens, or open hearth 
furnace, to making steel at once be- 
came obvious. By the Martin process 
a steel of any desired percentage of 
carbon is produced by melting pig iron 
and wrought iron together on the 
hearth. The Siemens process produces 
steel on the open hearth by the melting 
of pig iron and iron oxide. In the 
Siemens-AIartin process both methods 
are combined, the product of the opera- 
tion being the famous open-hearth 
steel. A description, or even a brief 
mention of the many valuable modifica- 
tions and improvements that have been 
added to these four great epoch-making 
inventions would necessitate the writing 
of a volume devoted exclusively to the 
history of the iron and steel industry. 

The discovery of aluminum, the light- 
est metal known, is probably the most 



460 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REEERENCE 



novel and notable attainment of Xinc- 
teenth Century metallurgy. The al- 
chemists of the Middle Ages speculated 
on the composition of alum, and de- 
cided that it must have an earthy base. 
About 1600 Stahl said this base was 
similar to lime. In 1724 Fr. Hoffman 
first announced the correct idea that 
the base of alum is a substance distinct 
from all earthy bases. This was 
demonstrated by Marggraf in 1754, and 
in 1760 Professor Baron, of Paris, an- 
nounced that he had tried without 
success to reduce it to metal. Yet the 
belief that it would ere long be isolated 
was so strong that in 1762 this earthy 
base was named alumine. The dis- 
coveries by Lavoiser and Priestly, about 
1780, led directly to the idea that alum- 
ina is the oxide of a metal that had not 
been isolated, and during the next forty 
years all imaginable methods of reduc- 
ing it were tried without success. In 
1824 a Swede named Oersted discov- 
ered a method of making from alumina 
a combination of aluminum with chlo- 
rine, the first being an element of clay 
and the latter of common salt. 

In 1827 Frederick Wohler, a Ger- 
man professor, found that metallic po- 
tassium had such a strong affinity for 
chlorine that it would take it from the 
aluminum chloride and leave the metal 
free. The aluminum obtained by Woh- 
ler was, however, only as a fine powder, 
which resisted all efforts to make it 
amalgamate. The trouble was to find 
an element with such a strong affinity 
for oxygen that it would take it away 
from the aluminum, leaving the latter 
free. In 1854 Ste. Clair Deville ex- 
perimented with potassium with the 
much-desired result, but the product 
when obtained cost more than its weight 
in gold, the actual cost of a pound of 
the metal being about $200. Then De- 
ville tried the mixing of aluminum 
chloride with common salt, subjecting 
the liquid to the decomposing force of 
a strong electric current. The product 
so obtained cost but little less than the 
first. Then he tried metallic sodium in- 
stead of potassium, by which process 
he was able to manufacture aluminum 
at a cost of $8 per pound. No cheaper 



method was discovered until 1886. In 
that year a new process for making 
sodium reduced the cost of that chem- 
ical from $1 per pound to less than 25 
cents. This had the eft'ect of materially 
reducing the price of aluminum produc- 
tion, and by 1888 the metal was sell- 
ing for $5 per pound, the total output 
being one ton weekly. But the sodium 
process was soon to be a thing of the 
past, for in 1889 Charles M. Hall, of 
Oberlin, Ohio, patented an electrolytic 
process, and started a small plant for 
the manufacture of aluminum on the 
bank of the Allegheny River, about 
eighteen miles above Pittsburgh. The 
process consisted of a bath of alu- 
minum fluoride and sodium fluoride, in 
which alumina has been dissolved. This 
mixture is kept melted by the heat of a 
stiong electric current, which decom- 
poses the alumina in the solution with- 
out decomposing the bath in which it 
is dissolved. By this process the metal 
is now \ery cheaply made, and nu- 
merous factories for its manufacture 
and that of its alloys have been estab- 
lished both in this country and abroad. 
The possibilities of aluminum are in- 
finite. It is about as light as oak wood, 
being about one-fourth as light as iron 
and has greater resistance than the very 
best steel. It stands high in the list 
of malleable metals and can be drawn 
into a wire i -250th of an inch in thick- 
ness. It is an excellent conductor of 
eUctricity. and would at 20 cents per 
pound take the place of copper for all 
electrical purposes. In shipbuilding, 
where lightness is demanded, aluminum 
meets every requirement. France and 
Germany have several aluminum tor- 
pedo boats, and pleasure yachts are be- 
ing built every year of this metal. In 
Germany two army corps are equipped 
with aluminum, the equipment includ- 
ing every article of metal carried on the 
person. Paris has several aluminum 
cabs, and aluminum horseshoes and alu- 
minum sulkies are made for some of 
the great racers. The Twentieth Cen- 
tury will no doubt see it supplant iron 
and steel to a great extent, as the time 
is certain to come when it can be manu- 
factured as cheaply as those products. 



GEOGRAPHY AND ACHIEVEMENTS— MINING AND METALS 



461 



It is well known that aluminum is 
jjresent in every clay bank, and it would 
be difficult to say more plainly how 
common it is. The only question is how 
to separate it from the clay at a cost 
that will put it within reach of the me- 
chanic and the manufacturer, and as it 
is believed that discovery is not far 
olf, the predicted "Aluminum Age" may 
be near at hand. 

There is so much of the romantic 
and picturesque in the history of the 
past sixty years' developments in the 
mining of the precious metals and gems, 
that the recounting of it would seem 
to be more within the province of the 
novelist than of the sober chronicler of 
ordinary events. In that short period 
the two richest gold fields of modern 
times have been discovered, and dia- 
monds and other precious stones have 
been found in such profusion as to 
cause a depreciation of at least one- 
third in the value of some of them, as, 
for instance, diamonds. 

Probably the most contagious gold 
iever that ever spread over an adven- 
ture-loving world was that which broke 
out in May, 1848, when Sam Brannan, 
the leader of the Mormons in Cali- 
fornia, pranced through the streets of 
San Francisco, swinging his hat and 
brandishing a bottle of gold and shout- 
ing at the top of his voice, "Gold, Gold, 
Gold from the Amercian River." On 
the 19th of January of that year James 
\\'ilson Marshall, a carpenter, while at 
work on the tail race of Sutter's Mill, 
in Eldorado County, had made the dis- 
covery of the precious yellow metal. 
The outcry of Sam Brannan was as 
the touching of flame to tow. The 
whole town became ablaze with excite- 
ment. Everybody left his shop, store, 
or office and made a mad rush for Sut- 
ter's Mill, where the ^lormon told them 
they would find the very river beds 
filled with golden gravel. The cry of 
Sam Brannan went all over the world, 
and the wonderful tale of an El Dorado 
was transported Xorth, East. South and 
West. It reached Hawaii first, and 
twenty-seven vessels, loaded with 
whites and natives, set sail before Oc- 
tober I. Two-thirds of the population 



of Oregon deserted hearth and home 
and sought the gold fields. From six 
cities, New York, Boston, Salem, Phila- 
delphia and Baltimore, sixty-one ves- 
sels, averaging fifty passengers each, 
set sail for California between the mid- 
dle of December and the middle of 
January, 1849. Sixty vessels cleared 
for the same voyage around Cape Horn 
from New York alone. During the 
winter and spring 250 vessels sailed 
from Eastern ports. The long five 
month's trip around Cape Horn was a 
wearisome outlook to the feverish gold 
seekers. There was a mad scramble for 
passage on any kind of craft that would 
float. The California, a side-wheel 
steamer of 1,050 tons, was the first of 
these ships to pass through the Straits 
of Magellan. At the South American 
ports competition was so fierce that 
steerage tickets were eagerly snatched up 
at $1,000 each. When the ship ar- 
rived at San Francisco and the passen- 
gers had swarmed off into the jubilat- 
ing town, every one of the officers and 
crew ran awaj' except the captain and 
the assistant engineer. It was impos- 
sible to man the vessel for the return 
trip and she drifted helplessly about in 
the bay for a long time. Before the 
middle of January. 1849, there was not 
an important shipping port in the world 
that did not contain at least two or three 
vessels that were fitting out for the 
Golden Gate. Even the farthest East 
was not beyond the stretch of the con- 
tagion. China began to throw a stream 
across the Pacific, and Australia pla- 
carded the streets of her chief cities 
with glowing signs: "Gold, gold, gold, 
gold in California." In the early part 
of the year 316 vessels from foreign 
ports sailed through the Golden Gate. 
Most of these vessels were deserted by 
their crews as soon as they touched 
the land. At one time more than 500 
ships were counted in the bay, and not 
one could boast a crew or guard. On 
a par with this great migration by 
water was the grand overland move- 
ment that began in the spring of 1849, 
as soon as passage over the plains and 
mountains was feasible. The story of 
the overland route is one long tragedy. 



462 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



The rallying points of this migration 
were St. Joseph, Mo., and Indepen- 
dence, Mo., on the Missouri River, 
from which stretched the two long, 
weary trails. Thousands and thou- 
sands of vehicles of every description 
rolled into these headquarters early in 
April. In May the great caravans set 
out, and before June lo, 5,095 wagons 
liad passed a certain point on the Hum- 
boldt River trail, and it was reckoned 
that a thousand more were left be- 
hind on account of sickness and death, 
or, as often happened, massacres by the 
Indians. The rear ranks of the long 
processions of that year were overtaken 
by a terrible scourge of cholera, and 
5,000 died on the march, while other 
thousands were prevented from con- 
tinuing the trail. 

Considering the crude processes then 
in vogue for the mining of gold, the 
yield that rewarded the brave argon- 
auts was truly phenomenal. In the first 
year $10,000,000 worth was taken out; 
this increased to $40,000,000 in 1849; 
$50,000,000 in 1850; $55,000,000 in 
1851 ; $60,000,000 in 1852, and it 
reached its highest point in 1853, when 
a total value of $65,000,000 was dis- 
covered. During these first six years 
the methods of extracting gold were 
very crude, and therefore very waste- 
ful. The mining was carried on in 
what was termed placer deposits, and 
the favorite tools of the forty-niner 
were the pan, the rocker, the Long Tom 
and the sluice box. The rich alluvial 
deposits becoming worked out in the 
course of time, the miner turned his at- 
tention to the gold-bearing rock. Then 
the mining of gold became a more dif- 
ficult and costly matter. Science, skill 
and capital were demanded, and chem- 
istry was called in to determine the 
composition of the various ores. The 
pan, the rocker and the Long Tom gave 
place to the highly organized machinery 
of the stamp mill, with its costly stamp 
batteries, amalgamating pans, and con- 
centrating tables. In due time the re- 
bellious ores were treated by roasting, 
and the various leaching processes were 
introduced, by which practically the last 
trace ol eold could be recovered from 



the tailings. There were also perfected 
a number of systems of hydraulic min- 
ing, whereby enormous deposits of 
gold-bearing gravel can be worked to 
advantage. As its name indicates, the 
mining is done by the action of water, 
which is discharged under enormous 
pressure against the gravel bank or 
bowlder, thoroughly seggregating it and 
washing it into sluices, where the gold 
is deposited. 

During the first flush of the gold ex- 
citement there was little or no attention 
paid to the mining of the less valuable 
metal silver, although it abounded in 
close proximity to the gold diggings. 
To the two and a half million ounces 
of gold taken out in 1850, there were 
only 38,000 ounces of silver. This rose 
to 12,375,360 ounces in 1870, and 
reached the maximum in i8go, when it 
amounted to 54,517,440. 

Since the discovery of gold in Cali- 
fornia, rich deposits have been located 
and worked in all the Rocky .Mountain 
states and in the Black Hills of Dakota, 
but with the exception of the Cripple 
Creek Colorado excitement of 1895- 
1896, nothing approaching the frenzy 
of '49 occurred until the news was 
spread that treasure of untold value 
had been found in Alaska. Then the 
scenes of the early fifties were enacted 
all over again. The excitement reached 
its height in 1898, and men and women, 
too, flocked from the uttermost parts 
of the earth to the frozen and barren 
regions of the Yukon and the Klondike. 
The tragedies of the overland, or "back- 
door route," as it is called in this case, 
were repeated. Bleached bones strewed 
the way over the Canadian Rockies and 
through the mountains of Eastern 
Alaska for thousands of miles, and the 
name of Chilkoot Pass became synony- 
mous with that of death. During the 
winter of 1897-98 and the following 
summer every available vessel in the 
Pacific ports was put into requisition, 
and hundred of thousands made the 
long sea journey to St. Michels, thence 
up the Yukon, sixteen hundred miles 
to Dawson City, the metropolis of the 
New El Dorado. Owing to climatic re- 
straints, it has been impossible to de- 



GEOGRAPHY AND ACHIKVEMENTS— MINING AND METALS 



4t>j 



tcrniinc the richness of the new treas- 
ure land, or to even make a conjecture 
regarding its possibilities. 

There is not space here to even 
briefly describe the wonderful and cost- 
ly mechanisms that have been intro- 
ciuced into the gold-mining industry in 
\ery recent years. The principal in- 
novations, however, are the steam 
dredge, used for scraping up the gravel 
from the rivers, and the peripatetic 
mining machine on wheels, built by the 
Pullman Company for the smelting and 
testing of ores. 

The development of copper mining 
industry has been no less remarkable 
than that of gold. The discovery of the 
famous Clifl^ copper mine on the shores 
of Lake Michigan in 1844 opened up 
one of the richest deposits of this min- 
eral that has even been known. The 
first recorded production was one of 12 
tons, taken from this mine in 1845, 
which increased to 150 tons in 1848. 
Within the last twenty years the in- 
crease of production has been without a 
parallel. From 27.000 tons in 1880 it 
had attained to more than 200,000 tons 
in 1897, an amount which is greater 
than the total production of all the 
other countries of the world combined. 
Although copper is worth to-day only 
one-half what it was twenty-five years 
ago, the output is more than thirteen 
times as great. This success has been 
achieved entirely by the introduction of 
improved machinery for the mining of 
the raw material and in efficient pro- 
cesses of metallurgy in the division and 
refining of the ore. The great Calumet 
and Hecla mines in Michigan each treat 
not less than 1,000 tons, and often as 
much as 3,000 tons of rock daily. The 
machinery used in handling this ma- 
terial is the most powerful of its kind — 
compressors and rock drills, pumps for 
lifting water from the mines; huge en- 
gines for hoisting the rocks and enor- 
mous steam stamp mills where the ore 
is prepared for the hydraulic processes 
of concentration which separate it from 
tlie copper. An immense quantity of 
water is required by these mills — not 
less than thirty tons for each ton of 
rock treated — and in the pumping of 



the water from the lake some of the 
lai'gcst pumping engines in the world 
arc used. 

The mining and metallurgy of the 
baser metals — zince, lead and tin, and 
the manufacture of tin plate, have in re- 
cent years become pre-eminently Amer- 
ican industries. The extraordinary 
large deposits of zinc and lead which 
have been found in Kansas and Mis- 
souri have led to some notable improve- 
ments in the methods of smelting, one 
of the most notable being the adoption 
of the electro-magnet. .A new process 
for the manufacture of paint is one of 
the important outgrowths of the Kan- 
sas lead industry. The old process of 
manufacturing white lead by the slow 
corrosion of pig lead has been done 
away with entirely. The intent of the 
new process is to turn the ore directly 
into white lead, and to manufacture that 
into paint. This process started with 
the idea of saving white lead from the 
smoke and fumes of the smelter. It has 
reached such economical development 
that the ability of the workmen to 
stand before the furnace is the measure 
of the amount of lead which shall pass 
into the more valuable product. The 
heat to make the new process efifective 
must be of the most intense character, 
the furnace being fed with broken car 
wheels or anything that will produce 
sufficient heat to turn the lead into 
smoke and fumes, from which the 
white lead is extracted. 

There have been no industrial phe- 
nomena so distinctly characteristic of 
the Nineteenth Century as the sudden 
discovery and development of the utili- 
ties of the oil and natural gas fields of 
Pennsylvania, ^^^est \'irginia and Ohio. 
The rapidity with which advantage has 
been taken of the newly discovered 
resources, and the manner with which 
they have been applied to the widest 
variety of manufacturing purposes, 
have resulted in important modifica- 
tions in a number of industries. Al- 
though petroleum had been known from 
the earliest times, the history of the 
industry really dates from August 28, 
185CJ, when oil was struck at a depth 
of 69}^ feet along the banks of Oil 



464 



THE HO.MK AUXILtAK^■ AND RKKERENCE 



Creek, \'enaiigo County, Fa. This well 
flowed a thousand gallons a day and 
the excitement that followed the dis- 
covery rivaled the gold stampede of 
ten years before. Before the close of 
the year i860, 2,000 flowing wells had 
been sunk, and the daily output of 
seventy-four of them was 1,165 barrels 
of 40 gallons each. Oil Creek below 
Titusyille, the valley of the Allegheny 
from Franklin to Warren County, and 
the banks of French Creek, became one 
bustling city of derricks. I'oor. hard- 
working farmers were made multi-mil- 
lionaires in the course of a night. Small 
villages reared themselves into veritable 
metropolises, and a period of reckless- 
ness and wild extravagance ensued, 
which has never been equalled in the 
history of any mining camp. Although 
the abnormal features of the early de- 
velopment of this particular territory 
have since disappeared, it is still con- 
sidered one of the richest oil-produc- 
ing localities in the world.. More re- 
cent but equally fruitful discoveries of 
oil and natural gas have been made in 
West Mrginia and Ohio and a small 
district near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 
while the fields of Siberia have been 
opened to the world. 

The development of natural gas, al- 
\\ays to be found in greater or less 
quantities in petroleum territory, dates 
back to 1878, but it did not come into 
general use for domestic and manufac- 
turing purposes until 1884. It was then 
piped to Pittsburgh and for a few years 
the Smoky City lost its right to that 
time-honored pseudonym. In 1887 ex- 
tensive gas fields were discovered in 
Indiana, but now, after a dozen years, 
they, too, ha\e become partially ex- 
hausted, although the economy of to- 
day may in part atone for the e.xtrava- 
gance of the past and make them avail- 
able for a generation to come. The 
towns and cities that have sprung up 
around the natural gas centers show 
evidence that they may hold and in- 
crease their prosperity, even should the 
supply of gas become exhausted. 

For many years it was thought im- 
practicable for .'America to even attempt 
the manufacture of tin plate, and that 



industry, which has now reached con- 
siderable proportions, really dates its 
birth to the passage of the tariflf act of 
1890. Since then American tin plate 
competes successfully with the very 
best Cornwall product. The Black 
Hills of Dakota contain 500 square 
miles of tin-producing district, con- 
taining more tin than all the other tin 
mines of the world put together, but 
up to the present time no means of 
working this ore have been discovered. 
Improved methods employed in the 
treatment of the plates are all the re- 
sults of the past forty years. With the 
exception of a few of the Cornwall 
factories, hand-made tin plate is a 
thing of the past. Briefly described, the 
jjresent process consists, first, in plac- 
ing the iron or steel sheet to be coated 
i;i a solution of sulphuric acid or "black 
pickle" for the removal of the scale. 
Washed of the "black pickle" they are 
then annealed in cast-iron bo.xes filled 
with sand to exclude the air. After 
ten or twelve hours' roasting, the plates 
are passed through cold rolls and an- 
nealed a second time, when they are 
ready for the second, or "white pickle." 
After this they are dipped in the tinning 
pot, where they receive the necessary 
coating. 

As has already been mentioned, the 
value of diamonds has in recent years 
depreciated fully one-third. This is due 
partly to improved methods of cutting 
and partly to the discovery of enor- 
mous quantities of the gem in South 
Africa in 1869 and 1870. In the be- 
ginning of the Nineteenth Century dia- 
monds were extremely scarce, because 
of the primitive way of working the 
mines, there being no machinery for 
the purpose of excavation. The South 
African diamonds were at first found 
in gravel surface and entailed scarcely 
any expense in mining. At that time 
the seat of the diamond-cutting in- 
dustry was at Amsterdam, and the 
number of establishments did not ex- 
ceed eight. The development of the 
African mines so increased the trade, 
however, that at present there are be- 
tween fifty and sixty large diamond- 
cutting houses in Amsterdam alone. 



GEOGRAPHY AND ACHIEVEMENTS—EXPLORATIONS 



Antwerp in 1870 liad four establish- 
nicnts and 200 diamond workers ; now 
it has eighty establishments and 4,000 
workers. Large diamond-cutting estab- 
Hshments have also been founded in 
London, Paris, Geneva and Berlin, with 
smaller ones in several of the minor 
cities of France and Germany, and it 
is estimated that there are now 16,500 
persons engaged in the diamond in- 
dustry in Europe. 

Although the discoveries of precious 
stones in America have thus far not 
been such as to warrant high expecta- 
tions, nevertheless gems of exceeding 
value have been found in various states. 
Sapphires of extreme beauty and 
great intrinsic value have been mined in 
Idaho : New Mexico has in late years 
produced some magnificent turquoises, 
together with opals, emeralds and gar- 
nets. Diamonds are met within well 
defined districts of California. North 
Carolina, Georgia, and Wisconsin. Ex- 
quisite beryls have been found in Colo- 
rado, Connecticut, Mrginia and North 
Carolina. 

With the marvelous facilities for 
quarrying and shipping, the production 
of building stones has become one of 
the most thoroughly organized indus- 
tries peculiar to the present century. 

EXPLORATIONS. 

The first man to attempt the solution 
of the "polar problem'' in the Nine- 
teenth Century was Captain William 
.Scoresby, an Englishman, who pushed 
his way through terrible difficulties 
until he reached a latitude of 81 de- 
grees 12 minutes, 42 seconds, on the 
tiorth of Spitzbergen. In 18 18 the 
P)ritish Government sent out two ex- 
peditions. One, under Captain James 
Ross and Lieutenant Edward Parry, 
was dispatched to Davis Straits, and 
the other, under Captain Fuichan and 
r^ieutenant John Franklin, to Spitz- 
bergen. The latter expedition met with 
misfortune before it had reached the 
latitude attained by Captain Scoresby, 
but the former, with the utmost exer- 
tion, succeeded in rediscovering F>affin's 
Bay, passing by way of Lancaster 



Sound 400 miles westward, or about 
half way to Behring Strait. In 1821-3 
Parry made a second journey, discover- 
ing the Fury and Hecla Straits. In a 
third attempt (1827) he succeeded in 
attaining the latitude of 82 degrees 45 
minutes north of Spitzbergen, which 
was no farther than whalers had pene- 
trated in former years, with scarcely a 
hindrance. He quit his ship, the llecla. 
on the northern coast of Spitzbergen 
and betook himself to his boats. When 
he had reached 81 degrees, 13 minutes, 
he encountered difificulties that com- 
pelled him to convert his boats into 
sledges. After a long, perilous journey 
toward the North he discovered that 
the ice on which he was traveling was 
moving Southward as rapidly as he was 
advancing North, and that he was in 
the very same latitude as when he 
started. In the meantime Lieutenant 
Franklin had started on another e.x- 
pedition, in 1819, and had succeeded in 
traversing a long stretch of the coast 
of Arctic America, passing by the Sas- 
katchewan and the Barren Ground as 
far as the Coppermine River, which he 
followed and explored for 500 miles. 
In 1826, accompanied by Dr. Richard- 
son, his companion in the former ex- 
pedition, he descended the Mackenzie 
River and explored the coast of the 
continent through 2>7 degrees of longi- 
tude, pushing as far West as 160 miles 
from Point Barrow, which had been 
reached from the West in 1826 by Cap- 
tain Beechey. Meanwhile the viking 
spirit of Captain Scoresby had not been 
slumbering. In 1822 he had penetrated 
the ice-barriers of Eastern Greenland, 
and had surveyed the coast line from 
"/^ degrees to 69. 

The most important of the early 
Arctic expeditions was that com- 
manded by Captain John Ross and his 
nephew, James C. Ross. The ship \'ic- 
tory, which carried the party, left Eng- 
land in 1829, entered Barrow Strait. 
and into the Gulf of Boothia — named 
in honor of Felix Booth, the patron of 
the expedition. The projecting penin- 
sula on the left, also named Boothia, 
was thoroughly explored, as was also 
King William's Land. On June I, 



466 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



183 1, a wonderful discovery was made. 
The Magnetic Pole, the ancient mys- 
tery of mariners, was located in the 
western part of Boothia. For a long 
time the Rosses were thought to have 
perished, and in 1833 a relief expe- 
dition was sent to their rescue, but be- 
fore reaching them they had been 
picked up by a whaling vessel in Bar- 
row Strait, having had to abandon their 
own ships. In 1837-39 Simpson & 
Dease, of the Hudson Bay Company, 
completed the tracing of the coast line 
westward as far as Point Barrow and 
eastward to the Castor and Pollux 
River. The entire outline of the 
Northern coast of America was not 
known, however, until 1853, when Dr. 
John Rae took up and completed the 
work begun by the Hudson Bay Com- 
pany people and discovered King Wil- 
liam's Land to be an island. 

In June, 1845, the indefatigible John 
Franklin, who had been knighted in 
1829 in recognition of his distinguished 
services as an explorer, was given com- 
mand of the Erebus and the Terror, 
and instructed to attempt to discover a 
practicable northwest passage to India. 
With the blare of trumpets and the ad- 
ulations of a whole nation ringing in 
their ears, the expedition left England 
to meet one of the most tragic fates 
of modern times. The last that was 
seen of the vessels was in July of the 
same year. No news of the party hav- 
ing reached England, a relief expedi- 
tion was sent out which returned with- 
out finding a trace of the lost ones. 
Between that and 1854, twenty sep- 
arate expeditions, at the cost of a mil- 
lion pounds sterling, were sent from 
England and America in hope of 
finding — if not survivors — at least 
traces of the missing crews. The task 
seemed hopeless, but after long and 
persistent endeavors on the part of the 
British Government, of Lady Franklin 
and of private explorers, the mystery 
was finally solved by the expedition of 
McClintock, in 1857. This steamer 
made the melancholy discovery that Sir 
John Franklin died June 11, 1847, o" 
the Northwest coast of King William's 
Land, and that on April 22, 1848, the 



Erebus and the Terror were abandoned 
in the ice. The officers and crew, 105 
souls in all, under Captain Crozier, 
reached King William's Island, whence 
they attempted to make their way to 
the Hudson Bay Company's stations. 
From information gleaned from the 
Esquimaux, and by subsequently dis- 
covered relics of the party, it appears 
that the poor men fell, one by one, on 
the way, dying of cold and starvation, 
and that very few of them ever reached 
the mainland. The relief expeditions 
that were sent out with the hope of 
succoring the ill-fated Franklin party 
have indirectly led to the richest geo- 
graphical results. Among the most im- 
portant of these expeditions is that of 
Dr. Kane, who sailed from New York, 
May 30, 1853. Dr. Kane, three years 
previously, had accompanied Lieu- 
tenant De Haven in an expedition for 
the same purpose. The disappointment 
that had attended the return of the un- 
successful American and English expe- 
ditions only increased the public desire 
to ascertain the fate of Franklin, and 
Dr. Kane shared in this anxiety to the 
extent of contributing his entire fortune 
to the fitting out of the Advance. The 
brave officers and crew were unsuccess- 
ful in obtaining any trace of Franklin 
and had to abandon their ship in the 
ice and travel with sledges and boats 
for eighty-four days, until they reached 
the Danish settlements of Greenland. 
The stories of the suffering and discov- 
eries of this little band of adventurers 
are among the most thrilling in the his- 
tory of Arctic exploration. On his re- 
turn, in 1855, Dr. Kane was awarded 
gold medals by Congress, by the Legis- 
lature of New York and by the Royal 
Geographical Society of London. He 
also received the Queen's Medal given 
to Arctic explorers. 

Previous to 1879 Arctic expeditions 
had left the region north of Behring 
Strait comparatively unexplored and on 
the 8th day of July of that year, the 
ill-fated Jeannette sailed out of the 
Golden Gate at San Francisco bound 
"for that strange land from whose 
bourne," it may almost be said, "no 
traveler returns." The Jeannette, for- 



GEOGRAPHY AND ACHIEVEMENTS— EXPLORATIONS 



4^7 



merly the Pandora, a gunboat, was of- 
ficered and manned from the United 
States Navy. There were thirty-two 
souls on board, under the command of 
Captain De Long, and the ship was 
provisioned for a three years' cruise. 
The ship proceeded by way of St. 
Michaels, Alaska, and thence to 
Wrangle Land, where the ship was 
frozen in on the night of September 20. 
Then came a period of twenty-one 
months drift in the ice pack, and dur- 
ing the first five months only forty 
miles was made. Yet several islands 
were discovered and named. On May 
16, 1880, Jeannette Island was sighted 
in latitude 76 degrees, 47 minutes X, ; 
on May 27, Henrietta Island, JJ de- 
grees, 8 minutes N. ; also Bennet Island, 
in latitude 76 degrees 38 minutes N. 
For two long years nothing was heard 
of the Jeannette, and during all this 
time she was drifting helplessly and 
surely to destruction. On the nth of 
June, 1881, the end came, and the ship 
was crushed to dust beneath a mountain 
of ice from one of those sudden up- 
heavals that had so often threatened 
her during her long sojourn upon this 
floating island. Fortunately, the catas- 
trophe had been anticipated, and the 
crew had been divided into three par- 
ties, which put out in small boats. They 
were then in latitude "j"/ degrees north, 
near New Siberia Island, 500 miles 
from the mouth of the Lena river. The 
boats succeeded in keeping together un- 
til the night of September 12, when a 
terrible storm sent them drifting in dif- 
ferent directions toward the Siberian 
coast. The boat containing Lieutenant 
Chipp and his crew was never heard 
from, but the boats of Captain De Long 
and Chief Engineer ^Melville landed at 
points near the mouth of the Lena. It 
was a barren, desolate shore that De 
Long stepped upon, with no trace of 
its evet before having been trodden by 
a human being. !\Ielville's crew was 
more fortunate in finding a landing 
place, and they immediately instituted 
a search for their superior officer. 
Many weeks afterward tracks were dis- 
covered, and with the assistance of na- 
tive guides, the searching party were at 



I last successful in finding the location 
of the last bivouac. The bodies of De 
Long and his companions were found 
lying about the charred embers of the 
fire they had built. De Long's diary 
was by his side, his pencil grasped in 
his frozen fingers, showing that the de- 
licious rest of that sleep which pre- 
cedes death by freezing had overtaken 
him in the act of making an entry in 
the sad record of his sufi^erings. On 
April 7, 1882, the remains of the whole 
party were laid in one grave, with a 
pile of stone and a wooden cross to 
mark the spot. During the winters of 
1882-3 and 1883-4 the bodies were 
transported across Siberia on dog sleds, 
a distance of 5,761 miles, to the eastern 
terminus of the railroad to Moscow, 
whence the funeral cortege moved on 
to .\merica, special honors being paid 
to it all along the route. 

The next important Arctic expedition 
was that undertaken by K. W. Greely 
(then a lieutenant in the United States 
Army), who started in the ship Proteus 
in the summer of i88r, with twenty- 
five explorers and provisions to last a 
little over two years. Headquarters 
were made in Discovery Harbor in 
August of that year, and the Proteus 
returned to the Lhiited States. The 
chief object of the expedition was to 
establish a scientific international polar 
station in Lady Franklin Bay, as recom- 
mended by the Hamburg International 
Polar Commission of two years before, 
and to this end excursions were made 
into the surrounding country to obtain 
the true position and outline of Grinnel! 
Land. Captain James Lockwood was 
entrusted with the most important work 
of the expedition. In March, 1882, in 
company with Sergeant Brainard, they 
set out on a journey that fixed Lock- 
wood's fame as an Arctic explorer. 
They crossed Robeson channel to New- 
man Bay on dog sleds with the ther- 
mometer ranging from 30 to 55 degrees 
below zero. After reaching Cape Bry- 
ant, on the north coast, they sent back 
all their attejidants except one Esqui- 
maux servant, and proceeded northward 
to an island in latitude 83.20, less than 
350 miles from the pole, where, on May 



468 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



15, Lockvvood unfurled to the breeze the 
United States flag, exultant in the 
thought that it waved in a higher lati- 
tude than had any flag before. The 
little party returned to Fort Conger 
June 17, the journey having occupied 
sixty days and covering a distance of 
1,069 miles. The expedition was rich 
in scientific and geographical results. 
The recorded boundary of known land 
had been extended twenty-eight miles 
nearer the pole and 125 miles hith- 
erto undiscovered coast line mapped 
out. As previously arranged with the 
Government, the Neptune was sent out 
with fresh supplies in 1882 and the 
Proteus in 1883. Neither of these ves- 
sels reached Discovery Harbor, and the 
Proteus was crushed by the ice and 
sunk. Their supplies running low, the 
expedition abandoned their quarters and 
reached Cape Sabine in October with 
supplies for only two months. Their 
sufferings during the succeeding year 
were intense. Sixteen died of starva- 
tion, among them the brave Lockwood, 
one was drowned and one shot to death 
for stealing food from the commissary 
stores. In the meantime the public 
anxiety had grown intense, and the 
United States fitted out another relief 
expedition. Captain Schley (since the 
famous commodore of the American- 
Spanish war), with three ships, Thetis, 
Bear and Aleft, reached Cape Sabine 
June 22, 1884, and took ofif seven sur- 
vivors, then at the point of death. 
Lieutenant Greely was unable to appear 
in public for some time after his rescue, 
but as soon as he was able, he was re- 
ceived with enthusiasm, not only in his 
own country, but abroad. 

The next American to strive for the 
honors of Arctic discovery was Lieu- 
tenant Robert E. Peary, United States 
Navy, who was sent out in June, 1891, 
by the Academy of Natural Sciences 
of Philadelphia. The object of the 
expedition was to explore the north 
and northwest coasts of Greenland 
from the land side. Lieutenant Peary 
was accompanied by his wife and a 
number of scientists detailed by the 
Academy. The expedition sailed June 
6, on the Arctic whaler Kite, Captain 



Richard Pike commander. The jour- 
ney was unmarked by fatalities, and 
the explorers succeeded in attaining 81 
degrees, 2i7 niinutes, a lower latitude 
than that reached by Lockwood and 
Brainard. In 1893 I'eary made a sec- 
ond expedition, accompanied again by 
his wife and a party of scientists. 
After sending home the vessel, the 
party went into camp on the west coast 
of Greenland, where a daughter was 
born in September. The winter of 
1893-94 was spent in preparations for 
sledge exploring. On I\Iarch 6 they 
set out on a journey which resulted in 
the survey and mapping of 150 miles 
of coast line hitherto unknown. A re- 
lief auxiliary expedition opened com- 
munication with Peary on August i, 
and reached Falcon ]3ay August 20. 
They returned August 26, leaving only 
Lieutenant Peary and his two volun- 
teers, Lee and Henson, to complete 
their explorations next season. A 
second relief party brought back the 
explorers to the United States in 1895. 
Peary made a third expedition in 1898, 
remaining until 1902, and reaching the 
high latitude of 84 degrees, i" minutes, 
the highest attained to that time in 
American waters. He went north again 
in 1905, and on this occasion with re- 
markable success. His ship was the 
Roosevelt, a steamship expressly de- 
signed for Arctic navigation, and in the 
spring of 1906 he made a sledge journey 
over the northern ice. Though delayed 
by the breaking of the ice and imperiled 
by the loss of provisions, he made the 
highest northing yet attained, reaching 
the latitude of 9,"/ degrees 4 minutes, N., 
about 200 miles from the pole, and 38 
miles farther north than the point 
reached by the Duke of Abruzzi expe- 
dition. He also extended the survey of 
the northern islands, and added con- 
siderably to our knowledge of Arctic 
geography. 

Tlie Jackson-Harmsworth expedition 
of 1894-97, which left England in the 
whaler Windward, solved some most 
interesting geographical problems. The 
northern coasts of Franz Joseph Land 
were accurately determined, and the 
nuich vexed problem of Gillies Land 



GEOGRAPHY AND ACHIEVEMENTS— EXPLORATIONS 



469 



was decided. It is now quite clear that 
this land does not lie where geographers 
have been in the habit of putting it. 
The map of British Franz Joseph Land 
was practically completed, and the new 
map entirely revolutionizes old ideas of 
the territory. Instead of a continental 
mass of land, as was long supposed, 
there is a vast number of small islands, 
to the north of which is an open sea, 
the most northerly open sea in the whole 
world, and which has been named the 
Queen Victoria Sea. 

This long catalogue of daring Arctic 
adventures was brought to a fitting cli- 
max by the return of Dr. Fridjof Nan- 
sen, the Norwegian explorer, whose 
triumph it is to have gone nearer the 
pole by 200 miles than any of his prede- 
cessors. On June 24, 1893, ^^'^^ wonder- 
fully constructed Pram left Kristiana. 
The success of the expedition was no 
doubt due largely to this vessel, which 
was built on a plan calculated to resist 
the stupendous power of crushing ice 
floes. On the loth of September the 
northern point of Siberia had been 
safely rounded, and the Fram pushed 
eastward toward the New Siberian 
Islands. On September 25, at a latitude 
of 78 degrees 45 minutes, the vessel was 
frozen in about 150 miles north of the 
western part of these islands. Then 
began the routine of the drift. The ship 
was arranged for the winter, and a 
windmill erected for electric service. 
This drift continued until September, 
1894, when Dr. Nansen concluded that 
he and a companion would attempt a 
sledge journey over the ice by which 
he could explore further to the north- 
ward. On Alarch 14th a start was made 
with three sledges and nine dogs each. 
On the first day only nine miles was 
made, the temperature ranging from 40 
to 45 below zero. They pushed on by 
these slow stages until April 8, when a 
chaos of ice blocks barred the way. The 
latitude attained was 83 degrees 13 
minutes 6 seconds, in east longitude 05 
degrees. Progress was so slow and with 
no sign of improvement, that the gigan- 
tic task of covering the 200 miles inter- 
vening between that point and the pole 
had to be abandoned, and it was decided 



to turn to the southward. Then began 
a terrible struggle for life. Exhausted 
nature began to assert itself, and on the 
i2th of the month the pair slept so long 
that their watches ran down. As the 
dogs began to die from exhaustion they 
were killed and fed to the survivors. 
At first some of them refused to eat 
it, but hunger soon destroyed all 
scruples against canine diet. Not until 
the 24th of the following July did the 
sight of land gladden the eyes of the 
weary travelers, and then it was but a 
barren snow-covered shore ; yet twenty- 
two days of terrible struggle elapsed 
before the land was reached. Almost 
impossible ice, lanes and pools had to 
be crossed on short rations, and Nansen 
writes: "Inconceivable toil. We never 
could go on with it if it were not for 
the fact that we must. On the "th open 
water was reached. The two surviving 
dogs were regretfully killed, and after 
many struggles with the ice along shore, 
on the 15th of August the pair set foot 
on the solid earth for the first time in 
two years. It was now too late for 
them to attempt to travel further south, 
and winter quarters were made on one 
of the islands of the Franz Joseph 
archipelago. Here in dull misery and 
squalor, the winter was passed in a half 
comatose condition. They ate and slept 
and kept a few observations going." 
Nansen's journal shows no complaints 
or repinings, although for more than 
two years no food except whale blubber 
had passed his lips. On the 19th of 
May they left their winter lair. After 
many vicissitudes and dangers, on June 
17 Nansen heard the bark of a dog. and 
in a few moments was shaking hands 
with the members of the Jackson- 
Harmsworth expedition. Their task 
was ended and the victory won. The 
journey of Nansen and Johansen from 
the Fram to their winter quarters was. 
in round numbers, about 500 nautical 
miles, and the distance made averaged 
three miles a day. The distance from 
their winter quarters to the nearest fre- 
quented harbor in Spitzbcrgen was 540 
miles. Had Nansen not met with the 
English expedition, the result in the end 
must have been disastrous to him and 



470 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



his companion. Truly fortune favors 
the brave. 

Of the daring Professor A. S. An- 
drea, of Stockholm, there can nothing 
be said. Under the patronage of the 
King of Sweden and the endorsement 
of the Czar of Russia, he started for 
the pole in a huge balloon in May, 1897, 
and up to the present time nothing 
authentic has been seen of or heard 
from him. 

On April 6, 1909, Commodore R. E. 
Peary reached the north pole by sledge 
journey from Cape Columbia, Grant 
Land. Peary's surroundings appear to 
show that he passed the edge of the 
Continental shelf about fifty miles from 
land, in the neighborhood of the pole. 
No bottom was reached, the depth of 
the ocean there exceeding 9,000 feet. 

Dr. Cook, returning from Greenland, 
advanced the claim that he had reached 
the north pole in the spring of 1908, 
but the evidence he adduced was de- 
clared by expert geographers to be un- 
substantial, and his claim has not been 
allowed. 

In this great international race for 
the north pole, the search for the south 
pole has not been neglected. Antarctic 
e.xploration began with the year 1820, 
when the Russian expedition, under 
Eellinghausen, discovered the islets of 
Petra and Alexandria. In 1821 Cap- 
tain George Powell discovered the 
South Orkneys. In 1831 Captain John 
Biscoe discovered Enderby's Land, but 
did not get within twenty miles of it by 
reason of the ice. He also discovered 
Adelaide Island and landed on it. In 
1838 Captain John Bellew and Captain 
Freena discovered a group of volcanic 
islands, one peak of which rose to a 
height of 12,000 feet. In 1839 Dumont 
d'Urville discovered Terre Adelie and 
Cote Clair, two islands. It remained, 
however, for Captain Charles Wilkes, 
commanding the United States explora- 
tion during the years 1838-42 to really 
discover, explore and make certain the 
existence of land around the southern 
pole. Towards the close of December, 
1839, Captain Wilkes and his squadron, 
consisting of the United States flagship 
Vincennes, the Peacock, the schooner 



Flying Fish and the brig Porpoise, set 
out for New South Wales, and by 
January i had reached latitude 43 de- 
grees south. It was midsummer 
weather for that region and prepara- 
tions were made to secure the interior 
of the vessels from cold and wet, which 
inevitably lay in store for them. The 
bold navigators were sailing into a sea 
of mystery and doubt, and no one knew 
what was before them. On January 3 
the fog became so thick that the flag- 
ship's horns were not heard by the 
other vessels and they became scat- 
tered. On the loth the first icebergs 
were met by the Mncennes, and on the 
nth she was unable to proceed for the 
impassable barrier of bergs before her. 
In the meantime the Peacock had 
reached Macquerie Island, and the Por- 
poise was sighted not far off. For 
many days thereafter the three vessels 
of the squadron skirted westward along 
the ice barrier. On the 19th the officers 
of the flagship distinctly saw high land, 
leaving no possible doubt of the dis- 
covery of the Antarctic continent. 
Soundings brought up mud, and great 
bowlders were found on the icebergs. 
All efforts, however, to pass the great 
perpendicular, wall of crystal were 
futile, and after many narrow escapes 
from being ground to powder by the 
ice, days of slow creeping through mist 
and fog, the three ships pointed for 
the Auckland Islands. 

The expedition sent out by the 
British Government in 1839-43 in the 
Erebus and Terror, under Captain 
(afterward Sir) James Ross, was rich 
in geographical results. The two ves- 
sels, which were destined a few years 
later to carry the ill-fated Franklin 
]iarty to its doom, succeeded in reach- 
ing the latitude of 78 degrees 11 min- 
utes S. in February, 1842, without 
mishap. In the first year Kerguelen 
Island was surveyed, and in the fol- 
lowing year \'ictoria Land was sighted 
in 70 degrees S. latitude. Proceeding 
southward along the coast capped with 
lofty mountains, an active volcano, Mt. 
Erebus, 12,400 feet, was sighted in lati- 
tude "JJ degrees 30 minutes ; also an 
extinct volcano, Mt. Terror, lo.tpo feet, 



GEOGRAPHY AND ACHIEVEMENTS— EXPLORATIONS 



471 



but owing to impenetrable ice barriers, 
further progress was impossible. What 
was immediately beyond this high, per- 
pendicular cliff of crystal could not be 
imagined, and to the present day re- 
mains a sublime mystery. With the 
departure of Captain Ross from that 
terra incognita of the South Polar Sea, 
more than half a century ago, its dark- 
ness and desolation become a memory 
only, although an expedition under 
Horchegevink in 1898 and several later 
ones attempted the solution of the 
problem. 

The most interesting feat of explora- 
tion on the North American continent 
recorded in the Xineteeth Century is 
the expedition headed by Captain l\Ieri- 
wether Lewis and Captain William 
Clarke, which was sent out by President 
Jefferson in the summer of 1803 for the 
purpose of exploring the country lying 
between the Missouri Ri\er and the 
Pacific Ocean. This vast stretch of 
territory was then in absolute posses- 
sion of the Indians, and no travelers 
ever set out upon a more dangerous 
journey. In the spring of 1804 they 
began the ascent of the Missouri River, 
having passed the previous winter on 
the banks at its confluence with the 
^Mississippi. They could travel only by 
slow stages, owing to frequent surprises 
from the Indians, who showed them- 
selves extremely hostile to the encroach- 
ments of the whites. The second win- 
ter was passed in the Mandans, and 
not until the middle of June did they 
reach the great falls. A short distance 
above this point they discovered the 
three concurring streams, which they 
named Jefferson, Madison and Gallatin, 
in honor of the President, Secretary of 
State and Secretary of the Treasury. 
They ascended the Jeft'erson to its 
source, and, accompanied by a guide 
from the Shonshone tribe of Indians, 
they traveled through the fastness of 
the mountains until September 22, 
when they entered the plains of the 
great western slope. On October 7 
they embarked in canoes on the Koon- 
koosky, which proved to be a branch 
of the Columbia River, and by Xo- 
vember 15th, after many thrilling 



escapes from death, they met the tide 
of the great Pacific, having traveled 
more than four thousand miles from 
the confluence of the Missouri and the 
Mississippi. The third winter was 
passed on the south bank of the Co- 
lumbia River, tlie explorers devoting 
every moment of their time to survey- 
ing and investigating the surrounding 
territory. The homeward journey, 
with all its dangers, was begun on 
March 23, 1806, and they reached St. 
Louis September 23, after an absence 
of two years and four months. In 
return for the invaluable services ren- 
dered the nation in opening this im- 
mense territory. Congress made grants 
of land to all the members of the 
expedition. Lewis was made Governor 
of Missouri, and Clarke was appointed 
a member of his staff. 

Few explorers have begun the careers 
for which they were destined under 
such romantic circumstances as did 
the "Pathfinder," as John Charles Fre- 
mont is commonly called. As a young 
topographical engineer in 1840 he was 
engaged in Washington in preparing a 
report of some minor expedition which 
he had made a couple of years before. 
Here he became engaged to Miss Jessie 
Renton, the daughter of a Missouri 
Senator, much against the wishes of 
her parents. Through the potent influ- 
ence of Colonel Benton, the unwelcome 
suitor received peremptory orders to go 
to the western frontier and make an 
examination of the Des Moines River. 
The commands were instantly complied 
with, the young officer returned, and 
after secretly marrying the young lady, 
projected a geographical survey of the 
entire United States from the Missouri 
River to the Pacific Ocean. This gi- 
gantic task begun May 2, 1842. was 
successfully accomplished in the in- 
credibly short time of four months. 
As soon as his reports had been sub- 
mitted to Congress he planned another 
and still more extensive expedition, 
and in May. 1843, h^ commenced a 
journey, the ultimate object of which 
was to explore and survey the terra 
incognita lying between the Rocky 
Mountains and the Pacific Ocean, On 



472 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



September 6, after traveling 1,700 
miles, Great Salt Lake was seen shim- 
mering in the distance. Up to that 
time nothing accurate had been known 
about this great inland sea. The upper 
tiibutarics of the Columbia were ne.xt 
accurately surveyed, and the journey 
extended to Vancouver. Returning by 
the southeast route, leading from the 
Columbia to the Colorado River, he 
found himself in an unknown region 
encompassed by lofty mountain peaks. 
It was now late in November, and death 
confronted the whole party, forty in 
all. The beautiful summer land of 
California lay beyond the rugged, snow- 
clad mountain chains, but the Indians 
declared that no man could pass. Ex- 
orbitant rewards were offered, but none 
were great enough to induce an Indian 
to attempt to guide the party. At this 
juncture Fremont won his famous 
sobriquet of the "Pathfinder." He led 
his company out and began one of the 
most thrilling feats in history. With- 
out a guide he crossed the terrible bar- 
riers that stood between life and death, 
and in forty days from beginning the 
ascent the party was at Sutter's Fort on 
the Sacremento. \\'hen his half perish- 
ing men had been restored sufficiently 
the homeward journey was made. The 
Sierra Nevadas were crossed, Salt Lake 
revisited, and in July, 1844, Kansas 
was entered from the South Pass. In 
the spring of 1845 the "Pathfinder" 
set out with a third expedition to ex- 
plore the great basin of the Rocky 
Mountains and the coast of Oregon and 
California. The skirmishing prelimi- 
nary to the breaking out of the Mexican 
war prompted him to now defend the 
territory he had discovered and ex- 
plored, and under his leadership in less 
than a month all Northern California 
was freed from Mexican authority. On 
July 4, 1846, he was elected Governor 
of California. During the progress of 
the Mexican war he got into difficulties 
with his superior military officers, was 
ordered to Washington, court-martialed 
and relieved of his command. Un- 
daunted and undiscouraged, he started 
out on a fourth expedition across the 
continent in October. This time the 



route was along the Rio Grande, 
through the then unknown country of 
the fierce Apaches, Comanches and 
Utes. Of all his expeditions this was 
the only unfortunate one. His guide 
lost his way, and they were stranded 
far in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in 
dead of winter. One by one the horses 
and mules began to die, and finally the 
men. Their sufferings were horrible, 
and finally cannibalism was resorted to. 
I'^remont, with a remnant of emaciated 
and half delirious men, succeeded in 
finding their way back to Sante Fe. No 
sooner had he recovered from the 
efl'ects of his terrible experiences than 
he started out again with a party of 
thirty, who succeeded in reaching Cali- 
fornia in the spring of 1849 without 
serious difficulty. 

AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS. 

In 1816 Captain Tuckey succeeded 
in exploring the Congo as far as the 
first rapids. In August, 1827, Clapper- 
to!i, in company with Denham, made 
his famous journey from Tripoli to 
Lake Chad, and crossed Africa from 
the Bight of Benin to Sokoto. In 1820- 
27 a survey of nearly all the west and 
east coast was made by Captain F. 
W. Owen, and the north coast by the 
Beecheys. In 1840 Abyssinia was ex- 
plored by Dr. Beke, and in 1843-6 
Mansfield Parkyns and Chichele Plow- 
den made egress into this forbidden 
land by way of the Nile. In 1846 John 
Petherick traversed the territory from 
Keneh to Kosseir, and in 1853 entered 
the land of the Jur. James Richard- 
son was the first European to enter 
Ghat, and after exploring Fezzan 
turned to Tripoli in 1850. An expedi- 
tion, 185 1-4, under Dr. Barth, explored 
the Central Sudan States, the Niger, 
Shari and Binue and the territory 
watered by them, and visited Timbuktu. 
In 1850 Francis Galton made a 2,000 
mile journey through the country of 
Damara and the Ovampo. 

In 1840 the immortal Livingstone, 
with whose name African exploration 
is probably more closely associated than 
with that of any other traveler, went 



GEOGRAPHY AND ACHIEVEMENTS— AFRICAN EXPLORATIONS 473 



to Soulli Africa as a missionary. The 
year 1847 found him settled in the very 
interior, whence, in 1849, he accom- 
panied Oswell and Murray on an expe- 
dition in search of Lake Xgami, about 
which he had obtained some informa- 
tion from the natives. On August ist 
he discovered the magnificent sheet of 
water, and during the few days fol- 
lowing explored its borders, afterward 
making an extended voyage down its 
outlet, the Zouga. In 1852, after hav- 
ing sent his family to England, Living- 
stone commenced a journey of dis- 
covery that won for him the plaudits 
of the entire world. For four long 
years he traversed South Africa from 
the Cape of Good Hope, passing 
through Tete, descending the Zambesi 
to the sea, traveling in all an estimated 
distance of 11,000 miles. For this great 
achievement he received the \'ictoria 
Gold Medal of the Geographical So- 
ciety, and when he visited England in 
1S56 he was received with distinguished 
honors. In the spring of 1858 he re- 
turned to Africa and (accompanied by 
Mrs. Livingstone) began his famous 
Zambesi expedition, which continued 
until 1864. After following the course 
of the great stream for a long distance 
he turned off toward the north and 
explored the beautiful Lake Nyassa, 
which he discovered in September, 185Q. 
The death of Mrs. Livingstone at 
Shupanga, April 27, 1862, was a sad 
ending for a long succession of bril- 
liant accomplishments, and in 1864 Dr. 
Livingstone returned to England. He 
immediately made preparations for 
another expedition, and in April, 1865, 
he left his native land, never to return. 
Nothing was heard from him for a 
year, and in March, 1867, it was re- 
ported that he had been assassinated 
l)y the natives. Only occasional stray 
bits of news regarding his movements 
were received by the outside world 
until 1869. Then followed a long 
silence of two years' duration. Public 
anxiety had by this time reached a 
fever heat, and the Xew York Herald 
sent out its correspondent, Henry M. 
Stanley, to search for the missing man. 
He there found the lost Livingstone 



alive and well, and received from him 
an account of his long wanderings and 
marvelous discoveries. ■ Livingstone and 
Stanley together now made an explora- 
tion of the north end of Tanganyka. In 
March, 1872, Stanley returned to Eng- 
land, and Livingstone proceeded south 
to Bangweolo, where he died. In his 
career as an explorer Livingstone trav- 
ersed some 29,000 miles of .\frican 
soil, most of it new, and he laid open 
nearly one million square miles of terri- 
tory that was previously unknown and 
which had appeared on the map as an 
absolute blank. 

While Livingstone was at work in 
South Africa, Burton and Speke, Grant 
and Baker, were exploring the mag- 
nificent domains of the Upper Xile 
country. In 1861 Speke and Grant 
reached L'nyanyembe, and the two suc- 
ceeding years were spent in a march 
northward to the Victoria Nyanza, the 
vast inland fresh water lake discovered 
by Speke in his expedition with Bur- 
ton in 1857. The outlet of the Xile 
at Ripon Falls was discovered, and in 
February, 1863, they met Sir Samuel 
Baker at Gondokora on the White Xile. 
There was great joy among the trav- 
elers when they met on the shores of 
this classic stream, and there were many 
congratula; ions exchanged. Speke and 
Grant by iheir discovery of the main 
source of the Xile had solved a puzzle 
that had been exercising the imagina- 
tions of geographers since the dawn of 
history. Sir Samuel related his re- 
discovery of the Muta Nzige of Speke 
and of a second vast sheet of water, to 
which he gave the name of .\lbert 
Nyanza. In 1874-79 Gordon Pasha 
cleared up still further the mystery of 
the Upper Nile, and obtained much 
valuable knowledge of the territory on 
either side of the river. In 1887-0 
Stanley headed an English expedition 
sent out to the relief of Emin Pasha, 
which resulted in further knowledge 
regarding the hydrography of the Nile 
and the Congo. 

The expedition which fixed .Stanley's 
fame as one of the greatest explorers 
the world has ever known was that 
which began in 1873, when he circum- 



474 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



navigated the Victoria Nyanza, visited 
Uganda, marched across an unknown 
countr}' to the rrver Lualaba, on which 
he embarked in November, 1876, not 
knowing where the mighty torrent 
would lead him. He traveled a distance 
of 1,800 miles, and when he reached 
the mouth of the river, in August, 
1877, it proved to be the Congo. This 
was the most important discovery that 
had ever been made in the exploration 
of the dark continent. Its consequences 
were of vast political and commercial 
importance, among them the founding 
of the Congo Free State. 

Although the opening of Africa has 
been pre-eminently an English under- 
taking, much work has been done by 
French and German expeditions. One 
of the most remarkable exploits is that 
of Commander Monteil, a Frenchman, 
who early in 1893 completed a journey 
of 4,400 miles, three-fifths of it in 
humid tropical Africa, and two-fifths 
in the thirsty desert. He is the first 
white man to cross from ocean to ocean 
the country lying below the great north- 
ern bend of the Niger River, and he 
is the second white man to reach Lake 
Tchad from the Atlantic Ocean. The 
expedition in 1893 of Lieutenant Von 
Gotzen across the forests of Central 
Africa, from sea to sea, was a note- 
worthy one from a geographical stand- 
point. In the year 1861 Gerhard Rohlfs 
began his explorations. Disguised as 
a Moorish physician, he entered the 
Kingdom of Morocco, practiced for a 
time with great success at Fez, and 
subsequently visited all parts of the 
country north of the Great Sahara. 
During a journey to the oasis of Tafilit, 
in the Sahara, he was attacked by the 
leaders of the caravan he had joined, 
robbed, severely wounded and left as 
dead by the maurauders. A band of 
passing dervishes found him nearly dy- 
ing with thirst and loss of blood, and, 
binding his wounds and giving him a 
supply of water, left him to continue 
his journey unmolested. Undaunted 
by this terrible experience he under- 
took to reach the oasis of Tuat, which 
had never been visited by a European. 
He succeeded in this remarkable ven- 



ture, secretly measured and mapped it, 
and then made his way to Tripoli by 
way of the more northerly Oasis of 
Chadames. This- journey counts among 
the most important and daring explora- 
tions of the Dark Continent. 

To name all the men who have within 
the past fifty years de\'oted their lives, 
and in many cases sacrificed them, to 
the details of African exploration, 
would be an impossible task, and to 
make a selection would be invidious. 
Scores of scientists and brave mission- 
aries have laid down their lives in at- 
tempts to probe the mysteries of the 
interior, and countless minor expedi- 
tions have gone into the heart of the 
Dark Continent never to be seen or 
heard of again. 

AUSTRALIAN EXPLORATIONS. 

The exploration of Australia has 
been a strictly English enterprise. The 
exploration of the interior was begim 
immediately after the founding of the 
convict settlement in Botany Bay in 
1815. The first important expedition 
was that led by Edward John Eyre 
in 1841 from Adelaide to King George's 
Sound, 1,040 miles distant. The Dar- 
ling and Murray Rivers were explored 
by Captain Stuart in 1844-45, ^'id he 
succeeded in reaching a point within 
a short distance of the interior of the 
continent. After this development was 
rapid. Augustus Gregory in 1856 
ascended the \^ictoria River to its 
source, made a long and painful jour- 
ney to the Gulf of Carpentaria and ar- 
rived at Brisbane, having marched a 
distance of 6,500 miles through abso- 
lutely new territory. Queensland was 
explored in 1843-6 by Leichardt, and , 
in 1857-60 the great lakes and mountain 
ranges of West Australia were explored 
by ^Varburton, McDouall, Stuart, Swin- 
don and a host of others. South 
Australia received a careful survey and 
exploration at the hands of the McKin- 
ley expedition of 1861-2. From 1875 
until the present time expeditions have 
been constantly in the field, opening 
new territory, and discovering lakes 
and rivers theretofore unknown. 



GEOGRAPHY AND ACHIEVEMENTS— MARVELOUS MACHINERY 475 



MARVELOUS MACHINERY. 

There is a constant multiplcation of 
labor-saving machines. Patents are be- 
ing applied for and issued daily on 
mechanical constructions designed 
cither to aid or supplant man-power. 
There is no field of industry, however 
unimportant, which has not been in- 
vaded by the inventor with a view to 
minimizing the human effort required 
tlierein to produce its quota of ma- 
terial. 

The sewing machine is probably the 
most familiar as well as one of the most 
important of labor-saving devices. Its 
value as a labor saver is incalculable 
when one considers that in the United 
States alone there are 700.000 manu- 
factured annually. America is the 
sewing machine center of 'the world. 
The tenth day of September, 1846, may 
justly be considered the birthday of the 
sewing machine — that is, the machine 
as we know it to-day. On that date 
Elias Howe, to whom has been ac- 
corded the title of father of the sewing 
machine, took out patents on a practical 
invention, to which have been con- 
stantly added improvements, until there 
now seems nothing lacking to its per- 
fection. It is a remarkable fact that 
notwithstanding the sewing machine's 
being originally the idea of an English- 
man, Americans, and .-Xmericans alone, 
have developed that idea. The records 
of the English Patent Office show that 
Thomas Saint patented a sewing ma- 
chine in the latter part of the Eighteenth 
Century. A clumsy and archaic de- 
vice was this initial effort as compared 
with the beautiful mechanism of the 
modern machine. Saint's machine 
sewed with a chain stitch, an awl form- 
ing the hole, and a needle with a notch 
in its pointed end carried the thread 
through the cloth and formed a loop. 
An equally crude attempt was made by 
Tliimonnier, a Frenchman, in 1830. 
Walter Hunt, of New York, invented 
p. machine in 1834, but his application 
for patent was rejected on the ground 
of abandonment. 

Howe's struggle against adversity 
while perfecting the priceless secret 



which lay hidden in his brain, and his 
final triumph, read like a page of 
romance. When the father of the sew- 
ing machine first conceived the idea 
of his invention he was absolutely ig- 
norant of the early attempts of his 
predecessors. Plad he known of the 
attempts of Saint and Thimonnier his 
road to success might have been many 
years shorter. Howe's first device was 
a needle pointed at both ends, and hav- 
ing an eye in the center. He soon 
abandoned this idea. Then there came 
to him the happy thought, all his own, 
of using two separate threads, one in 
the needle and the other under the cloth, 
and forming a stitch by the co-operation 
of the shuttle. This was in 1844, and 
in 1845 lie had constructed a machine 
along these lines, on which he sewed 
two complete suits of clothes for him- 
self. Flushed with triumph, the in- 
ventor submitted his machine to the 
inspection of the tailors, to be met not 
with encouragement, but with suspicion 
and derision, although the machine beat 
five of the swiftest sewers. After se- 
curing his patent, Howe, discouraged 
by the treatment which his countrymen 
had accorded him, betook himself to 
London with his "hobby." Here he 
fared no better, and several years later 
returned to America, penniless, to dis- 
cover that in his absence the mechanical 
world had awakened to its possibilities 
and that his shuttle machine was being 
built and sold right and left. After a 
bitter contest Howe was given the cus- 
tody and control of the child of his 
brain. In pronouncing the verdict in 
Howe's suit against I. M. Singer & 
Company, decreed in 1854, Judge 
Sprague, of Massachusetts, observed 
that "there is no evidence in this case 
that leaves the shadow of a doubt that, 
for all the benefit bestowed upon the 
public by the introduction of the sew- 
ing machine, the public is indebted to 
Mr. Howe." 

Some idea of the patient investiga- 
tion, deep thought, time and money that 
have been spent in perfecting the mod- 
ern sewing machine may be gained from 
the fact that from 1842 to i8q8 more 
than 7,000 patents have been granted 



476 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



on its various improvements and modi- 
fications. 

It is in the use of sewing machines 
in factories that the greatest revolution 
has been eiifected. The manufactures 
in which sewing machines are essential 
are awnings, tents, sails, bags, book- 
binding, boots and shoes, clothing for 
men and women, corsets, flags, banners, 
men's furnishing goods, gloves, mittens, 
hats, caps, pocketbooks, rubber and elas- 
tic goods, shirts, saddlery and harness. 
The largest sewing machine in the 
world is in operation in Leeds. It 
weighs 6,500 pounds and sews cotton 
belting. One of the most beneficial 
effects of the sewing machine, next in 
importance to its value as a labor saver, 
is the cheapening of clothing. The 
enormous increase during the last 
twenty years in the factory production 
of ready-made clothing has been coin- 
cident with and largely the result of 
the invention of special appliances and 
attachments adapting the sewing ma- 
chine to factory operation in the per- 
formance of all stitching processes, in- 
cluding buttonhole and eyelet making, 
attaching buttons, staying seams, insert- 
ing whalebones, etc., etc. 

The evolution of the textile industry 
has been as rapid as it is picturesque. 
It is almost impossible to associate the 
whirr of the spinning wheel of the 
olden time with the terrific roar of the 
modern textile factory, and yet less than 
a hundred years ago the spinning wheel 
was found in the house of every thrifty 
man or woman. The labor-saving ma- 
chines which have contributed to make 
the industry what it is to-day have all 
been inventions of the past sixty years. 
Before then the various processes of 
manufacture were in a transitory state 
of existence. In 1851 mechanical 
methods, systems and comparative per- 
fections of product became known to 
the world at the London International 
Exhibit, and from that time down to 
the present there has been a succes- 
sion of clever inventions, the ultimate 
object of which was the saving of 
human labor. No manufacture offers 
a more striking illustration of this ap- 
parent displacement of man by machine. 



\\ ith the power loom the weaver now 
weaves 180 picks per minute, whereas 
with the old hand loom he could weave 
but sixty. When the power loom was 
first introduced one weaver was re- 
quired for each loom, and still more 
recent improvements have made it pos- 
sible for one operative to attend to ten 
looms. The ring frame improvements 
in the spinning process have displaced 
that line of labor to such an extent that 
but one-third the number of operatives 
formerly required is now necessary. 
\\ ith the single spindle hand wheel one 
spinner could spin five skeins of num- 
ber ^2 twist in fifty-six hours. The 
modern mule spinning machine, con- 
taining 2,214 spindles, produces 55,098 
skeins of the same thread in the same 
time. With the old hand loom one 
weaver could weave forty-two yards 
of coarse cotton per week ; now a single 
operator can turn out 3,000 yards of 
the same product in the same time. 
It is computed that in the manufacture 
of cotton goods alone improved ma- 
chinery has reduced muscular labor 50 
per cent, in the production of the same 
quality of goods. 

So perfect is the equipment of the 
modern cotton factory throughout that 
the first processes through which a bale 
of cotton must pass are entirely auto- 
matic. The bale is broken open by 
machinery, thrown upon an endless 
chain, which carries it up through the 
mill and breaks and picks it to pieces. 
It then passes through machines that 
take out the dirt, and is run through 
great rollers, which separate the strands 
and joins them together again almost in 
the form of yarn. It then passes into 
a machine which converts the soft mass 
into what resembles cotton batting, 
whence it goes to the carding machine. 
This mechanism contains teeth so fine 
that thousands of them are on a square 
foot of surface. These brush and comb 
the cotton as it passes through them, 
and turn it out in a great soft white 
rope, which is seized by a series of 
machines which twist it tighter and 
tighter as it passes from one to another 
until it has been drawn out to the re- 
quired fineness. It is now ready for 



GEOGRAPHY AND ACHIEVEMENTS— MARVELOUS MACHINERY 477 



the weaving room, and in five minutes 
the soulless machine has done an 
amount of work which would require 
the old time spinner long years of 
patient, unceasing toil. The thread 
comes to the weaving room wound 
on spindles, and another set of threads 
are wound upon rollers of the width of 
the cloth. These are to make the warp 
of the cloth. The spindles which mo\e 
in and out with beautiful precision form 
the warp. The only human agency 
required in the actual process of weav- 
ing a piece of cotton is a girl or man 
to attend the loom and keep an eye 
on the shuttle, which flies back and 
forth about 150 times every minute. 
So great has been the improvement of 
modern machinery over that used sixty 
years ago that the productive capacity 
of a spindle to-day is 44 per cent, 
greater that it was then, and the indus- 
try itself has increased in production 
almost 900 per cent. 

What is true of the cotton manufac- 
ture is likewise so of the wool-weav- 
ing industry. Improvements in ma- 
chinery and labor-saving methods have 
expanded the annual product from $70,- 
000,000 in 1850 to nearly $300,000,000. 
The chief mechanical factors respon- 
sible for this vast increase are the loom 
and the comb, now brought to a re- 
markable state of efficiency. The 
combing machine, which is almost iden- 
tical to that used in cotton making, is 
of comparative recent development. 
The introduction of the improved ma- 
chine about twenty-seven years ago 
completely revolutionized the wool 
industry, with a consequent increase in 
productiveness of about .'^ 100,000,000 
and a proportionately infinite decrease 
of labor. 

The inventive genius of mankind has 
not despised the plebeian, but useful, 
nail, and labor-saving mechanisms for 
its output are so successful that the cost 
of production of a single keg of nails is 
infinitesimal. Indeed so cheap have 
wire nails become that if a carpenter 
drops one it is cheaper for him to let 
it lie than to stop and pick it up. It 
is claimed that one keg out of five is 
never used, but goes to waste. A statis- 



tician who recently figured this out, on 
the assumption that it takes a carpenter 
ten seconds to pick up a nail, and his 
time is worth thirty cents an hour, com- 
putes that the recovery of the dropped 
nail would cost 0.083 cent ; while the 
cost of an individual sixpenny nail is 
0.0077. Such a calculation brings out 
clearly the marvelous reduction in 
prices due to inventive genius. This is 
true of every item which would come 
under the cover of a hardware dealer's 
catalogue. There are in machine shops 
all over the country grey-haired me- 
chanics who well remember the time 
when the ideas of machine-made files 
were held up to scorn, and when all 
first-class, well-known makes of files 
were hand cut. It would be difficult 
for them to now tell the difference be- 
tween a hand-made and a machine- 
made file. Within the past few years 
machines have been making files which 
cannot be approached by the most ex- 
pert file cutters of Sheffield. The great 
difficulty in perfecting the file-cutting 
machine was the inability to cut uneven 
teeth, for the teeth of a file are not so 
even as they look. This irregularity in 
the case of hand-made files, was the 
evidence of extraordinary skill, and it 
was on this point that the hand work- 
ers considered their position unassail- 
able. The successful machine cuts the 
teeth with a loose chisel, and the feed 
is such that the gradation of width and 
depth gives the teeth that unevenness 
so desirable. Equally incredulous were 
the old-school mechanics over the pos- 
sibilities of the machine-made rasp, 
which late years have seen brought to 
a high state of mechanical perfection. 
Pins, like nails, are such a cheap 
commodity that it is an extravagant 
waste of time to pick up a dropped 
one from the floor. And yet not so 
very long ago it took twelve to four- 
teen men to make a pin — that is, there 
were twelve or fourteen processes in 
its manufacture, each requiring per- 
formance separately and by a different 
hand. Now one machine turns out a 
steady stream of pins at the rate of 
more than two hundred a minute. Until 
the Nineteenth Century, particularly 



478 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



the latter half of it, pins have been 
esteemed almost as dearly as jewels 
and fine laces. The term "pin money" 
is significant of the value attached to 
the article. One of the laws of the 
ancient pin makers of Paris was that 
no maker should open more than one 
shop for the sale of his ware, except 
on New Year's Eve and New Year's 
Day. Then the court ladies obtained 
money from their husbands and rushed 
to the pin shops to lay in their yearly 
supply. Even so late as 1761 John 
and Thomas Stevenson inserted a 
modest advertisement in a Boston news- 
paper informing their customers that 
among other elegancies they had im- 
ported pins and needles. 

Simple and insignificant as is the pin 
in appearance, its manufacture involves 
a most complicated process, and much 
intelligent thought and ingenuity has 
been expended upon the perfection of 
mechanism that contributes to its im- 
mense production. The wire is pre- 
pared by drawing it from an immense 
coil through an aperture the size of the 
pin wanted. It then passes into a ma- 
chine through a hole and between a 
series of iron pegs, which straighten it 
and hold it in place. A pair of pincers 
pulls it along and thrusts the end of 
the wire through a hole in an iron plate, 
on the other side of which a little 
hammer beats on the end of the wire 
and thus forms the head of the pin. 
Then a knife descends and cuts if off 
to the required length. The pin falls 
into a groove, from which it hangs 
suspended by the head and with the 
lower end exposed to the action of a 
cylinder by which process the pin is 
pointed. These processes are all per- 
formed with such rapidity that there 
is an endless stream of pins falling 
from the end of the machine. They 
next pass between two grinding wheels 
and are forced against a rapidly moving 
band faced with emery cloth, which 
gives them a still sharper point. After 
they are dipped in the polishing tub 
of oil, where they receive a brilliant 
polish and finish, they are ready for 
the sticker, where they fall from a hop- 
per on an inclined plane containing a 



number of slits. The pins are caught 
in these slits, point downward, and slide 
along an apparatus which iserts them 
in paper. This mechanism is perhaps 
the most beautiful and ingenious of all 
the complicated contrivances that help 
in the making and manipulation of the 
pin. It does its work at the rate of 
100,000 pins per hour, and yet so deli- 
cate is its construction that a single 
bent or imperfect pin will cause it to 
stop feeding until the obstruction is re- 
moved by the attendant. 

Machinery for the cheap and rapid 
production of buttons of all kinds is 
a notable acquisition to Nineteenth Cen- 
tury industry. Two hundred years ago 
there were not so many buttons in the 
w-hole world as one will find to-day in 
the smallest country "general" store, 
and each one of these buttons was made 
by hand. Less than fifty years ago 
there was not a single button factory 
in the United States and practically no 
machinery for its production in Europe. 
Buttons were strictly an imported lux- 
ury, and the common people had to put 
up with very common grades, and not 
many of such kinds, for buttons were 
an expensive convenience. Now they 
are so cheap as to justify the use of the 
phrase "not worth a button." It is com- 
puted that the people of the United 
States alone unbutton one billion four 
hundred million buttons every night, 
when they get ready to go to bed. 
Samuel Williston, of Easthampton, 
i\Iass., started the button industry in 
the United States in 1848. Williston 
was a country storekeeper who failed 
in business, and whose wife covered 
buttons to eke out a miserable existence. 
W'illiston's attention being drawn to the 
subject, he soon invented a machine to 
do the work of covering the old-fash- 
ioned wooden button molds, which in- 
vention not only brought him a fortune, 
but excited the ambition of other in- 
ventors in the same direction. The 
machines used in making buttons are 
necessarily multitudinous, and although 
their product is simple the machines 
themselves are of the most clever 
mechanism. 



GEOGRAPHY AND ACHIEVEMENTS— MARVELOUS MACHINERY 



This liistory of American progress is 
contemporaneous with the growth of 
the paper trade, and that growth owes 
its evolution entirely to the labor-sav- 
ing machinery which has been intro- 
duced into the industry. Chief among 
these mechanisms was the invention of 
Louis Robert, which revolutionized the 
paper business. This machine was per- 
fected and patented early in the century 
by Fourdrinier, and it remains to-day, 
Vi'ith multitudinous improvements, the 
standard paper maker of the world. In 
i860 a German named \'oelter per- 
fected a system whereby wood fibre 
was substituted for rags, and the prob- 
lem of still cheaper paper was solved. 
To such perfection has this process of 
Voelter's been carried that if the dis- 
tance were destroyed, the tall spruce 
tree of to-day might supply the fibre 
for to-morrow's newspaper. The ma- 
terial out of which wood fibre paper is 
made is usually spruce timber. The 
huge circular saws of this machine cut 
the logs into the proper length for the 
splitting machine ; another machine re- 
moves the knots, after which it is but 
a short journey to the grinders, which 
reduce the wood into a pulp by huge 
revolving grindstones. From the mo- 
ment the log leaves the hands of the 
grindstone feeder the work of man is 
finished. From that point until the 
huge white roll of paper is put into 
the packers' hands the machinery has 
done all the work. The pulp, in either 
its raw state as it leaves the pulp mill, 
or in the storage condition, is fed into 
the engine, which is a simple contri- 
vance resembling the threshing machine 
in its construction. A cylinder covered 
with steel teeth revolves in a tub of 
pulp, which has been thinned with 
water. In opposition to this cylindrical 
motion is a bed of steel teeth, so ar- 
ranged that those in the revolving 
cylinder will pass those in the bed. This 
process breaks the pulp into fibre of 
proper length and at the same time 
mixes the pulp with water. When the 
large vat of pulp has been reduced to 
the proper consistency the mash is 
transferred to a receptacle, where it 
awaits the call of the ])aper machine. 



The thoroughly mixed pulp is then fed 
on to an endless brass wire cloth, the 
meshes of which allow the water to 
escape as it moves. The wire cloth is 
kept in a vibrating motion, thus accel- 
erating the flow of water and assisting 
in the knitting of the fibre. An end- 
less web of felt takes the soft mass of 
refined pulp, and conducts it through 
several large, cold rollers. This opera- 
tion removes much of the latent mois- 
ture and presses the beds of fibre into 
closely knit strips, which are carried 
through a succession of hot rollers, 
w-hence the paper comes out dry and 
firm. The calender process completes 
the operation, and the paper is auto- 
matically wound into immense rolls 
measuring three feet in diameter. But 
the product turned out by the fore- 
going process is simply paper in its 
most primitive form, e. g., for wrapping 
or common printing uses. Inventors 
have not been contented to allow this 
commodity to remain in such a com- 
paratively narrow field of utility. They 
have devised processes whereby we 
have paper car wheels, and to some 
extent, in Russia and Germany, railroad 
trains are run on paper rails. We have 
paper horseshoes, paper dress materials, 
trunks and dishes. In Japan paper 
houses are said to be common, and in 
this country paper boats are in daily 
use, as are also paper pipes for carry- 
ing water, steam and sewage. 

The story of the hat is but an unceas- 
ing buzz of marvelous machinery from 
the moment the fur is deposited in the 
"devil," until it is ready for the wearer's 
head. The ordinary felt hat of the 
present day is made almost entirely of 
animal matter, the only vegetable ma- 
terial entering into its construction be- 
ing the cotton back of the satin of 
which the linings are made. The fur 
which has been cut from the hide by 
a mechanical process is thoroughly 
sifted by the teeth of the "devil," "a 
cone-shaped box through which a cur- 
rent of air passes. The fur is then 
ready for the blowing machine, the 
latest of which is an English invention. 
This machine consists of a box forty 
feet long and about four feet square. 



48o 



THE HO^IE AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



This process sorts the hair from the 
fur. The fur, being ligliter than the 
hair, floats into one compartment, while 
the hair remains in another. Next is 
the forming macliine, which consists of 
a wide oil cloth apron, a pair of feed 
rolls, picker, a metallic drum, an open 
turn table and a powerful exhaust fan. 
The fan creates a current of air into 
which the fur is thrown from the drum 
to the cone. When the fur is all on the 
cone, just enough for one hat, it is 
wrapped in wet cloths and immersed in 
hot water, where it remains a moment 
before going to the hands of the hard- 
ener. Thence it goes to the "sizing" 
machine, the shaving machine and the 
"second sizing" machine, by which time 
it is ready for the stiffening process. 
Not until it has been blocked, however, 
does the cone of fur bear the least re- 
semblance to a hat. The blocking, 
which is entirely mechanical, is done by 
immersing the bodies in hot water and 
shaping them, one at a time, over blocks 
suited to the hat's final style and shape. 
The dyeing process which follows that 
of blocking is also purely mechanical. 
Then follows the finishing. In this pro- 
cess the hat is taken to a steaming table 
where it is held in live steam until it 
becomes soft enough to pull over the 
block which gives the crown its final 
shape. After this follows the stiffen- 
ing, curling and trimming operations, 
if it be a derby hat. Soft hats are 
treated essentially the same as stiff, ex- 
cept some details of the stiffening pro- 
cess. While there is still some hand 
work done in the later stages of the 
making of a felt hat in an American 
factory, such a thing is almost unknown 
in an English factory. During the last 
twenty-five years there has been more 
machinery introduced into American 
hat factories than in any prior period. 
The honors for the invention of the 
improved machinery are about equally 
divided between England and America. 
While the English machines and sys- 
tems have greatly improved the quality, 
the Yankee machines have made the 
present product possible, for without 
the forming machine, an American in- 



vention, the present output at present 
prices would be absolutely impossible. 

A unique piece of automatic machin- 
ery invented for practical purposes is 
the slot machine. So numerous are 
they and so varied are the needs which 
they fill — and fill successfully— that 
they may justly be regarded as one of 
the great labor-saving devices of the 
age. 

Although restricted solely to the use 
of physicists, by far the most remark- 
able labor-saving mechanism in the 
world is the ruling machine in the phy- 
sical laboratory of the John Hopkins 
University, at Baltimore. This mar- 
velous machine, with its diamond point, 
rules 15,000, 40,000 or 125,000 lines to 
the square inch ; which figures repre- 
sent an amount of human labor not only 
infinite in duration, but absolutely im- 
possible of attainment. This machine, 
designed by Prof. Henry A. Rowland, 
of the University, and constructed by 
Theodore Schneider, the machinist of 
the University, is for the purpose of 
ruling lines on polished pieces of metal 
so as to form what physicists call a 
"grating." All physicists and investi- 
gators of the sun's rays are dependent 
upon this little machine for their grat- 
ings, it being the only one in the world. 
The purpose of the grating is the divid- 
ing of a ray of sunlight into its com- 
ponent parts the ordinary prism, which 
divides the ray intq the seven primary 
colors being the simplest method. But 
the limit of research with the old-fash- 
ioned prism has long passed, physicists 
being able to get further into the sub- 
ject by means of the gratings, and the 
larger the number of gratings the better 
the ray is reflected. These lines are so 
close together that they cannot be seen 
with the naked eye. but under the mi- 
croscope every line is perfectly distinct 
and absolutely accurate. Were there 
the slightest variation in the parallelism 
the grating would be entirely useless 
for scientific purposes. It is claimed 
for Prof. Rowland's machine that if 
a diamond of sufficient strength could 
be secured a grating of a million lines 
to the inch could be procured. The ma- 
chine sits on three legs and has a stout 



GEOGRAPHY AND ACHIEVEMENTS— MARVELOUS MACHINERY 



frame, the motive power being a little 
hydraulic engine. It is driven by a belt 
attached to a driving wheel of solid 
steel, a crank being turned at'the same 
time on the other end of the shaft. 
This crank moves the carriage that 
pushes the diamond point back and for- 
ward over the surface of the grating. 
E\ery time the diamond makes a stroke 
the metal plate beneath moves an in- 
finitesimal space. The carriage which 
carries the plate is moved by a steel 
screw. In order that this screw might 
be absolutely perfect it was ground un- 
der water kept at a certain tempera- 
ture. If made in the air, or had the 
temperature of the water varied, the 
expansion would have caused the 
threads to vary slightly. This would 
have caused the carriage to vary, and 
as a consequence the spaces between 
the grooves would not be equal. For- 
eign universities have tried to make as 
good a machine, but without success. 
So the Rowland "gratings" supply the 
spectroscopes for all the universities of 
the world. 

One of the most phenomenal labor 
savers in the world is the giant crane 
that was used in lifting stone on the 
sea wall, constructed at Peterhead on 
the north coast of Scotland. It was 
capable of lifting one hundred tons, and 
could pick up a modern locomotive with 
as much ease as the same locomotive 
would draw a train of cars. It could 
lift the cubic contents of lOO car loads, 
and scatter the material over a wide 
section of the landscape. So long and 
powerful was its arms that it could set 
a si.xty-ton block in the sea loo feet 
deep and seventy-two feet from the 
outer edge of the masonry wall. The 
work of this machine alone displaced 
two thousand men, who otherwise 
would have been daily employed on the 
building of the wall at Peterhead. 

The perfection of mechanism ob- 
tained in very recent years has re- 
duced the manufacture of sugar to a 
point where it becomes almost entirely 
automatic. The early part of the last 
century the life of the sugar-maker was 
synonomous with that of the traditional 
galley slave. Under a burning sky he 



cut the cane, stalk by stalk, with a com- 
mon knife, a long and tedious task; 
then he piled it in tumbrels and carted 
it away to the "sugar house," where by 
a medieval process, and with much 
waste, it was converted into sugar and 
molasses. Now the cane is dumped on 
a cane-carrier, an endless traveling con- 
veyor of wooden slats. This feeds into 
the cutter, consisting of two large, cor- 
rugated iron rolls, which crush and cut 
the cane into strips six inches long. 
This process extracts 60 per cent, of 
the cane. The juice which has escaped 
into a tank below, is automatically 
pumped and strained into a higher tank, 
whence it flows into a large open cal- 
dron. Then the juice is boiled to evap- 
orate the water. The vacuum-process 
pan, invented by Norbert Rillieux, of 
New Orleans, has completely super- 
seded the old method of doing this, 
which method consisted of running the 
liquid through a series of open pans. 
The Rillieux vacuum pans are cylindri- 
cal tanks, with facilities for conveying 
the steam to the next pan. Inside each 
pan is a huge drum with copper tubes, 
through which the juice circulates. Ex- 
haust steam of a temperature all the 
way from 190 to 208 degrees Fahr. is 
admitted into the drum and around the 
pipes. But the syrup does not boil, as 
a partial vacuum is maintained in that 
portion of the pan in which the juice 
circulates. The fluid is thus kept just 
below the boiling point suiflcient to 
evaporate in the form of steam. The 
steam coming off the first vacuum pan 
boils the juice brought in from the first 
pan, because a better vacuum is main- 
tained in the second pan. From the 
second pan the exhaust steam passes 
on to the third pan in the same way, 
and if the process is of the "quadruple 
effect," it will in turn .pass on to the 
fourth pan, each pan maintaining a bet- 
ter vacuum than the preceding. In the 
last pan the juice has attained the con- 
sistency of a thick-syrup, when it passes 
into receptacles for cooling and crystal- 
lization. A machine which works with 
a centrifugal motion at the rate of 
about one thousand revolutions per 
minute stirs this mass. By centrifu- 



482 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



gal force the molasses is thrown out in 
three or four minutes. Centrifugal 
force entirely eliminates the molasses, 
while the grains of sugar have been re- 
tained in a rotating basket. The pull- 
ing of a lever puts this basket in mo- 
tion, and it whirls about at a speed of 
one thousand revolutions per minute. 
The sugar when it comes out of this 
basket, after three of four minutes' 
whirling, is white and ready for the re- 
fining process, in which there have also 
been many improvements and inven- 
tions. The sugar is first dissolved in 
hot water, and then pumped into tanks, 
whence it flows through a series of 
cylindrical filters. A vacuum pan op- 
eration, similar in principle to the first 
evaporation process, renders the com- 
position absolutely dry. And after 
passing through another centrifugal 
machine it emerges as granulated white 
sugar. Machinery for the reduction of 
beet juice to sugar is on nearly the 
same principle as that used for the 
cane-sugar industry. The most popular 
of these machines is that which works 
on the diffusion process. By this 
method the beets are sliced and circu- 
lated in water until the saccharine mat- 
ter is removed. The juice so obtained 
is then strained and put through a pro- 
cess of carbonic acid saturation, after 
which it is filtered and evaporated. 

There is indeed scarcely any industry 
of any magnitude or importance what- 
ever to which labor-saving machinery 
has not been applied. In the manufac- 
ture of brooms there have been such 
great improvements of methods in va- 
rious departments that the number of 
broom-makers of the United States has 
been reduced more than one-half, al- 
thought the product has more than 
doubled in quantity. In the manufac- 
ture of carpets recent processes have 
displaced twenty times the number of 
persons now necessary. By the old 
methods of spinning the carpet material 
it required seventy-five to a hundred 
times the number of operatives now em- 
ployed to do the same amount of work. 
By the invention of the carpet-meas- 
uring machine, which measures and 
brushes the product simultaneously, one 



operator does the work formerly re- 
quired of fifteen men. Carriages and 
wagons have also been aflected by im- 
proved m'achinery. The one-time inde- 
pendent wagonmaker has suffered the 
same eclipse as has the shoemaker. In 
the instance of agricultural implements, 
labor-saving machinery has displaced 
fully 50 per cent, of the muscular effort 
formerly employed ; also in the im- 
proved method of brick-making, in the 
making of fire-brick, in the cutlery in- 
dustry and also in the manufacture of 
small arms. A bread kneading machine 
put into operation in San Francisco is 
doing the work formerly done by a hun- 
dred men. The painting machine used 
to whitewash the buildings at the 
World's Fair was operated by two men, 
who by its aid, did as much work as 
200 men working by hand. The 
mimeograph, the patent letter-press, 
and a host of other office conveniences 
have dispensed with an immense 
amount of clerical help in the business 
world. 

The remarkable machinery that has 
been invented for all manner of work 
is not more wonderful than the ma- 
chinery, or machine tools which make 
the building of such mechanisms pos- 
sible. The forming of a hole for a 
screw, a bolt or a rivet is apparently a 
very simple operation, but to do this 
work accurately and rapidly has en- 
gaged the attention of the most inge- 
nious minds of the day, and as a result 
there are drilling machines, boring ma- 
chines, punching machines and riveting 
machines innumerable. .'\s a labor-sav- 
ing mechanism nothing can be more 
efficient than the multiple drills that 
ha\e made their appearance only in re- 
cent years. Among these are the two 
and three-spindle drills which makes 
the holes by which railroad ties are con- 
nected. There are the four, six and 
eight-spindle drilling machines for bor- 
ing holes in rows at spaced distances. 
A universal drilling machine, built by 
■ William Sellers & Company, drills a 
hole in any direction. A radial drilling 
machine, built by the same firm, will 
make a hole anywhere in any direction 
within a radius of eighty-three inches. 



GEOGRArHY AND ACHIEVEMENTS— ENGINEERING 



483 



Boring machines, of both horizontal 
and vertical form, have done much to- 
wards the production of cheap machin- 
ery. Punching machines, capable of 
exerting a punching force of half a 
million pounds, multiple punching ma- 
chines, capable of making six holes at 
once, and punching machines combined 
with machinery for shearing, are some 
of the colossal examples of recently in- 
vented machinery. Shearing machines 
designed for trimming the edges of iron 
l>lates can cut off an edge sixty inches 
long and an inch thick. Riveting ma- 
chines, of a strength and capacity suf- 
ficient to fasten a rivet in the center 
of a plate thirty-two feet square, are 
a leading factor in the making of 
boilers. There is also the wheel-press, 
which exerts a pressure of thirty tons 
when employed to put a car wheel on 
its axle. There are planing machines to 
reduce a level surface by shaving paral- 
lel Irnes. Rotary planers, having all 
the way from twenty-five to seventy- 
fi\e tools affixed on a wheel, are much 
used in bridge-building. The mortis- 
ing of door frames is done by means 
of the slotting machine, which is in- 
\aluable as a labor saver. F"or finish- 
ing and shaping the parts of machinery 
there is employed what is called a mill- 
ing machine, which operates by means 
of rotating cutters. Stamping presses, 
used to shape parts of metal, all almost 
indispensable in all branches of machin- 
ery making : a special machine of this 
kind is that used in the Philadelphia 
mint. This exerts a pressure of two 
million pounds. Machines for the 
bending and straightening of plates, for 
forging and for grinding drills are 
other mechanical triumphs in this cate- 
gory. 

There are few branches of mechan- 
ical construction which do not employ 
their own peculiar lathe, but they are 
all constructed on the same principle — 
that of a frame having a pointed center 
at each end. One of these is called the 
live center, because it has a rotary mo- 
tion, the other is the dead center, it hav- 
ing no motion. The work to be turned 
is hung between these centers. The 
mandrel of the live center is propelled 



by pulleys, and the cutting tool is 
mounted on a carriage in such mannner 
that the operator can guide it back and 
forth over the surface of the material, 
cutting it in almost any circular or conic 
form. The greatest achievement in the 
way of such a tool is the Blanchard 
lathe, so-called from its inventor, and 
which is so perfect in its mechanism 
as to be able to cut material into al- 
most any desired shape. Strange as 
it may seem, by its use articles in shape 
so unlike in geometrical forms, as gun- 
barrels, shoemakers' lasts, etc., can be 
turned on a lathe. It is as simple a 
contrivance as it is wonderful. In or- 
dinary lathe the work revolves rapidly 
and the cutting tool is stationary or 
only shifts its postion slowly to accom- 
modate fresh portions of the work, 
while in the Blanchard lathe the work 
is made slowly to rotate and the cutting 
tools revolve with great rapidity. The 
pattern and work being fixed in similar 
and parallel positions they always con- 
tinue so at every revolution. The 
whole arrangement is self-acting so that 
when once the pattern and the rough 
block of wood are placed in position 
the machine completes the work and 
reproduces an exact duplicate of the 
shape of the pattern. 

ENGIXEERIXG. 

"Give me a fulcrum on which to rest, 
and I will move the earth," said Archi- 
medes when he discovered the lever. 
The modern engineer has found a 
standing point and he literally moves the 
earth. 

To no industry has the engineer given 
a greater share of his art than to that of 
perfecting everything connected with 
railroading, and it is chiefly in the 
I'nited States that this development has 
taken place. The steel rail as we know 
it to-day is in itself a wonderful piece 
of engineering. Fifty years ago the rail 
was of wrought-iron and shaped like 
a pear-head, but its evolution under the 
hands of the engineer has made it of 
steel and fitted it in every way for the 
work that it has to perform. Simple 
as it is, there is a reason for every 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



curve, dimension and angle. It is made 
expressly for the purpose of sustaining 
its heavy loads and standing the impact 
of the countless blows its receives. 

So, too, the location of the railroad 
and the determination of exactly where 
every foot of the track shall be laid is 
an engineering feat. In the early days 
it was thought impossible for a locomo- 
tive to climb grades. The engineer has 
found just what grades the locomotive 
will climb and locates his track accord- 
ingly. Tunnels and great rivers were 
supposed to present practically unsur- 
mountable obstacles, but the patient 
work of the engineer has shown that the 
greatest mountains might be pierced and 
the greatest chasms bridged. Railways 
can be built wherever it is profitable to 
build them. 

Engineers of the olden time worked 
with stone, while those of to-day use 
steel. Fifty years ago bridges were 
built almost entirely of wood and stone. 
As long ago as 1779 the first iron bridge 
in England was built, and with 100- 
foot span and 370 tons of iron used in 
construction, it was the wonder of a 
generation, although it seems puny 
enough compared to the great Forth 
bridge of to-day, with 51,000 tons of 
steel. How conditions have changed 
since 1779 is shown by the fact that 
since 1870 it has been a law in Russia 
that no bridges shall be made of wood. 
Yet the Howe wooden truss bridge 
of 1840 was regarded as a wonder in 
its days, and some of them are still 
doing excellent service, the most famous 
being W'ernberg's "Colossus," with 240 
feet span over the Schuylkill. 

Small streams were bridged at first 
and then the larger rivers were crossed, 
until now there is talk of bridging the 
English Channel, making a railway 
journey possible from London to Paris, 
and the bridge would probably be built 
were it not that it would destroy the 
military advantages possessed by Eng- 
land through its insular position. In 
the United States alone there are now 
over 3,000 miles of bridgcwork, enough 
to form a highway across the Continent. 
Tliis progress has been made possible 
by the use of iron and steel, the applica- 



tion of new theories of forces. The 
first attempt to use iron exclusi\'ely for 
long spans was tubular bridge. Stephen- 
son and Harrison had finished in 1849 
the high-level bridge at Xewcastle-on- 
Tyne. The first iron bridge in the 
United States was built at Frankfort, 
X. Y., in 1840. 

By the introduction of the suspension 
bridge a great stride was made in 
bridge-building. Telford, a Scotch en- 
gineer, designed the first bridge across 
the Menai Straits in 1818, and it was 
opened in 1826, with a span of 579 feet 
and a roadway 100 feet above the water 
level. Other suspension bridges fol- 
lowed of increasing size. The general 
principle of the suspension bridge is 
exemplified in a chain hanging between 
two fi.xed points on the same level. If 
two chains were placed parallel to each 
other a roadway for a bridge might be 
formed by laying planks across it, but 
the ascent and descent would be nec- 
essarily steep. No amount of force 
could stretch the chains perfectly level, 
as even a small piece of straight cord 
cannot be stretched horizontally in a 
perfectly straight line. It was a happy 
idea to hang the roadway from chains, 
for then the roadway would remain 
perfectly level if built so as to be level 
after the curve had been figured. The 
suspension bridge built by Roebling in 
1852 had a span of 800 feet. It was 
followed by the Clifton bridge, opened 
in 1864. The Clifton bridge at Niagara 
Falls, and the bridges at Pittsburg and 
Cincinnati are of this type. The largest 
of all is the Brooklyn bridge, erected 
at a cost of $15,500,000, and having a 
clear water-way of 1.595 i'2 feet. It 
was begun in 1870 and opened May 24, 
1883. Each cable contains 5,296 paral- 
lel (not twisted) galvanized steel oil- 
coated wire, closely wrapped into a solid 
c\linder 15 3-4 inches in diameter, and 
the permanent weight suspended from 
these gigantic cables is 14,680 tons. 

The favorite form of bridge-building 
at present is the cantilever system, the 
first metal bridge of that type being 
Shaler Smith's cantilever over the Ken- 
tucky River, erected in 1877. The prin- 
ciple of the cantilever is very simple. 



GEOGRAPHY AND ACHIEVEMliNTS— ENGINEERING 



48s 



A powerful structure of steel, in shape 
not unlike the walking-beam of a paddle 
steamer, rests upon a pier. The weight 
on one side balances that on the other, 
but the arms of the two cantilevers do 
not meet. Imagine an engine's walking 
beam thirteen hundred feet long — al- 
most a quarter of a mile — resting u])on 
its center so that it projects in either 
direction 675 feet. Next fancy two 
such cantilevers so placed that their 
ends leave an abyss of 350 feet between 
them. This space is filled with an 
ordinary girder bridge, the ends of the 
two cantilevers serving as piers. The 
I'^orth bridge, built on this principle 
and opened in 1890, is the largest span- 
ned bridge, having a length of 8,098 
feet. It is composed of three double 
cantilevers; a central one of 1,620 feet 
resting on a pier built on the Island of 
Inchgarvie, two 1,514 feet in length 
joined to the central cantilever by gird- 
ers of 350 feet span. The highest eleva- 
tion of the bridge is 361 feet over the 
piers. Fifty-one thousand tons of steel 
were used in the construction of the 
bridge and fifty-six lives were lost dur- 
ing its erection, which occupied seven 
years and gave employment to as many 
as 5,000 men at one time. The total 
cost of this bridge, which is across the 
Firth of Forth at Oueensbury, Scotland, 
was $16,000,000. The bridge at ]\Iem- 
phis, Tenn., is the longest cantilever 
bridge in the United States, the great- 
est of its three spans being 720 feet. 

Improvements in sinking the founda- 
tions have been nearly as great as those 
in raising the superstructure. The 
caisson is an application of the diving- 
bell that has simplified the work of sink- 
ing piers, and a German inventor has 
recently devised a process by which soft 
earth can be frozen and then dug out 
as if it were solid rock. 

Modern engineering has made tun- 
neling a comparatively simple operation. 
The tunnel is as old as the bridge, but 
its development has been no less re- 
markable. The early tunnels in the 
century required the expenditure of an 
enormous amount of time, but new de- 
vices for rock-boring and the removal 
of soft earth have simplified matters. 



One of the earliest known tunnels, said 
to have been constructed to drain the 
plateau on which stands the City of 
Mexico, pierced the Nochistengo ridge 
for six miles. It was destroyed during 
a flood and was replaced by an open 
cut in 1608. But it required more than 
a century to build that tunnel with the 
devices then in the possession of engin- 
eers. The work was done almost en- 
tirely by hand and although the work- 
men were paid only 9 cents a day, the 
cost was $6,000,000. Aside from the 
free workmen all convicts sentenced to 
hard labor were put to work on the 
tunnel, which cost the lives of more 
than 100,000 workmen. 

Nowadays machinery has replaced 
hand labor to a great extent, and there 
is no such great sacrifice of men re- 
quired. This has made possible the 
building of tunnels of great length. 
The machine rock drill, invented by J. 
J. Couch, an American, in 1849, was 
first used in tunneling Mont Cenis, and 
made possible the Hoosac tunnel. Mont 
Cenis tunnel was long one of the wond- 
ers Okf the world. Nearly eight miles in 
length, it extends from ^ladane to Bar- 
donneche under the Col de Frejus. The 
work was begun in 1857, with rock- 
boring machines, but these proving im- 
practical, for four years the workmen 
drilled holes and blasted the rock by 
manual labor. Improvements in the 
machinery invented by Couch then 
made possible the use of machinery. 
Before the machines were employed 
progress could be made at the rate of 
eighteen inches per day; towards the 
close, when the rock-boring machinery 
was in full working order, as much as 
400 feet per month was excavated. 
P'rom 1857 to i860 by hand labor alone 
1,646 meters were excavated; from 
1861 to 1870 the remaining 10,587 
meters were completed by machine. 

Most remarkable of tunnels up to 
1900 was the St. Gothard, piercing the 
Alps. Work was begun in September, 
1872, at each end, and it is a remark- 
able feat of civil engineering that the 
two openings met, in spite of the dif- 
ficulty of the survey, with a variation 
of only 2 inches horizontally and 13 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



inches laterally. The tunnel is 9 1-2 
miles long and cost about $700 per 
lineal yard. The first passenger train 
ran through the tunnel on November i, 
1 88 1, thus making possible the passing 
of the Alps at a point where before it 
had been possible only to mountaineers. 
Hannibal himself could not have led 
an army over the Alps at that point. 
The motive power of the rock-drilling 
machines was actuated, as was the case 
with the JNIont Cenis tunnel, by com- 
pressed air, and the power used for 
compressing the air was a head of 
water. 

The Simplon tunnel, though begun 
in the igth Century, was not completed 
until the 20th. It superseded the Simp- 
Ion Pass road, begun in 1800 by Napo- 
leon, who wished a military road to 
Italy, and built it in six years, at an 
expenditure of $4,000,000 and the loss 
of numerous lives. The Simplon tun- 
nel is I2l:i miles long, making it the 
longest in the world. Brandt rotary 
hydraulic drilling machines were used 
in its construction with a pressure of 
from 1,000 to 1,500 pounds to. the 
square inch. Six or eight machines 
were used at each heading. The Brandt 
machine has three cutting points like 
claws, with a rotary movement, and 
works by hydraulic pressure. 

The rock-boring machine known as 
the Burleigh, perfected in 1873, gave 
a great impetus to tunneling. It looks 
like a big syringe, supported upon a tri- 
pod, and is worked by compressed air. 
It eats holes two inches in diameter in 
solid granite, and makes honeycomb of 
it as easily as a schoolboy would de- 
molish a small sponge cake. It pounds 
away at the rate of 200 strokes a min- 
ute, in which time it progresses for- 
ward about twelve inches, keeping the 
holes free of the pounded rock. The 
principal feature of the machine is that 
it imitates in every way the action of 
the quarryman in boring a rock. An- 
other type of rock-boring machine is 
the diamond drill, which surpasses all 
others in the rapidity with which it eats 
its way through solid rock. 

Rock-boring is comparatively easy 
nowadays. When soft material is en- 



countered the work is more difficult, it 
being necessary to keep the material 
from clogging the excavation already 
made. A device has been invented to 
overcome this, and it was used in the 
railroad tunnel under the St. Clair 
River at Port Huron. It is called a 
sh-ield, and is generally used in cities 
for smaller tunnels. In the St. Clair 
tunnel a great cylinder weighing more 
than 60 tons, 20 feet in diameter, and 
16 feet long, was driven into the blue 
clay, which constituted the entire bot- 
tom of the river, with as great ease as 
cakes of soap can be carved out of a 
general mass. Inside this "shield" 
twenty-two men worked removing the 
dirt. As fast as the shield was pushed 
forward, which was 2 feet at a time, 
the clay thus brought inside was dug 
out to the end of the cylinder. Then 
the hydraulic jacks were again started 
and slowly but irresistibly the immense 
iron tube moved another two feet into 
the solid earth ahead of it. Each jack 
had a power of 3,000 tons and the com- 
bined power behind the shield was 
more than 400,000 tons. 

When water floods the work there 
is great risk. It was necessary to pump 
2,000 gallons of water a minute to pre- 
vent the flooding of the Kilsby tunnel, 
and in the construction of the Severn 
tunnel in England (1873-83), which has 
a length of 4 I -3 miles, the tumiel was 
flooded for a year by the tapping of a 
large spring, and the erection of per- 
manent pumping engines was made 
necessary. 

The canals of the century are not 
the greatest in length. There is one in 
China nearly 700 miles long, the long- 
est in the world, that dates back to the 
Thirteenth Century. The era of canal 
opening in the United States began 
early, and the Erie canal running from 
Albany to Buffalo is 351.8 miles in 
length, and was opened in 1825. But 
these canal enterprises have been 
dwarfed as engineering enterprises and 
in importance by the Suez canal, which 
is regarded by many as the greatest en- 
gineering feat of the world. While the 
ancient Egyptians did not cut directly 
through the isthmus, Herodotus de- 



GEOGRAPHY AND ACHIEVEMENTS— ENGINEERING 



scribes a canal from Suez to the Nile, 
but it became clogged with sand, and 
until DeLesseps dug his great ditch it 
was regarded as necessary for all ships 
to make the journey around Africa to 
reach the Indies. The isthmus made 
necessary a journey of 15.000 miles, and 
a glance at the map of Africa will show 
the enormous saving in time which it 
effects. The journey around Africa 
was so great that it was to avoid this 
that Columbus, ignorant of the size 
of the world, made his journey west- 
ward that led to the discovery of 
America. 

The story of the canal is a thrilling 
romance. It was conceived by De- 
Lesseps in 1834, twenty years before be 
got his concession. Thea followed in- 
trigues and diplomacy with Turkey and 
foreign powers before he could get per- 
mission to work. Then it became neces- 
sary to raise the enormous capital of 
$92,000,000 which it cost. In spite of 
the obstacles the objections were finally 
overcome and the canal built, being 
opened in November, 1869. 

The Suez canal is 88 geographical or 
about 100 statute miles long. The en- 
gineering difficulties were enormous. 
The minimum depth is 26 feet, and this 
was necessary because of the size of 
the vessels which would use it. Its 
average width is 25 yards. It had to 
be dug through sand, and it was made 
possible only by the invention of 
dredges to do the work. But for these 
the canal would never have been built 
through the sand. These dredges were 
the contrivance of one of the contrac- 
tors. The use of the dredging machines 
was prepared for by digging out a 
rough trough by spade work and as 
soon as it had been dug to the depth 
of from six to twelve feet, the water 
was let in. After the water was let in 
the steam dredges were floated down 
the stream, moored against the bank 
and set to work. There were two kinds 
nf dredges. One, known as couloir, 
was a large barge of wood supporting 
an endless chain of heavy iron buckets 
which scooped up the mud and sand 
which was discharged through pipes 
onto tlie embankment Smaller mov- 



able dredges were also used which dis- 
charged the mud and sand on barges, 
which were divided into compartments 
fixed on trucks, and, raised by steam, 
were placed on an inclined plane that 
carried the mud to the shore. Many 
were the problems of engineering which 
were solved during the construction of 
the canal. 

Another great canal is the one con- 
necting the North Sea and the Baltic, 
running from the mouth of the Elbe to 
the gulf of Kiel. Begun in 1887, it was 
opened in 1895. It is 60 miles long and 
has a depth of 28 feet and a width of 
197 feet, being sufficient to fioat the 
largest vessels of the German navy. 
The working plant consisted of ninety 
locomotives, 2,473 cars, 133 lighters, 55 
steam-engines, and 8,600 men. The 
Manchester canal, which has made 
Manchester a seaport, is another great 
canal enterprise of the century. Thirty- 
five and a half miles in length, it was 
opened in 1893, and has a depth of 
26 feet and a width of 172 feet. 

By the use of shields and dredges 
the engineers sunk great piers, effected 
wonders in sanitary engineering, built 
sewers and jetties, using marvelous ma- 
chinery, often invented expressly for 
the purpose. The levees built along the 
banks of the ^Mississippi and other 
rivers have been triumphs of engineer- 
ing skill, and have save thousands of 
liyes from floods, although the loss of 
life is still great. 

By the skill of the engineer, aided by 
the architect, tall buildings, rivaling 
the tower of Babel, rear their heads 
skyward in the great cities. Buildings 
of eighteen and twenty stories have 
ceased to be uncommon. They have 
been made necessary by the congestion 
of the great cities, for when from Si 50 
to $300 a square foot is paid for land 
it is necessary to build tall structures in 
order to pay interest on the ground and 
the cost of the building. There was a 
limit beyond which structures of brick 
and wood might be built, but the use 
of iron and steel made it possible to 
build taller structures, two or three 
times the height of those possible by the 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



old method. The new method of con- 
struction known as the skeleton frame 
construction, does away with the use of 
brick and masonry except as a thin 
shell. Steel beams support the walls of 
each story and these are framed be- 
tween columns, permitting thin walls 
even at the base. The frame work of 
iron and steel being erected, the masons 
and carpenters can work on all floors 
at once and build from top and bottom. 
Great as have been the improvements in 
construction, the erection of these build- 
ings calls for the highest engineering 
skill. The Manhattan Life building in 
New York, which is twenty-three 
stories high, weigl;is 21,000 tons, and 
there is a pressure of wind estimated at 
2,400 tons against its exposed sides, 
while the total weight, including tenants 
and furniture, is not far from 31,000 
tons. It is necessary to so construct 
these buildings that the settling from 
the weight may be accurately estimated. 
A twenty-story structure will have six- 
teen elevators that will travel 120,000 
miles in a year on 14 miles of wire 
ropes. From 30 to 50 miles of elec- 
trical wire serve to light the building 
and supply telephone connections for 
the two or three thousand people who 
live in the great edifices, while miles 
upon miles of steam pipes supply the 
tenants with water. In such buildings 
one may attend to every want without 
budging from them, there being post- 
office, express offices, telegraph offices, 
and other such conveniences, as well as 
restaurants and every kind of shop, ex- 
cept, perhaps, livery stables and feed 
stores. 

It is difficult to foretell the future of 
the construction of such buildings, but 
it is predicted that within a score of 
years they may reach thirty and forty 
stories in height. 

Two of the most interesting pieces of 
engineering of the century are the Eiffel 
tower and the Ferris wheel. The first, 
erected in 1889 as the crowning glory 
of the Paris Exposition antl a triumph 
of French skill, was the idea of Gustav 
Eiffel. It is 985 feet high, contains 
7,300 tons of iron, and cost $1,000,000. 
The appearance of the Eiffel tower is 



familiar to every one, and it is scarcely 
possible to convey any adequate idea 
of the great network of bracings by 
which each standard of the columns is 
united to form the loftiest structure in 
the world. 

The engineering feat of the World's 
Columbian Exposition held at Chicago 
was the Ferris wheel, the invention of 
G. W. Ferris, of Pittsburg. It is an 
enormous "merry-go-round," as the ma- 
chine at country fairs is called, and the 
novelty consisted in its magnitude, 
which called for the highest engineering 
skill. The great wheel is 250 feet in 
diameter, and to its periphery were 
hung thirty-six carriages, each seating 
forty persons. At each revolution 1,440 
people may be raised into the air and 
from that elevation afforded a splendid 
prospect, besides an experience of the 
peculiar sensation, like that of being in 
a balloon, when the spectator has no per- 
ception of his motion, but the objects 
beneath him appear to have the con- 
trary motion : that is to say, they seem 
to be sinking when he is rising and vice 
versa. Begun in March, 1893, the 
structure was completed in three 
months at a cost of $325,000. 

Though the steam-engine itself is an 
invention of the previous century, its 
application to everything under the sun 
is an achievement of the Nineteenth 
Century. The century has also been 
remarkable for the attempts to get the 
greatest possible return from the fuel 
employed with the least possible waste, 
which followed the general recognition 
of the principle of the conservation of 
energy- — allusion to which is made in 
another part of this volume. The en- 
ergy stored vip in coal is converted into 
heat energy in the process of combus- 
tion, and transferred with various 
losses to steam. This is made by suit- 
able engines to yield up some proportion 
of its heat energy for conversion into 
mechanical motion. More energy than 
the coal supplies it is impossible to ob- 
tain as energy of motion, and engineers 
with a clear realization of this principle 
have abandoned all schemes for the 
solution of the perpetual motion prob- 
lem. The criticism of an engine is 



GEOGRAPHY AND ACHIEVEMENTS— ENGINEERING 



489 



therefore on the returns which it yields 
for the expenditure of fuel. The in- 
ventions of the century have been in the 
direction of the elimination of friction 
from the working parts and the employ- 
ment of methods of construction that 
give greater power for a small total 
weight. 

As Watt in the i8th Century found 
the steam engine an imperfect and 
wasteful arrangement for utilizing only 
a small portion of the energy of the 
steam supplied to it and by the inven- 
tion of his condenser and then by mak- 
ing the engine double acting, made it 
really a steam engine; so a great step 
forward was taken by \\'oolf in 1804, 
when he developed the compound 
engine from the crude ideas of Horn- 
blower of 1 78 1. Using steam of fairly 
high pressure, W'oolf expanded it to 
several times its original volume by cut- 
ting off the supply before the end of the 
stroke in a small cylinder. Its chief 
advantage is that it limits to a great ex- 
tent the waste which results from the 
heating and cooling of the metal by con- 
tact with hot and cooler steam. This 
is the greatest improvement in the 
steam engine since the time of Watt, 
but its advantage was not recognized 
until about the middle of the century. 
when the discoveries of IMcXaugh in 
1845 ^"d Cowper in 1857, made pos- 
sible the use of high-pressure steam, 
and compound expansion became more 
and more general. In marine engineer- 
ing, where economy of fuel is of great- 
est importance, we find triple and even 
quadruple expansion engines, while the 
idea is recognized even in the locomo- 
tive engines of to-day. The first triple- 
expansion engine was made bv Kirk in 

1874. 

In other directions the progress of 
the steam-engine has been in features 
of mechanical detail and its growing 
application to nearly every use. 

The higher pressure of engines gave 
rise to a new problem, that of the 
strength of boiler, cylinders, and acces- 
sory connections necessary to withstand 
the enormous internal pressure of the 
steam. Improved quality of adapta- 
bility of iron and steel have made this 



possible, and steam boilers step by step 
have developed to their present form. 
Manual labor was used almost exclu- 
sively in this work until 1885, the 
boilers being of wrought iron and riv- 
eted by hand. ]\Iild steel boiler plates 
and machine riveting have to a great ex- 
tent succeeded these, although, in spite 
of the fact that hand-riveting is much 
slower, there are those who contend that 
it is better. 

During the last few years the tubular 
boiler has been introduced. This is 
made so that it has no large internal 
space and can thus be used for heat at 
high temperatures. It more nearly 
approaches the theory of Sadi-Carnot, 
evolved in 1824, which is that the effi- 
ciency of any heat engine has its maxi- 
mum limit fixed by the range of tem- 
perature employed with the working 
substance. 

Gas and petroleum engines gained 
their development during the 19th Cen- 
tury. Street's engine in 1794 was on 
the principle of internal combustion, to 
v.hich they owe their origin, and was 
worked by the combustion of vaporized 
oil and turpentine. In engines of this 
type the working substance is heated 
by its own combustion in the motor 
cylinder, and because of the greater 
range of temperature employed they 
are of higher efficiency. The water 
jacket introduced by Brown in 1823, 
to keep the cylinder cool and prevent 
the rapid degradation due to heat, and 
the improvements of Lenoir have made 
them practicable. The Otto gas engine, 
introduced in 1863. was noisy and me- 
chanically defective, but the Otto silent 
of 1876 has proved a powerful rival to 
small steam-engines. Air sufficient for 
combustion is mixed with gas and a 
temperature of about 1,600 centigrade, 
with a pressure of 100 pounds per 
square inch is obtained, with the expen- 
diture of only twenty-four cubic feet of 
gas per horse power per hour. This is 
more economical than any small steam 
engine. But with larger engines the 
advantage is with the coal engine, ex- 
cept where natural gas is used. Gas 
is used in engines just as it is used in 
grates, stoves, and ranges, always on a 



THE HOME AUXH.IARY AND REl'EREXCE 



comparatively small scale, where the 
high price is offset by cleanliness and 
convenience. A gas engine means only 
the turning on of a stop-cock and it 
comes to full speed in a minute or two 
and hence where small power is used 
or the large power is intermittent, the 
gas-engine is most economical. 

Petroleum and gasoline engines, 
which have been successfully applied to 
horseless carriages, being the favorite 
method of propulsion for these vehicles 
— work on the same principle as the 
gas engine. Instead of the simple ad- 
mission of gas a sprayed jet of oil is 
broken up by compressed air playing on 
it in a nozzle. It is then further heated 
and fully vaporized by the hot products 
of the exhaust. The chief objection to 
the oil engine is its odor. 

During the last half century the im- 
provements in steam-power have in- 
creased its use nearly fifty-fold. The 
growth of the use of steam has been 
from an effective horse power of 1,650, 
000,000 tons horse power in 1840 to 
9,850,000,000 in i860 to 55,580,000,000 
horse power in 1895, according to Mul- 
hall's estimates. Of this total steam 
power, the United States and Great 
Britain together possses more than half 
that of the world, the horse power of 
the engines of the United States being 
16,940,000,000 and that of the British 
engines 12,970,000,000. 

An interesting and important illustra- 
tion of the economy in the application 
of steam-power to mechanical contri- 
vances is the steam-hammer. Large 
forge hammers had been in use actuated 
by steam before Nasmyth's invention 
in 1842, but they were worked in an 
indirect manner, the hammer having 
been lifted by cams and other exped- 
ients, which rendered the apparatus 
cumbersome, costly, and wasteful of 
power on account of the indirect way 
in which the original source of the force 
— namely, the pressure of steam — had 
to reach its point of application by giv- 
ing its blows to the hammer. The 
range of the fall of the hammer being 
only eighteen inches, there was a rapid 
decrease in the energy of blows in pro- 



portion to the size of the piece of iron. 
There was no means of controlfing the 
force of the blow. Nasmyth hit upon 
the idea, when he received an order for 
the forging of a shaft for the paddle 
wheels of a steamer, the shaft to be 
3 feet in diameter, a greater size than 
could be accommodated in any forge 
hammer in England. In a few minutes 
he hit upon the idea which has done 
more to revolutionize the manufacture 
of iron and steel than any other inven- 
tions that could be named, excepting 
those of Cort and Bessemer. F"or four 
years the hammer was not used outside 
of his shop, although now it is an ab- 
solute necessity in every engineering 
workshop. Owing to its vast range of 
power, forged iron-work, by its means, 
can now be executed with a perfection 
not previously possible. Anything can 
be done with it, for the strength of the 
blow is regulated at will and the most 
minute details of machinery as well as 
the most gigantic parts are forged with 
its aid. At Woolwich arsenal there is 
a steam hammer, built in 1874. the fall- 
ing portion of which weighs forty tons 
and which can strike a blow with a 
force of ninety-one tons. 

The main feature of the steam-ham- 
mer is the direct manner by which the 
elastic power of steam is employed to 
lift up and let fall the mass of iron 
constituting the hammer, which is at- 
tached direct to the end of a piston-rod 
passing through the bottom of an in- 
verted steam cylinder placed directly 
over the anvil. The steam is admitted 
below the piston, which is thus raised 
to any required height within the limits 
of the stroke. When the communica- 
tion with the boiler is shut off and the 
steam below the piston is allowed to 
escape, the piston with the mass of 
iron forming the hammer attached to 
the piston-rod falls by its own weight. 
This weight in large steam-hammers 
amounts to several tons, and the force 
of the blow will depend jointly upon 
the weight of the hammer and upon the 
height from which it is allowed to fall. 
The steam is admitted and allowed to 
escape by valves moved by a lever 



GEOGRAPHY AND ACHrEVEMENTS— MODERN WARFARE 



under the control of the workman. By 
allowing the hammer to be raised to a 
greater or less height, and by regula- 
ting the escape of the steam from be- 
neath the piston, the operator has it in 
his power to vary the force of the blow. 
Men who are accustomed to this tool 
exhibit their perfect control with such 
accuracy that a watch may be placed 
face upwards on the anvil and a mois- 
tened wafer on it. The hammer v>'ill 
descend and pick up the wafer without 
cracking the crystal. Yet it may be 
a hammer capable of striking a blow 
of eighty tons. 

Water-power has been used for thou- 
sands of years as a motive power, but 
its practical development has come 
within the last century. The utilization 
of the vast forces has been greater, 
especially since water-power has been 
used as means for the furnishing of 
electricity, yet at the present time not 
5 per cent of the water-power of the 
world has been rendered available for 
use, and the great Niagara Falls was 
not made to work until the last decade 
of the Nineteenth Century. While the 
modern turbine is the evolution of ages 
the principal developments were made 
during this century. J. Fourneyron in 
1827 and St. Blasien in 1837 made 
great improvements, but in 1855 A. M. 
Swain, a mechanic who had been em- 
ployed at the Lowell machine shop, con- 
ceived the idea which is the prototype 
of all the modern turbines; by com- 
bining the inward and downward flow 
wheels, curving the buckets both later- 
ally and vertically he increased the effi- 
ciency of the water-wheel by 50 per 
cent. The gradual improvements since 
the time of Fourneyron in 1827 have 
served to furnish turbines of equal 
power in one-half the space and at one- 
fifth the cost, an enormous economy 
of power. The cumbersome mechanism 
required to use the water of a high 
fall has been replaced by simple me- 
chanism that makes use of a small fall. 
Of water as a means of the generation 
of electricity allusion will be made in 
the story of miscellaneous electrical 
achievements. 



MODERN WARFARE. 

In all the long history of warfare, 
which is in reality the narrative of the 
world's progress from earliest time, 
there is no similar period in which 
changes so vast and far-reaching have 
taken place as during the latter half of 
the Nineteenth Century. There is much 
less difference between the naval and 
military methods of the Sixth Century 
before Christ and those of the Eigh- 
teenth Century than there is between 
the latter and those of our own day. 
Until the middle of the Nineteenth Cen- 
tury the dift'erence that existed between 
the ancient war galley and the modern 
battleship was so slight as to justify the 
remark common among naval construc- 
tors of the day, that "naval architecture, 
like history, repeats itself." Until the 
introduction of steam, which was first 
attempted in 1815, in the double-hulled 
vessel designed by Robert Fulton, but 
which did not become practical for 
naval purposes until 1846, our men-o'- 
war were but a trifling improvement 
upon the galleys of Diodorus Siculus. 
The old galleys were queer looking 
craft. They were built with keels and 
frames, and contained a stem and stern 
post. Near the water line the stem 
curved outward, gradually taking the 
form of a ram — a weapon still used in 
modern warfare. They also had one or 
more masts, and were propelled by oars, 
or sails whenever the wind was favor- 
able. Going into action was a gorgeous 
sight in the Middle Ages. Falcons and 
broad banners of gaudy hue were flung 
to the breezes, the sunlight flashing 
upon the breast-plates of the warriors 
drawn up in fighting order, and upon 
a sort of bridge or castle amidships 
stood a band of richly caparisoned 
musicians, playing with all their might. 
At the bow was the battery, consisting 
of manogels and great cross-bows, with 
winding-gear that shot showers of huge 
stones and arrows and red-hot iron and 
carts of Greek fire at the enemy. Fore 
and aft small towers were erected, from 
which archers shot arrows. 

Gunpowder led to the abolition of the 
towers, and artillery was substituted. 



492 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



Gradually, with the perfection of the art 
of sailing, the tactics of warfare were 
changed. During the early part of the 
Sixteenth Century the low galley was 
replaced by the sailing war vessel, and 
the size of the guns, which were 
mounted in broadside on these ships, 
constantly increased. With this in- 
crease there came also an increase in 
the size of the vessels, until, during the 
Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, 
the warships became formidable affairs, 
with three decks and a hundred or so 
guns. The most deadly of these wea- 
pons was the carronade — a light piece 
first constructed at Carron, in Scotland. 
This gun was of a large caliber, short 
length and light weight, and its destruc- 
tive effect was supposed to exist not so 
much in its power of penetration as in 
its ability for splintering. With a re- 
duced charge of powder, and slow in- 
itial velocity, the projectile from the 
carronade created havoc wherever it 
pierced the side of the enemy. With 
these developments came a gradual 
change in naval methods, and at the be- 
ginning of the Nineteenth Century war- 
fare was well organized for the first 
time in history, the crew being divided 
into little companies, each of which had 
certain duties. Besides the crew, each 
frigate had thirty or forty marines, 
whose duty it was to police the ship and 
prevent mutiny, which was very com- 
mon until fifty years ago, owing to 
the extreme cruelty practiced upon the 
sailors. These marines were kept care- 
fully apart from the crew, and ani- 
mosity between them encouraged. At 
the time of battle they were placed in 
tops, where it was their duty to pick off 
the enemy with their muskets. In case 
they were able to engage the enemy in 
close quarters, they were expected to 
board the ship of the combatant, as- 
sisted by two or three seamen from each 
gun, the latter being armed with pistols, 
cutlasses and boarding pikes. These 
were known as boarders, and when thev 
were called for, just so many men. and 
no more, ran from each gun. When the 
boarders took possession of a ship a 
fearful carnage followed. When a 
battle was about to be fought the decks 



were sanded to make them less slippery 
when the blood should begin to flow, 
and ammunition, small arms, guns and 
pikes were stacked conveniently near 
the masts and out of reach of the rivers 
of gore with which, each bold sailor 
well knew, the good ship would soon 
be drenched. The sailors for the most 
part led hard li\es, and were treated 
little better than their predecessors, the 
galley slaves. Flogging was common, 
and many men died under the lash. The 
crews were generally secured through 
impressment, and kidnaping was ex- 
tremely common, as the romances of 
that period attest. 

Such were the ships used and such 
the methods of warfare generally in 
vogue when, less than a hundred years 
ago. Nelson fought and won Trafalgar, 
the greatest battle in British history, 
and the most famous of all battles 
fought between sailing vessels. Al- 
though neither so large nor so formid- 
able as the frigates used by Nelson, 
sailing ships of the same type were used 
in the memorable naval engagements of 
our own glorious War of 1812. 

The year 1840 saw the sailing ship 
at the very zenith of its glory. Naval 
authorities all agreed that further im- 
provement in fighting craft was impos- 
sible, and all the great maritime powers 
of the world were constantly increas- 
ing their fleets. In 1841, however, the 
death-knell of the sail began to sound, 
when the Mississippi, a bark-rigged, 
steam-propelled frigate was launched 
and met the approval of the experts. 
Up to this time steam had been applied 
only to side-wheel vessels, though 
Stevens had advocated the screw as 
early as 1804. Ericsson, however, was 
the first to make a practical demonstra- 
tion of its utility in 1837. The screw 
frigate Princeton was launched in 1844, 
and the advantages of the propeller be- 
came too obvious to be disregarded, 
however much sentiment might cling to 
the romance and glory that seemed to 
cluster around the old-time craft. It 
was not an easy task for the sailors to 
give up their graceful, shapely frigates 
for the modern "tea kettle," as the new 
craft were contemptuously called, and 



GEOGRAPHY AND ACHIEVEMENTS— MODERN WARFARE 



the fight between steam and sails was a 
long and bitter one. 

In 1857 came the era of iron ships, 
and the only thing now in common be- 
tween the wooden vessels of Trafalgar 
and the modern battle ship of the 
Spanish-American war is that each is 
a water-borne structure, armed with 
guns and propelled in some manner 
from point to point. The application 
of armor to ships and its great value 
was understood by Admiral Mackau, 
Louis Phillippe's minister of marine, as 
early as 1840, but was kept by him a 
profound secret, he intending to employ 
it against England should occasion 
arise. Ericsson, about the same date, 
conceived the general idea of the Moni- 
tor. In 1842 Stevens had commenced 
in the United States a ship plated with 
four and one-half inches of iron, 
though the ship was never laimched. 
In the Crimean war both England and 
France built armored batteries of in- 
different seaworthiness. These early 
European iron-clads were simply line 
of battle ships cut down, with one tier 
of guns, and armored on the water line 
and over the battery. They were no 
radical departure from the established 
type. In 1857 Dupuy de Lome com- 
pleted his famous La Gloire, the first 
sea-going iron-clad. But the first really 
effective vessel of this kind was the 
Confederate cruiser Merrimac, and her 
famous conflict with the Monitor has 
been called the most important naval 
battle in the world. The ]\Ierrimac was 
a cruiser that had burned to the water's 
edge and sunk. The Confederates 
raised and rebuilt her, enclosing her 
vitals with iron plates two inches thick. 
A bulwark was built, and similarly cov- 
ered, and a cast-iron ram was attached 
to the bow about two feet under water. 
On ]\Iarch 8, 1862, the Merrimac 
steamed out of Norfolk harbor and en- 
countered the wooden ship, Cumber- 
land. The huge projectiles from the 
L^nion vessel glanced harmlessly into 
the water, not so much as denting the 
stout iron sides of the Confederate 
ship. The Merrimac meanwhile sent 
four shots into the wooden ship, and, 
moving right under the muzzles of her 



thirty guns, struck the Cumberland a 
terrific blow with her iron prow. The 
Cumberland began to sink, while the 
guns of the Merrimac did frightful 
havoc. More than one hundred of the 
crew were quicklj' killed. The water 
drove the men from the lower guns, but 
they rushed to the upper and desper- 
ately fired their harmless shots at the 
great mass of iron. At last, with colors 
flying, the Cumberland sank. Having 
ended one adversary, the Merrimac 
turned upon the Congress, which had 
been peppering at her, and, although 
the crew of the latter fought desper- 
ately, they were soon forced to sur- 
render. The whole world was electri- 
fied by the news that flashed over the 
wires that night, and the North was in 
a panic. The ne.xt day a great surprise 
\\ s in store for the Merrimac. A 
strange looking craft that had been 
derisively called the "Yankee cheese- 
box," steamed forth and challenged the 
jubilant Confederate. The monitor had 
been built after a design of John Erics- 
son, who for twenty years had been en- 
deavoring to secure its adoption. It 
was an iron-plated raft, 172 feet over 
all, 41 feet beam and 11 1-3 feet depth, 
and with a revolving iron turret con- 
taining two guns. The target surface 
was reduced to a minimum, the hull 
being less than two feet high and 
plated with five inches of iron. The 
turret was nine feet high, and covered 
wnth eight inches of iron. It was a 
floating fortress. 

It seemed at the time impracticable, 
but in desperation the L^nited States 
was willing to try the experiment. 
Naval experts believed that the first 
shot fired by her own guns would send 
her to the bottom. The Merrimac had 
ten guns to the Monitor's two, and her 
crew was six times as numerous, so 
the people who watched the battle from 
the shore expected the Confederate 
cruiser to sink the audacious little craft 
with one volley from her big guns. 
The advantage was with the Monitor, 
however, throughout the entire fight, 
for the Merrimac could not easily reach 
her enemy through the narrow port 
holes, but the Monitor with her revolv- 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



ing turret could fire in any direction. 
The Monitor's size prevented her from 
being struck by many balls, and most 
of those which did hit her turret 
glanced harmlessly into the water. 
Though the Alerrimac fired twice as 
many shots, those of the Monitor did 
the greatest execution. When the Mer- 
rimac tried to ram the Monitor she did 
no damage to the enemy, but opened 
her own bow and made an alarming 
leak. Not until the AJerrimac's shots 
were directed against the Monitor's 
pilot house did the latter ship with- 
draw, and the Merrimac, leaking badly, 
and supposing the fight was over, also 
withdrew. Although the fight was un- 
decided, the purpose of the Merrimac 
was defeated. The most important ef- 
fect of the battle, aside from its being 
a virtual victory for the Union, was the 
establishment of the value of the iron- 
clad. Ericsson's despised plan was re- 
cei\ed with enthusiasm, and a dozen 
monitors were quickly constructed, 
which were of great assistance to the 
Federal forces. A revolution instantly 
took place, not only in the navy of the 
United States, but in those of all the 
foreign powers. The building of iron- 
clads became imperative and the great 
wooden men-o'-war, once the boast and 
pride of maritime nations, were now 
consigned to the past, along with the 
galley and the sailing vessel. 

As soon as the iron-clad became an 
assured success, the nations began to 
look for a more formidable weapon 
than the ordinary cannon. This has 
been found in the torpedo, the most 
terrible engine of destruction that the 
mind of man has conceived for the 
purpose of warfare. From the floating 
kegs loaded with charges of gunpowder, 
which Captain David Bushnell set 
adrift in New York harbor to the con- 
sternation of the British during the 
Revolution, the torpedo has advanced 
by rapid stages to the dignity of a ma- 
chine capable of demolishing in an in- 
stant the largest and most powerful 
battle ship afloat. The torpedo prop- 
erly dates back to 1846, when Professor 
Schoenbein, of Basel, Switzerland, pro- 
duced the powerful explosive known as 



nitric acid. For a long time, however, 
this terrible explosive was impractical 
for military purposes, owing to the peril 
attendant on its transportation, but at 
last F. A. Abel devised a process for its 
manufacture in compressed solid cylin- 
ders, which can be stored and transmit- 
ted with safety, and which explode with 
great power when ignited under the 
confinement of a detonating powder. 
The torpedoes of modern warfare are 
of two kinds : They are either con- 
trivances propelled through the water 
so as to strike the enemy's vessels, or 
are more or less stationary, submerged 
mines, so arranged as to explode when 
a ship passes over them. During the 
last two years of the Civil War, the 
torpedo service of both forces was re- 
sponsible for tremendous destruction. 
Seven United States iron-clads, thir- 
teen wooden war vessels, and several 
army transports were destroyed by tor- 
pedoes, and eight more vessels were 
iDadly injured. Four of the Confeder- 
ate vessels were destroyed by their own 
mines. In the Russo-Turkish war of 
1877-1878, the torpedo played a great 
part. Through their agency the armor- 
ed fleet on the Danube was held in 
check without the aid of a single Rus- 
sian war ship. At Batoum a steamer 
was blown up and sunk by a White- 
head torpedo, which is the first re- 
corded triumph of that now celebrated 
weapon. In the Chilian revolution of 
1891, the battleship Blanco Encalada 
was sunk with a crew of 150 by a 
^Vhitehead torpedo. The right to use 
this torpedo has been purchased by the 
leading maritime nations of the world. 
The torpedo consists of a cigar-shaped 
case of phosphor bronze. The dimen- 
sions vary in different countries, but 
the average length is 14 feet and the 
average diameter 14 inches. The de- 
structive effect is accomplished entirely 
by a head, wherein lies all the way from 
sixty to seventy to 250 pounds of gun 
cotton. There are many types of the 
offensive torpedo similar to the White- 
head, but the complexity of their con- 
struction, and the large percentage of 
failures in their attempted runs, as con- 
spicuously demonstrated in our late 



GEOGRAn-IV AND ACMI EVEMENTS— MODI' R.\ WARFARE 



495 



Spanish-American war, do not justify 
their being considered so much a de- 
structive as a demoralizing power. 

During the progress of hostilities be- 
tween the United States and Spain, the 
whole naval world looked forward 
with breathless anxiety to see a practi- 
cal test of the terror-insi)iring torpedo 
boats. But opportunity for a demon- 
stration of their destructiveness did not 
come. The Spanish craft that sped 
out on their death-dealing missions at 
the battles of Manila and Santiago 
were not alert enough to escape the 
vigilance of the expeil gunners, who 
hammered them with shot and shell be- 
fore they approached near enough to 
discharge their doom-sealing weapons. 
The torpedo boat has been likened to 
the race horse of the steamer world, 
built for short dashes at high speed. 
The first qualification is that it shall be 
built as small and light as possible, and 
that it shall be painted a color that will 
blend with sea and sky at night. Five- 
sevenths of the boat is taken up by ma- 
chinery and coal, and in the other two- 
sevenths, the extreme ends, the boat's 
crew are huddled like sheep in a pen — 
officers forward, men aft. The hard- 
ships that are undergone by the crew 
of a torpedo boat during an engage- 
ment are inconceivable to anyone not 
in the service. The heat from the en- 
gines is terrific, and when the weary 
sailor is overcome by the fatigue and 
excitement of the battle, there is no 
place for him to lay his head except be- 
tween two boilers or torpedo tubes. 

The defensive torpedo, however, has 
become the essential auxiliary of the 
land gun for the defense of harbors. 
The modern submarine mine has reach- 
ed a stage of perfection that guarantees 
the safety of almost any city that is 
under its protection, notwithstanding 
the fact that Admiral Dewey sailed into 
INIanila Bay over a veritable nest of 
deadly torpedoes. The mines are usu- 
ally arranged to be fired at will or 
automatically at touch of the vessel. 
The blowing up of the United States 
battle ship Maine in Havana harbor on 
the night of February 15, i8q8, and the 
killing of 268 brave American sailors, 



is the most notable example of the de- 
structiveness of the submarine mine. 

The use of solid shot in warfare has 
been practically given up. The projec- 
tile of to-day is a conical shell of steel, 
hollow, and sometimes loaded witii 
powder, so as to explode on striking, or 
by a time fuse. It is wonderfully dif- 
ferent from the shell of twenty-five 
years ago. In those days one could 
watch the shell as it sailed through the 
air in a graceful curve, and there was 
time, under faxorable circumstances, to 
get out of the way before it bursted. 
But the new style of shell moves at the 
rate of a mile a second, and when it 
strikes a metal target, its energy being 
transformed instantaneously into heat, 
it becomes red hot, and a flame bursts 
forth from the point struck. The pro- 
jectile of to-day moves almost in a 
straight line, and its impact at a dis- 
tance of a mile seems almost simul- 
taneous with the discharge of the gun. 
When such a shell passes near a man, 
it will tear his clothes off, merely from 
the windage, and if it comes too near 
him, though not hitting him, it will kill 
him. The concussions from there own 
shots destroyed the aural membranes 
of a number of gunners in our late 
war. who had not properly protected 
their ears against such danger. 

The first real and complete test of 
the ordnance developed by modern naval 
science since the Rebellion was given 
during the war between the United 
States and Spain. Each of the contend- 
ing nations had navies that included 
some of the best battle ships in the 
world, and each was splendidly equip- 
ped with all the latest improvements in 
ammunition and armanent. The only 
fault with the test is tiiat the Americans 
were so much superior to the .Spanish 
in tlie skill with which they manoeuvred 
their ships and handled their weapons 
of destruction, that it cannot after all 
be taken as a wholly fair test. One 
thing sufficiently established, however, 
was the effectiveness of the modern war 
vessel and its death-dealing power. 

Improvement in modern warfare is 
not confined solely to naval methods 
and equipment. There has been a vast 



496 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



change in army ordnance within the 
past century. Napoleon, greatest of 
modern warriors, would be no more 
astonished than Admiral Nelson were 
he to return to earth and see with what 
strides the science of war has advanced 
during his absence. He would find that 
his heavy columns could not be 
launched in all their imposing pagean- 
try ; and that Murat, his daring cavalry 
leader, could not ride over an army 
with his horsemen. The grand and 
picturesque bayonet charge is a thing 
of the past. We have in its place the 
thin skirmish lines, seeking to crush 
the enemy with their fire alone, and it 
is probable that cavalry will never again 
charge on the battlefield. The simple 
artillery pieces that were used at the 
battle of Waterloo were mere toys as 
compared to the rapid fire machine 
guns of the present day. The modern 
machine gun is the outcome of a series 
of evolutions in armament. The "mi- 
trailleuse" came first, and soon showed 
its capabilities. Then the Hotchkiss 
showed the possibility of using heavier 
and larger projectiles. The modern 
rapid-fire gun was merely a product 
evolved from the "mitrailleuse" and the 
Hotchkiss, and the rapid-fire guns difi^er 
from each other in detail rather than in 
results. All carry heavy projectiles and 
discharge such shot with a rapidity that 
depends largely upon the caliber of the 
barrels, the larger the caliber and the 
longer the barrels, the slower the dis- 
charge. In this country the multi- 
barrel has been the most familiar type, 
owing to the use of the Catling gun in 
the army. Besides the Catling, there 
are the Cardner, the Maxim-Norden- 
feldt, the Accles and the Robinson, 
among the leading multi-barrels, while 
the best known single-barrels are the 
Maxim and the Skode. Tests with the 
jMa.xim gun have scored records of 
775 shots to the minute. 

The practical test to which "smoke- 
less powder" was put in the Spanish- 
American war demonstrated so obvious 
a superiority for it over the best of the 
old style composition, that it will doubt- 
less hereafter serve all branches of 
military service, including vessels of 



war. The party using the ordinary 
powder could not discern the attacking 
foe, using the new explosive, with any 
certainty, till it had ad\ anced within 200 
yards of the defending line. With 
rifles that kill at two miles, as an Aus- 
trian improved rifle is said to have done 
recently, and smokeless powder in cart- 
ridges for "magazine" or rapid-fire" 
rifles, with Catling machine guns, and 
revolving cannon, the land forces are 
certainly as well equipped for war as 
are the marines. 

Cun cotton, which made the torpedo 
effective, was first used for artillery 
purposes by the Austrian ariuy, and is 
now an indispensible agent in the con- 
duct of military and naval operations 
among all nations. In 1847 another 
and more terrible explosive than gun 
cotton was discovered by Sombrero. 
This was nitro-glycerine, and was pro- 
duced by subjecting common glycerine 
to a treatment of concentrated sul- 
phuric and nitric acid. The clear, oily, 
colorless, sweetish liquid thus obtained 
would burn without detonation, but 
when an infinitesimal quanity was ex- 
posed to the open air a jar or shock 
was sufficient to produce an explosion 
of such terrific force as to blow to 
atoms everything in the vicinity. In the 
same year Alfred Nobel, a Swedish 
resident of Hamburg, became greatly 
interested in the perilous discovery, 
and, assisted by his brother, began its 
manufacture on a large scale. Al- 
though the life of the brother was sacri- 
ficed in one of the earliest experiments, 
Nobel persevered until he had devised 
a process whereby nitro-glycerine could 
be manufactured with comparative 
safety. In 1863 he introduced the prac- 
tice of soaking common gunpowder in 
it for blasting, and in 1867 he conceived 
the idea of mi.xing it with some solid, 
inert substance, such as silicious ashes 
or infusorial earth. The product re- 
sulting from the latter process was 
called dynamite, now regarded to be the 
safest of all explosives, as neither elec- 
tricity, light nor ordinary shocks 
causes it to explode. 

Of the many e.xplosivebodiesthat have 
been discovered during the Nineteenth 



GEOGRATHY AND ACHIEVEM ENTS— MODERN WAREARE 



Century, the only one that can be con- 
sidered a rival of gunpowder is the 
substance known as cordite. This is a 
smokeless powder, and consists of a 
mixture of gun cotton, nitro-glycerinc 
and vaseline. In the manufacture of 
old-fashioned gunpowder many changes 
h.ave taken place within the past forty 
years, both in process and general 
composition. By increasing the den- 
sity of the grains, thus closing more 
tightly the pores through which igni- 
tion penetrates their mass, the energy 
of gunpowder has been increased and 
the velocity of the projectile propelled 
thereby is proportionately increased. 
Another improvement of great advan- 
tage consists of molding the grains into 
definite geometrical forms. Instead 
of the more or less coarsely pulverized 
substance of a half century ago the gun- 
powder of to-day is made into pris- 
matic, lenticular, pellet and hexagonal 
forms. One of the most popular va- 
rieties of these forms is the hexagonal 
])rism. It was chosen for the same 
reason that the honey bee chooses to 
build hexagon cells in its comb — to 
economize space. In building cartridges 
for big guns out of this powder the 
pieces fit snugly together, every pos- 
sible ounce of force being put into the 
prism by compression. There is ac- 
cordingly no loss of space in the load 
chamber of the gun. The concentra- 
tion of power by means of the liy- 
draulic press used in the manufacture 
of these prisms is so great that solid 
prisms of this powder loaded into a 
gun would burst it. To obviate this 
each prisms is perforated with a num- 
ber of small holes running parallel to 
its axis, thereby securing expansion 
equally in all directions and insuring 
the combustion of all the explosive. 

One of the most marvelous institu- 
tions of modern warfare is the trans- 
mitting of intelligence by means of sun- 
light signals or heliographing. The 
system of the heliograph is extremely 
simple. It employs a mirror much 
more carefully prepared, but not much 
bigger than the bit of looking-glass 
wherewith the mischievous schoolboy 
throws flashes of sunlight into other 



people's faces, and it works on the same 
general principle. A great deal has 
been done in late years to adapt the 
telephone and telegraph to troops in the 
field, but time and opportunity for con- 
structing even a temporary line across 
a stretch of hostile country or regions 
exposed to the fire of the enemy is of- 
ten lacking. It was formerly custom- 
ary to resort to the flag by day and the 
torch by night, a certain signal code 
being brought into requisition. But the 
torch and flag were unavailable for 
greater distances than ten to fifteen 
miles, and in rainy weather or dark 
weather their use is limited to five miles 
or less. Sometimes two mirrors are 
necessary in order to work a helio- 
graph. This is called the duplex sys- 
tem. When the sun is behind the sig- 
naller, a second mirror is placed at 
such an angle that the reflections are 
thrown on the first, or working mirror. 
At night the instrument is rendered 
equally effective by adjusting the mir- 
rors so that they reflect the light pro- 
duced by a powerful electric arc. The 
heliograph first demonstrated its ef- 
ficiency and utility for field intercom- 
munication in the Indian wars of the 
^Vestern frontier, beginning in 1886. 
Three years later Major W. J. Volk- 
man, U. S. A., demonstrated in Ari- 
zona and New Mexico the possibility 
of carrying on communication by helio- 
graph over a range of 200 miles. He 
was assisted by 33 officers and 129 op- 
erators, and 3,787 messages were ex- 
changed, comprising 92,406 words. The 
network of communication begun by 
General Miles in 1886 and continued 
by Lieutenant W. A. Glassford, was 
perfected in 1889 ^t ranges of 85, 88, 
95 and 125 miles, over a country incon- 
ceivably rugged and broken, the strong- 
hold of the Apache and other hostile 
Indian tribes. 

The use of the balloon in warfare 
is another distinctly Nineteenth Cen- 
tury institution, its first recorded ap- 
plication to such purpose taking place 
during the Civil War. In 1862 General 
McClellan organized a balloon corps, 
with Thaddeus S. C. Lowe at its head. 
The innovation soon became a compo- 



498 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND KKFEREXXI': 



iiciit part of the Anny of the rotomac, 
as it did good service in disclosing the 
niiHtary operations of the Confederates. 
Now all the leading military nations of 
the world have their balloon corps, spe- 
cially trained and equipped for recon- 
noitering purposes. At the battle of 
Santiago on July i, 1898, the move- 
ments of the enemy were observed 
from a balloon by Sergeant Thomas 
Carroll Boone. A telegraph wire con- 
nected the basket of the balloon with 
the ground, and observations, trans- 
mitted in that manner to the officers 
below. 

The bicycle has also been brought into 
requisition as a piece of army equip- 
ment in recent years, and a number of 
the leading military powers of the 
world have fully equipped bicycle corps 
attached to their regular armies. 

The practical abolishment of priva- 
teering constitutes one of the most 
wholesome and radical changes that has 
taken place in modern warfare during 
the Nineteenth Century. This marked 
a long step in progress, for as a matter 
of course privateering is but a legalized 
form of piracy. Although privateer- 
ing in some form or other goes back to 
ancient times, the "sea beggars" have 
flourished especially as a recognized in- 
stitution of civilized nations from the 
middle of the Sixteenth Century to the 
close of the Rebellion. The privateer 
was an armed vessel belonging to a 
private owner, the subject of a bellig- 
erant power, and bearing a commission 
from that power to "sink, burn or de- 
stroy" the commerce of an enemy. 
With its abolishment by the Treaty of 
Paris, in 1856, the last vestige of poetry 
and romance has departed from mod- 
ern warfare. The day of smart 
maneuvers under sail, of yard-arm to 
yard-arm conflicts, of the carronade, 
swivel and boarding pike, is now a 
thing forgotten. The dare-devil style 
of climbing over a stranger's bulwarks, 
clearing his decks with naked cutlass 
and spitting pistols, and then asking his 
nationality and destination, is also for- 
gotten, although it is but comparatively 
few years since such practices were ex- 
tremely common. The Eighteenth Cen- 



tury and the early years of the present 
were halcyon times for the privateer. 
The New York newspapers of the Col- 
onial period abound in advertisements 
inviting "gentlemen and others" to en- 
list with this or that vessel fitting out 
inider the commission of "His Ma- 
jesty." England encouraged privateer- 
ing by ordering that prizes taken should 
be di\ided between the owner and the 
captors, the rights of the crown be- 
ing especially excluded in numerous 
prize acts. The United States, as a na- 
tion, also greatly encouraged privateer- 
ing up to and during the War of 1812. 
Not less than 1,367 public and private 
armed vessels were commissioned by 
the colonies to prey upon British com- 
merce during the Revolution. In spite 
of its prevalence and immeasurable ad- 
vantage to the United States during the 
War of 18 1 2, privateering soon fell into 
disfavor, as shown by the fact that 
Congress in 181 8 passed a law for- 
bidding the enlistment in this country 
of men for foreign privateering. Great 
Britain was more than fifty years be- 
hind us in passing such a law. In 1824 
the United States vainly urged Great 
Britain to assist us in the abolition of 
legalized sea robbery. Thirty years 
later Lord Clarendon advised that it be 
abolished by international agreement, 
but James Buchanan, then United 
States minister to England, was in- 
structed to reply that his country could 
not assent to the proposal unless all the 
naval powers should declare that war 
should never be waged upon private 
property on the high seas. In April, 
1856, at the termination of the Crimean 
^\'ar, Great Britain, France, Austria, 
Russia and Turkey held a congress at 
Paris, at which it was decided to abol- 
ish privateering under the agreement 
known as the Declaration of Paris. 
This notable congress was brought 
about by Great Britain because it was 
feared that Russia would issue letters 
of marque to the fleets of the United 
States merchant ships, commissioning 
them to prey upon English and French 
commerce. All the important Euro- 
pean powers save Spain signed this 
treaty, and all the American powers ex- 



GEOGRAPHY AND ACHIEVEMENTS-MODERN WARFARE 



499 



cept tlie United States and Mexico. 
This country, through William L. 
jNlarcy, offered to sign the agreement if 
the clause as to privateering should be 
amended by the declaration that the 
private property of subjects or citizens 
should be exempt from seizure on the 
high seas by the public armed vessels 
of other belligerents. The great pow- 
ers refused assent to the proposed 
amendment, and the United States did 
not become a party to the treaty. When 
the Civil War broke out in 1861 Mr. 
Seward, then Secretary of State, of- 
fered to sign the treaty of 1856 with- 
out insisting upon the amendment, but 
Great Britain and b'rance replied that 
the signature could not be accepted if 
it was to be coupled with the condition 
that the provisions of this treaty were 
to be made applicable to the use of 
privateers by the Southern Confeder- 
acy. As that was the wish of the ad- 
ministration Mr. Seward did not sign 
the treaty. The story of Confederate 
privateering, and especially the damage 
done to commerce by Confederate 
cruisers, was still fresh in the memory 
of the world when the American- 
Spanish war broke out. The fact that 
neither of the contending nations had 
signed the Declaration of Paris, and 
were therefore at perfect liberty to is- 
sue letters of marque and reprisal to 
privateers, was looked upon with grave 
foreboding by all the great maritime 
powers of the world. y\lthough Spain 
threatened at the outbreak of hostilities 
to resort to such method of warfare, it 
was never carried into execution. Civ- 
ilized opinion was too strong against 
such barbarous and illicit practice to 
warrant its being carried on with any 
success, and the opportunity for dis- 
posing of prizes would have been 
greatly restricted by the almost un- 
doubted refusal of neutral nations to 
permit such spoils of war to be sold in 
their ports. Trade relations have be- 
come so much more important than 
they were in the days of active priva- 
teering that the day has long gone past 
when the world would stand by and see 
two belligerent nations preying upon 
each other's commerce to the annoyance 



and inconvenience of all their neigh- 
bors. 

Up to the Nineteenth Century the 
most inhuman method of punishment 
for breaches of discipline were in 
vogue both in the army and the navy. 
The military punisiiments in the Eng- 
lish army were of infamous severity. 
Instances were numerous where a thou- 
sand lashes were given to offenders, 
while riding the wooden horse, being 
strung up by the thumbs and other 
equally cruel punishments were very 
common. All these brutal chastise- 
ments have been done away with, and 
only in very rare cases is any physical 
punishment administered to the modern 
soldier or sailor. In the year 1850 flog- 
ging was abolished by act of Congress 
in the navy of the United States. Up 
to that time the captain of any of our 
national vessels had the authority, at 
his discretion, to order any man in his 
coinmand to be stripped and lashed 
with the cat-o-nine-tails. This instru- 
ment of torture, once so familiar to all 
sea-faring men, is now only known to 
them by tradition. Old officers thought 
the navy itself as good as abolished 
with the cat-o-nine-tails. But subse- 
quent events proved how utterly mis- 
taken they were. The record made by 
the naval forces under Farragut in the 
Civil War and under Dewey at Manila 
are proof positive that the fighting 
qualities of the American Jack Tar 
have not been spoiled in the least by 
the sparing of the cruel and barbarous 
weapon. 

Since the introduction of more hu- 
mane methods of treatment, statistics 
show that both the sailors and the 
soldiers of the world are gradually 
growing better, and that there is a 
gradual decrease in the number of 
court-martials. The last report of the 
Judge Advocate of the United States 
Army shows a marked decrease in the 
number of court-martial trials since 
1893. With the improvement of the 
morale of the army it is interesting to 
note that the desertions have fallen off 
wonderfully. In 1894 there were 518 
deserters; in i8c>5 the number fell to 
255; in 1897 it dropped to 244; and in 



500 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



1898, when there was real fighting to 
be done, it fell to 176 — and that out of 
an army that was nearly twice as large 
as it had been in 1894. 

However paradoxical it may appear, 
it is nevertheless a fact that the im- 
proved destructiveness of weapons of 
war has made a less destruction. The 
modern conception of war with the 
more advanced nations includes the fac- 
tor of fighting with the least possible 
sulifering, and to meet the demands of 
the accepted standard of humanity has 
been the purpose of the newer engines 
of destruction. It was with this hu- 
mane intent that the Mauser bullet was 
invented. The old-fashioned bullet 
usually whirled round and round, tear- 
ing the tissues, arteries, muscles and 
fiesh, and on coming in contact with a 
bone shattered it to splinters. The 
wound of exit left a hole large enough 
to insert a man's fist. Whenever a man 
was hit in the arm or leg with one of 
these bullets it was almost always 
necessary to perform amputation, if the 
victim did not die beforehand from 
hemorrhage. With the Mauser bullet 
all this is different. Experience in the 
Cuban war has demonstrated that only 
very infrequently does a wound caused 
by a Alauser bullet result in a hemor- 
rhage which might be fatal. Men 
struck by the Mauser bullets have been 
known to continue fighting to the end 
of the battle after receiving what is 
generally supposed to be a mortal 
wound. In almost every case this bul- 
let passes clear through the victim's 
body, and the wound of exit is no larger 
than that of entrance, and there is no 
splintering of bone or tearing up of 
tissues. 

All the changes that might be sup- 
posed to make war more cruel and 
bloody have really operated in the in- 
terest of humanity. The old-fashioned 
arms, because they were fired at close 
quarters, killed and wounded sixty per 
cent of the combatants. The improved 
arms of modern warfare, in the blood- 
iest battle noted in history, killed and 
wounded but little more than 25 per 
cent. The "laws of war" show a mag- 
nanimous consideration for the enemy 
and a humane regard for the weak and 



defenseless. According to the code at 
present formulated by civilized nations 
these laws forbid the use of poison 
against the enemy ; murder by treach- 
ery, as for example, assuming the uni- 
form or flag of the foe; the murder 
of those who have surrendered ; the use 
of such weapons as will cause unneces- 
sary pain to an enemy ; the abuse of 
a flag of truce ; all unnecessary destruc- 
tion of property, whether public or 
private; that only fortified places shall 
be beseiged ; that women and children 
and non-combatants be allowed to de- 
part before the bombardment of a city 
begins ; that plundering by private sold- 
iers or officers shall be considered in- 
admissible ; that prisoners shall be 
treated with common humanity ; that 
personal and family honor and the 
religious convictions of an invaded peo- 
ple must be respected by the invaders 
and all pillage by regular troops or their 
followers be strictly forbidden. 

Considering the marvelous strides 
which modern warfare has made in the 
Century, it may appear to some that 
the universal brotherhood of man is but 
an empty dream, and that the day is yet 
far distant when the nations of the 
earth shall beat their swords into plow- 
shares, and their spears into pruning- 
hooks. Paradoxical as it looks, we are 
rapidly tending toward a ]3ractical mil- 
lennium. On account of the enormous 
expense necessary to conduct cam- 
paigns in these advanced stages of 
equipment, wars are m.uch shorter in 
duration and more infrequent of occur- 
rence than they have ever been in the 
history of the world. In fact war has 
come to be regarded as such a terrible 
ordeal that it is only resorted to after 
every available effort has been ex- 
pended to settle the dispute by arbitra- 
tion. This method has been gradually 
growing in favor among all nations, and 
as a result more than eighty interna- 
tional disputes have been settled by ar- 
bitration during the Nineteenth Cen- 
tury. The people of the world have 
risen up in revolt against the tyranny 
of needless conflicts, and war is now 
compelled to give a strict account of 
itself and to answer a thoughtful and 
stern challenge for its reason for being. 



GEOGRAPHY AND ACHIEVEMENTS— TRANSPORTATION 



SOI 



TRANSPORTATION. 

Many are the methods of transporta- 
tion which have been in use through- 
out the centuries. At the beginning of 
the last century land journeys were 
made by stage coach and the sedan 
chair ; the pack-horse, clumsy wagons, 
and the canal boat were generally used 
for the transportation of merchandise, 
while people in the main, performed 
their long journeys by stage coach or 
the carrier's cart. 

In the year 1804 Obadiah Elliot, a 
coachmaker, patented a plan for hang- 
ing vehicles upon elliptical springs, thus 
dispensing with the heavy iron and 
wood beds that had been invariably 
used in four wheel carriages up to that 
time. 

In 1829 the first public omnibus ap- 
peared in London. \'ictorias became 
popular in 1869. The buggy is an Am- 
erican invention of the first part of 
the last century. It gained much ad- 
miration from English coachmakers, 
who were surprised at the extreme 
lightness, ease and durability with 
which it could travel over rough roads. 

The coaches, landaus, broughams, 
spiders, runabouts, game carts and dog- 
carts of to-day show to what extent the 
carriage manufacturer has developed 
his art. Wagons have undergone as 
many improvements as carriages dur- 
ing the last century. There are appro- 
priate wagons for every use in city or 
country. The use of steam and ma- 
chinery in their mantifacture has cheap- 
ened the price of vehicles. 

In 1769, Nicolas Joseph Cugnot, a 
French engineer, had invented a self- 
propelling steam carriage. A later en- 
gineer, Oliver Evans, of Philadelphia, 
in 1804 built a steam dredge which ran 
on wheels one and a half miles through 
the streets. On Christmas Eve, 1801, 
according to some authorities, Richard 
Trevithick made the first trial of his 
locomotive at Cambourne, carrying the 
first passengers to travel by steam. 
There is confusion, however, as to the 
dates of the trial trips of Trevithick's 
engine, although it was certainly ex- 
hibited both in London and Wales prior 



to 1809, attracting much attention on 
the ]\lerthyr Tydvil line. To quote a 
newspaper of the time, it "traveled with 
ease at the rate of five miles an hour," 
and conveyed "along the tramroad ten 
tons long weight of bar iron from 
Penydarren iron works to the place 
where it joins the Glarmorganshire 
canal, upwards of nine miles distant ; 
and it is necessary to observe that the 
weight of the load was soon increased 
by about seventy persons riding on the 
trams, who, drawn thither by curiosity, 
were eager to ride." Trevithick's loco- 
motive was but little more than a model. 
It was full of imperfections and, being 
unable to make steam, could not travel 
fast or draw a heavy load. It remained 
for the Stephensons, father and son, to 
produce the modern locomotive. 
George Stephenson's first locomotive 
was made in 1814, and from that year 
the invention of the locomotives is gen- 
erally said to date. 

The first public steam railway in the 
world was formally opened in England. 
September 27, 1825. The Stockton and 
Darlington was thirty-eight miles in 
length. The line was laid with both 
malleable and cast iron rails, and cost 
250,000 pounds. Its opening was at- 
tended with great curiosity and excite- 
ment. There was to be a competition 
between various kind of motive power ; 
horses, stationary engines and a loco- 
motive being tried. The train consisted 
of six loaded wagons, a passenger 
carriage, twenty-one trucks fitted with 
seats and six wagons filled with coal. 
George Stephenson drove the locomo- 
tive. "The signal being given," says a 
writer of the time, "the engine started 
off with this immense train of carriages, 
and such was its velocity that in some 
parts the speed was frequently twelve 
miles an hour, and the number of pas- 
sengers was counted to be 450, which, 
together with the coals, merchandise 
and carriages, would amount to near 
ninety tons. The engine, with its load, 
arrived at Darlington, travelling the 
last eight and three-quarter miles in 
sixty-five minutes. The six wagons 
loaded with coals, intended for Dar- 
lington, were then left behind, and ob- 



502 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



taining a fresh supply of water, and 
arranging the procession to accommo- 
date a band of music, and numerous 
passengers from DarHngton, the engine 
set off again and arrived at Stockton in 
three hours and seven minutes, includ- 
ing stoppages, the distance being nearly 
twelve miles." 

In 1829 the Stephensons invented 
the steam blast, which, continually feed- 
ing the flame with a fresh supply of 
oxygen, enabled the "Rocket." their 
prize engine, to make steam enough to 
draw ten passenger cars, at the rate of 
ten miles an hour. 

In 1830 the Liverpool and Manches- 
ter Railway was opened, despite great 
opposition by the people. 

The writers of the day denounced the 
railway in magazines and newspapers, 
and it was even opposed in Parliament. 
But George Stephenson was strong 
enough to withstand all attacks. It was 
while he was undergoing examination 
from a Parliamentary committee that 
the familiar anecdote about the relative 
strength of the locomotive and the cow 
originated. 

"But suppose, now, ]\lr. Stephenson, 
one of these engines, going along a rail- 
road at the rate of nine or ten miles an 
hour, should encounter a cow ; would 
not that be bad, think you ?" 

"Yes," replied the Scotch engineer, 
with a smile, "varra bad — for the coo." 

Even after the building of the rail- 
way the directors hesitated about em- 
ploying steam locomotives ; but after 
the triumph of the "Rocket," in 1829, 
the power to be used for tractive pur- 
poses was finally settled, and the Liver- 
pool and ^Manchester Railway became 
a success beyond the wildest dreams of 
its promoters. Many other lines were 
built, and the British people soon be- 
came accustomed to railway traveling. 
^'ery odd were the chimsy cars of those 
times. Most of them were open at the 
sides and protected only by rude awn- 
ings. Some of them contained benches, 
but in others it was necessary to sit on 
the floor. The first-class and mail train 
was entirely covered in. and was toler- 
ably well seated, but the most comfort- 
able way of traveling was in one's own 



family coach, hoisted on a truck at- 
tached to the rear end of a train. This 
method of journeying became very 
fashionable with aristocratic folk. 

The Stephenson locomotives, hav- 
ing but little side play to their wheels, 
were unable to go around sharp curves. 
Lines were, accordingly, made as 
straight as possible, and vast sums of 
money were spent in making easy 
grades. Deep cuts, costly tunnels and 
bridges were necessary, and all lines 
in England were made with easy grades 
and slight curves. 

Belgium is credited with being the 
first country on the European Conti- 
nent to have a railroad. In conform- 
ity with a go\-ernment decree, issued 
in July, 1834, Pierre Simin prepared 
plans for railway communication 
throughout the kingdom, and the Brus- 
sels and Mechlin Railway was opened 
for traffic on JMay 6, 1837. Railroads 
for general traffic were introduced in 
France in 1839, nearly ten years after 
the opening of the Manchester and 
Liverpool line. 

While the period between 1825 and 
i'S30 was pregnant with railway move- 
ments, it can scarcely be said that any 
railway was successfully operated in 
the Americas before 1830, when the 
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad opened its 
first section of fifteen miles from Bal- 
timore to Ellicotts Alills, The first 
genuine locomotive in use in the United 
States was the "Stourbridge Lion," 
which made its trial trip several months 
before the opening of the Baltimore 
and Ohio road, on a railway connect- 
ing the coal mines of northeastern 
Pennsylvania with the Delaware and 
Hudson Canal. From 1830 to 1835 
many lines were projected, and at the 
end of 1835 there were over a thou- 
smid miles of railway in use in the 
United States. In 1831 the Baltimore 
and Ohio Railroad offered a premium 
of $4,000 "for the most approved en- 
gine which shall be delivered for trial 
upon the road on or before the first of 
June, 1831 ; and $3,500 for the engine 
which shall be adjudged the next best." 
The first prize was won by the "York," 
built at York, Pennsylvania, after plans 



GEOGRAPHV AiVn ACHI EVEM ENTS~TRA\SrORTATIOX 



drawn by Plieneas Davis, a watch and 
clock maker. 

The celebrated locomotive "John 
Bull" was built by George and Robert 
Stephenson and Company, and was im- 
ported from England in 1831. 

Many locomotives were imported 
from England, but owing to the dif- 
ferent conditions in the United States, 
the American locomotive soon acqtiired 
a distinct individuality. To-day Ameri- 
can locomotives are acknowledged su- 
perior to all others, and are exported 
to every country which the railway has 
penetrated. 

Necessity was the mother of inven- 
tion ; the money which Great Britain 
lavished on deep cuts and expensive 
tunnels was not forthcoming in the 
young republic, so the engineers of the 
United States put their wits to work 
and devised flexible locomotives which 
will round any curve, and ascend steep 
grades without difficulty. The chief 
and most important of these inventions 
is the swivel truck, which, placed un- 
der the front of the car, enables the 
driver to make a sharp turn with per- 
fect safety. By means of the equalizing 
Ie\er, another great invention, the 
weight of the engine is always borne 
by three out of four or more driving 
wheels. This prevents the locomotive 
from running oiif the rails, even when 
the track is a rough one, and the road- 
bed is uncompleted. Of late years 
swiveling trucks have been applied to 
cars as well as to engines, so that the 
modern train of a score of cars follows 
the locomotive with exactness and 
safety, and hugs the side of a mountain, 
where the track is laid actually on a 
shelf hewn in the rock, with utter dis- 
regard of the law of centrifugal force. 
During a period of less than seventy 
years, our railways have grown from 
small beginnings to rank among the 
wonders of the world, and the improve- 
ment in their equipment has kept pace 
with their rapid growth. 

Peter Cooper's locomotive, built in 
1830, had great difficulty in exceeding 
the speed of a good horse : the loco- 
motive of to-day. which pulls the 
limited express, makes sixty miles an 



hour as a regular thing, and can in- 
crease it to seventy upon occasion. 

The old iron track with its dangerous 
tlat rail has given place to Bessemer 
rails, which nothing but time or fire 
can loosen from their place. The anti- 
quated method of signaling by the fran- 
tic waving of flags has been superseded 
by electricity, which displays the sig- 
nals high in the air. Double and quad- 
ruple tracks, so that no two trains on 
crowded roads run in opposite direc- 
tions, do away with all danger of col- 
lision. 

The railway mileage of the United 
States in 1830 was less than sixty miles, 
including tracks for all purposes ; to- 
day it amounts to considerably more 
than 200,000 miles, about two-fifths the 
total mileage of the world. 

The cost of building the railroads 
of this country has been enormous, and 
they represent a vast sum of money. 

The remainder of the railways of the 
world are distributed through almost 
every corner of the globe : the enter- 
prising Anglo-Saxon has introduced his 
chariot of fire wherever he himself has 
penetrated. It is quite in opposition to 
the fitness of things to fancy the jour- 
ney to Jericho as made by railway, but 
not only does the modern tourist go 
from Jerusalem to that ancient city of 
the Bible, in a steam-car, but there is 
also a railway which runs from Joppa 
to Jerusalem. This last, the Jaffa-Jeru- 
salem Railway, was opened August 27, 
1S92, when the first train ran from the 
ancient seaport to the City of David. 
This road is fifty-three miles long. 
The Hindoo railway system, as might 
be expected under British rule, is the 
most complete and best stocked of all 
the Asiatic railway systems. Japan 
comes in a good second, with Ameri- 
can locomotives, Bessemer rails and en- 
gineers who have learned their trade 
in the United States. 

The street railway company is a re- 
cent institution and has been in gen- 
eral use for comparatively only a few 
years. The first application of the rail- 
way track to short-distance passenger 
traffic was not made until 1831, when 
John Stephenson tried the experiment 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



in New York. The track was of flat 
bars, spiked to timbers laid on stone, 
and the car. one onl}'. resembled an 
omnibus, built in three sections, with 
thirty seats inside, and thirty on the 
roof, making sixty altogether. Horse- 
power propelled it, and its route was 
from Prince Street to the Harlem 
River, along the Bowery and Fourth 
Avenue. In 1852, the Second, Third, 
Sixth and Eighth Avenue lines in New 
York were begun. Boston had no 
street-cars until 1856, nor Philadelphia 
until a year later, in 1857. Horse-cars 
were introduced into Paris in 1858, but 
it was not until 1870 that a tramway 
was permitted in London, and even 
now they are not allowed in the center 
of the city. To-day there are street- 
cars in operation in every country in 
Europe, and also in Africa, Asia, in 
Japan, India and Ceylon, Australia, 
New Zealand, and in various parts of 
South America, as well as Manila and 
in Honolulu. 

It was not until 1873 that cable-cars 
were introduced. Prior to that date all 
street-cars were drawn by horses. The 
first cable-car was used in San Fran- 
cisco in 1873. The experiment was 
abundantly ridiculed. 

The new departure proved a trium- 
phant success, and street-railways be- 
came possible on the steep hills which 
had been insurmountable to horse-cars 
— another instance of the manner in 
which American inventors always rise 
to the emergency. 

The first city to follow suit was Chi- 
cago, in 1 88 1, and in 1883 Philadel- 
phia ran her first cable-cars on IVIarket 
Street. The franchise in both cities be- 
longed to the same company, and it 
has made its owners multi-millionaires. 
New York fought their introduction 
fiercely, and did not yield until 1886, 
while there were no cables in Baltimore 
until 1893. London built its first cable 
road in 1884, and New Zealand pre- 
ceded the mother-country by a year, in 
the uses of the new means of locomo- 
tion. 

The trolley-car is a yet more recent 
innovation. As early as 1835, Thomas 
Davenport, of Brandon, Vermont, con- 



structed an electric car, operated on 
a circular track, but he made no more 
than the model. In 1851 an electric 
locomotive, which attained a speed of 
19 miles an hour, was tested on the 
Baltimore and Washington Railway, 
but the first electric railway to prove 
a financial success was not built until 
1881, when Siemiens and Halaske op- 
erated one in Germany. There was in- 
tense prejudice against the electric rail- 
way in the United States on account of 
the danger from live wires, a prejudice 
fully justified by the number of casual- 
ties which occurred during the first 
years of their use ; but experience 
taught the safe management of the 
deadly fluid, and the trolley-car is now 
among the institutions in every town 
in the country. Elevated and under- 
ground railways are successfully op- 
crated in various European and Ameri- 
can cities, whenever the problem of 
rapid transit through crowded streets 
renders surface tramways dangerous, 
not to say deadly, and electricity is be- 
coming more and more general as their 
motive power. 

Experiments have proved that a 
greater rate of speed is possible to both 
locomotives and steamships, by the use 
of electricity, than by that of steam, and 
that it is possible to obtain more elec- 
tric power than steam power from the 
same amount of coal, while the water- 
falls have been utilized so that in all 
probability electricity will be the motive 
power of the future. Still there is talk 
of a coming rival. Compressed air is 
another propeller successfully used for 
locomotives and engines. It is kept 
both in storage batteries and in tanks, 
and is much liked not only for its re- 
sults as to speed, but on the grounds of 
economy, cleanliness and safety. 

It is said that the progenitor of the 
modern bicycle existed nearly two hun- 
dred years ago. for there is a figure of 
a two-wheeled hobby-horse on a 
stained-glass window in Stoke-Pogis 
Church, Bucks County. England, which 
window is over 200 years old. Back 
in the beginning of the eighteenth cen- 
tury, a strange device, called a hobby- 
horse, was introduced among novelties 



GEOGRAPHY AND ACHIEVrLMENTS-TRANSPORTATIOX 



in vehicles. It was constructed with 
two wheels, joined tandem, by a frame 
of wood. The saddle for the rider was 
on this midway between the wheels. 
He, the rider, propelled the machine by 
means of long strides taken on the 
ground. Its motion was restricted to 
a straight line, and locomotion there- 
with was tiresome, and chiefly valuable 
for purposes of exercise. 

Still the earliest velocipede worthy of 
the name was a clumsy contrivance, 
which was patented in 1816, in France, 
by one Baron von Drais, under the 
name of the pedestrian curricle. Two 
years later, an improved form of the 
"Draismene" was introduced into Eng- 
land, but being impractical and clumsy, 
it met with ridicule rather than success. 
When it crossed the Atlantic in 1819, 
it met with more success in the United 
.States, and was quite the fashion for 
a while, although the fancy for it soon 
died out. The next step in the evolu- 
tion of the bicycle was not made until 
1846, when a Scotchman named Dal- 
zell invented a wooden safety bicycle, 
which, though a great improvement 
upon anything which had preceded it. 
was not sufficiently practical to be 
adopted to any extent. \"elocipedes and 
tricycles of various patterns were pa- 
tented in the United tSates, and were 
popular, chiefly for children and crip- 
ples. In 1869 I\I. Michaux, of Paris, 
invented a bicycle in which the front, or 
driving wheel was very much larger 
than the rear wheel. Just about this 
time velocipede-riding was the rage in 
the United States. Rinks and riding- 
schools were opened in all the larger 
cities, and the fashion was almost as 
great as that for roller-skating a few 
years later. The fast youth of the pe- 
riod called the popular velocipede of the 
day, the "bone-shaker" and it required 
some dexterity to manage it. This had 
wheels of nearly equal size, the pedals 
being applied directly to the front 
wheels. The rider's position between 
the two front wheels was an uncomfort- 
able one, and the clumsy machine well 
deserved its name. 



The first bicycle of iron and steel was 
invented by another Frenchman , M. 
Mayer, also of Paris. Later on the 
principle of crank action, as applied to 
revolving wheels, becoming understood, 
the era of the bicycle was fairly inau- 
gurated. Rubber tires and strong 
brakes rendered the motion easy, and 
one by one clever mechanicians dis- 
covered improvements which have ra- 
pidly made the machine the beneficent 
institution which it is to-day — an actual 
comfort to thousands of men and 
women, who find in it a pleasant means 
of e.^iercise and recreation. The low 
safety wheel made its appearance in 
1883. The girl of the period soon 
found that she could ride her brother's 
wheel as well as he could, and the ob- 
liging American manufacturer forth- 
with made one specially adapted to her 
use, to be rewarded by the sale of as 
many as he could make. No one now 
doubts that the bicycle has come to 
stay. Its use has spread all over the 
world, and the prejudice against it 
which at first existed has almost dis- 
appeared. Its popularity, however, has 
declined, notably in the United States, 
where the number in use has fallen 
off enormously within recent years. It 
is now chiefly used for business pur- 
poses. 

The motor-cycle, or automobile, is 
yet another astonishing product of the 
Nineteenth Century. Although its 
germ was evolved as long ago as 1769, 
when a French army surgeon rigged 
up a gun-carriage and a big copper 
boiler in such wise that it was dri\en 
by its own power. In 1784 a road en- 
gine was invented by a Cornishman, 
and in 1786 William Wymington de- 
signed a carriage which was propelled 
by a locomotive behind. The Orleton 
Amphibolus was a curiosity in Phila- 
delphia in 1804. This was an odd sort 
of vehicle, mounted on wheels, and run 
by its own steam engine, which was 
part of the structure. When finished 
it was driven successfully to the Dela- 
ware Ri\er, where it was used for 
dredging the Philadelphia docks. In- 
ventive mechanics produced more or 
less successful road-engines, until the 



So6 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



appearance and perfection of the loco- 
motive brought railways into general 
use, and the need for them no longer 
seemed apparent. 

The development of electricity and 
the perfection of the steam-engine have 
set inventors to devising new uses for 
them, especially for applications of that 
wonderful invention, the storage bat- 
tery. The undertaking has met with 
fair success, and the motor-carriage is 
a common sight on the Parisian boule- 
vards, and their use in American cities 
is rapidly increasing. Bicycles are fre- 
quently run in the same manner, and 
the use of the automobile is constantly 
becoming more general. Some of the 
electric trams are run by means of 
storage batteries without wires over- 
head. 

For general use the petroleum gas 
engine is considered the best and most 
practical. This can be kept running, 
at a fair rate of speed, for three hun- 
dred miles with a few gallons of gaso- 
line. In the United States the motor- 
carriage has reached a high degree of 
perfection. 

The steamship is a child of the last 
century, and a wonderful change has 
been wrought since the day, less than 
a hundred years ago, when the Ameri- 
can clipper ship was the queen of tiie 
seas, a greater change than had been 
brought about from the days of Noah's 
ark down to the beginning of the cen- 
tury. The changes have been due first 
to the application of steam as a mo- 
tive power to vessels and then to a 
change of construction from wood to 
iron and steel. The application of 
steam to ships is. however, of earlier 
creation than the railroad. As with so 
many other things the germ of the idea 
is to be found in the discoveries of a 
previous century. There are many 
claimants to the honor, and although 
James Rumsey and John Fitch were the 
pioneers in this country, yet the first 
practicable steamboat was the Cler- 
mont, constructed by Robert Fulton in 
1807. The Clermont, originally a canal 
boat, was built to run on the Hudson. 
In order of construction the Clermont 
was the sixteenth steamboat, but it was 



the first to be used permanently. The 
trial was made August 7, while throngs 
of people crowded the banks to watch 
the sight, a few praying for success, 
but most of them certain that it would 
be a failure. There was a slight delay, 
but the boat went ahead on her trip 
and steam navigation was an accom- 
plished fact. 

The Clermont was a crude boat. She 
was 133 feet long, 18 feet beam and 
160 tons and made only five miles an 
hour. But within a year two other 
boats built by Fulton were running be- 
tween New York and Albany, the time 
being thirty-two hours, with a fare of 
$7. The success of the experiment led 
to its imitation jn England. The Comet 
was launched upon the Clyde in 1812. 
It was forty feet long and had a three 
horsepower engine. 

These steamships were an important 
factor in the development of the 
newly settled portions of the United 
States. Before the days of the steam- 
boat, methods of transportation were 
primitive. Four months were required 
for the journey from St. Louis to New 
Orleans. At Pittsburg in 181 1 the first 
boat for Western rivers was built, and 
she made the trip to New Orleans. 
Great enthusiasm was aroused when, 
with the construction of the Enterprise 
in 1815, St. Louis was reached in 
twenty-five days from New Orleans. 

It was not until 1826 that the first 
steamer ran up the Allegheny River, 
and in the same year the ship Illinois 
reached St. Louis from New York via 
New Orleans, 3,000 miles, in twenty- 
nine days and a half. From that time 
dates the palmy day of steamboating. 
In 1823 the time between St. Louis and 
New Orleans had been reduced to 
twelve days, in 1828 the General Brown 
made it in nine days and four hours, 
and in i860 the running time had been 
reduced to three days. Now the steam- 
boat has practically vanished from the 
Western rivers. The railroad has taken 
its place. But it survives on the great 
lakes of the North, where there is an 
enormous traffic. 

The first steamer to cross the At- 
lantic was an American built siiip. the 



GEOGRAPHY AND ACHIEVEMENTS— TRANSPORTATION 



Savannah. The vessel had been built 
in New York as a sailing ship. She 
was 350 tons burden, clipper built, full- 
rigged and propelled by one inclined 
direct-acting low pressure engine, sim- 
ilar to those now in use. She had pad- 
dle wheels that could be taken out and 
put on deck. The Savannah steamed to 
the city in whose honor she was named 
and from there started for Liverpool 
Way 24, 1819, making the voyage in 
twenty-five days, being under steam 
eighteen days. She used pitch pine 
as fuel, the use of coal in American 
steamers not having been introduced at 
that day. From Liverpool she went to 
St. Petersburg. For some years she 
ran between Savannah and New York, 
and finally ran aground in a storm off 
Long Island and went to pieces. 

A ship wholly dependent upon steam 
was regarded for a long time as vision- 
ary. Nautical experts insisted that no 
vessel could carry fuel enough to supply 
her engines on a long voyage, and this 
was long accepted without dispute. The 
first vessel to make the journey with- 
out the use of sails and by steam alone 
was a Canadian vessel, the Royal Wil- 
liam, built at Three Rivers in the 
Province of Quebec. She sailed from 
Quebec August 5, 183 1, for London, 
putting into Picton en route and ar- 
rived at Gravesend September 16, af- 
ter a voyage of 25 days from Picton. 

Y'et in spite of this Dr. Dionysius 
Lardner declared that "As well might 
they attempt a voyage to the moon, as 
to run regularly between England and 
Xew Y'ork." This feat was accom- 
jilished by two British vessels in 1838 — 
the Sirius and the Great Western. The 
former was 178 feet long and of 703 
tens, and the latter 256 feet and of 
1,340 tons. The average speed of the 
former was seven knots and the latter 
8.2 knots an hour. 

America lagged behind England in 
the steam Atlantic trade. It was not 
until 1847 that the first American 
steamer was built expressly for the 
transatlantic trade. She was the United 
States, built at New York for the Black 
Ball line. The United States was a 
wonderful vessel in those days, being 



25G feet long and of 2,000 tons burden. 
Her first voyage, made to Liverpool, 
occupied thirteen days. Seven years 
before, in 1840, Samuel Cunard be- 
gan running ships from Liverpool to 
Boston, the Britannia, the first of the 
line, making the trip in fourteen days 
and eight hours. 

In 1840 began the use of the screw 
propeller, and the construction of ships 
of iron. Captain John Ericsson is 
gi\en the credit for the invention, but 
although he was the first to succeed in 
the application of the principle, it had 
been suggested and attempted by others 
in previous years. Ericsson built a 
small screw steamer in 1837 and invited 
tile English lords of the admiralty to 
make a trip in his boat, which made 
ten miles an hour. But the board gave 
him no encouragement. Paddle wheels 
were universally used then, although 
now they are seldom or never seen on 
the ocean, and are used merely in rivers 
and other places where the paddle wheel 
is more satisfactory because of the 
shoals. Ericsson built a small steamer, 
seventy feet long, in 1839; he then 
came to America to develop his idea, 
and in 1841 designed the Princeton, the 
first man-of-war with a screw propel- 
ler. In the same year he designed the 
\'aiiadalia, the first screw propeller ves- 
sel constructed for business purposes, 
which was built at Oswego, N. Y., and 
navigated the Great Lakes. Gradually 
the principle of the screw propeller es- 
tablished itself and screw steamers 
were built both in America and Eng- 
land and employed in the coasting trade 
and in short sea voyages. But it was 
deemed a hazardous experiment to try 
aiul cross the Atlantic, especially in the 
winter months. The Great Britain, 
launched on the Mersey in 1843, was 
the first transatlantic steamer on which 
the principle of the screw propeller was 
applied. The Great Britain was de- 
signed by Brunei and was 332 feet long 
and of 3,200 tons. 

The Great Britain is also remarkable 
in that Brunei substituted iron for 
wood. The metal had been used for 
hulls of river steamers as far back as 
1820, but had not come into general use. 



So8 



THE HO.AIE AUXILIARY AND REFKRKNCE 



To-day over 90 per cent, of the steam- 
ers built in Great Britain each year 
are or iron, and the wooden ship is a 
relic of the past. This substitution of 
iron for wood gave a severe blow to the 
American merchant marine, and in fact 
one from which it has not yet fully re- 
covered. When ships were made of 
wood the forests along our coasts fur- 
nished unusual opportunity for ship- 
building, and America indeed became 
queen of the seas. But the mineral 
resources of the United States were 
not sufficiently developed when the 
change came from wood to iron and 
the merchant marine of the United 
States suffered. This is, however, also 
due to the fact that the United States 
was occupied chiefly in internal devel- 
opment and railroads, manufactures 
and mining absorbed our attention, to 
the exclusion of foreign commerce. In 
recent years, however, there has been 
a great increase in shipbuilding, al- 
though this is still one of the few things 
in which the United States lags behind 
in the march of progress. With the im- 
provements in steel it supplanted iron, 
it being better for every purpose. 

Water-tight compartments had been 
used in wooden ships, but they were not 
practicable. The use of iron, however, 
made it possible to make use of this 
device by which the vessel is divided 
by bulkheads, and thus, while two or 
even three of the compartments may be 
open to the sea, the vessel will still 
float. The Royal William was the first 
important steamer to use water-tight 
compartments. 

The increase in speed of steamships 
has been due chiefly to improvements 
in the marine engine. There has been 
great economy in fuel and steel has 
made engines stronger. 

With these improvements came in- 
crease in the size of vessels, this being 
because large vessels are relatively 
more economical in fuel. 

The introduction of steamships has 
brought forth inventions of all sorts 
for the improvement of their navigation 
and manipulation. So perfect are the 
liners now in use that the ocean grey- 
hound may be stopped or reversed by 



a child, while a single man is able to 
execute the order "hard a-helm" on a 
man-of-war going at full speed. Be- 
fore the new hydraulic machinery was 
invented, three score men were barely 
sufficient to stop a fast steamer in full 
career. Thirty feet a minute is the 
usual rate at which model anchor en- 
gines raise the heaviest anchors in use. 
The hold of the vessel is illuminated 
to its farthest recesses by electric light, 
and the constant risk of fire from lan- 
terns or lamps upset by the rolling of 
the ship is entirely done away with. 
Science balances the compasses so as 
to avoid all danger of their variation, 
that variation which previous to the 
discovery of the modern method of 
compensation wrecked so many stout 
vessels upon unexpected reefs. 
Steamers at full speed take soundings 
to the depth of 100 fathoms as a mat- 
ter of course. The steam siren shrieks 
automatically at regular intervals in a 
heavy fog, and, last, but not least, when 
the good ship makes port, steam rings 
her bells, winds her cables around the 
capstan and runs the derricks which un- 
load her cargo. 

Safety has been of first considera- 
tion from the first, and statistics are 
quoted to prove that ocean travel is 
now no more dangerous than a railroad 
journey. 

Comfort as well as speed and safety 
are results sought by the builders of 
ocean-going steamers, and the great 
vessels on the lakes that cater to the 
traveling public. In 1838 even the best 
kind of ocean traveling was excessive- 
ly disagreeable. The supply of fresh 
food became exhausted a few days af- 
ter leaving port. But there is now a 
complete revolution in this respect. 
Even the steerage passengers fare bet- 
ter than did the cabin passengers of the 
early days. The employment of cold 
storage and artificial refrigeration, to- 
gether with the adaption of every im- 
provement in life ashore, have arranged 
it so that a voyage on the ocean may 
be as comfortable as life at a first-class 
hotel. Only the motion remains to 
worry the person who is addicted to 
sea-sickness. 



GEOGRAPHY AND ACHIEVEMENTS— COMMUNICATION 



The problem of traversing space by 
means of apparatus under navigable 
control has for many years occupied 
the minds of inventors. Success in this 
direction has not been great, but the 
way has been made easier for those 
who are striving to attain the end. 
Ballooning, which involves the use of 
machines lighter than the air, does not 
present insuperable difficulties. Since 
the Brother Montgolfier ascended in 
1783 by means of a fire balloon at An- 
nonay, there has been no difficulty in 
making ascents of as great as five miles. 
The first successful attempt at propell- 
ing balloons was made by Giffard in 
1852, the car being little more than a 
wooden platform with wheels to allow 
its running along on descending. More 
difficult has been the problem of avia- 
tion or the use of flying-machines, be- 
cause of the necessity of using appa- 
ratus heavier than the air. One of the 
characteristics of aviation is a large 
supporting surface, either in the form 
of wings or an aeroplane which is used 
to carry the weight. Distinguished 
scientists, believe that the problem will 
be solved before many years shall have 
passed. 

As fascinating is the subject of sub- 
marine navigation. Many attempts 
have been made to solve this problem, 
and the great naval powers have de- 
signed submarine war vessels. The 
nearest to success was the Holland sub- 
marine boat. Submarine navigation is 
not yet an accomplished fact. 



COMMUXICATION 

A man in Florida may now send a 
letter to his friend in the Klondike gold 
fields for two cents, or for five cents 
he may send a letter to his friend in 
Australia. The development of the 
post-office has made this possible. 
Sixty years ago, even if communica- 
tion had been open between these dis- 
tricts, such a feat and such a price 
was an impossibility. There are those 
who say that penny postage, as it is 
called from the English coin of the value 



of two cents, is one of the greatest 
achievements of the last century. There 
is certainly nothing that has conduced 
more to the comfort of the people. 

Post-offices are as old as history. 
Communications were sent either by 
couriers, pedestrians or in vehicles, but 
the splendid postal organization which 
now exists was then beyond the im- 
agination of the man who lived at the 
beginning of the last century. There 
had been little development since the 
dawn of civilization. Relays of fast 
post horses shortened the distance, but 
in Washington's first term as President, 
the mails traveled at the rate of only 
four and a half miles an hour. 

The development of the post-office 
has kept pace with the improvements 
of the means of communication, al- 
though perhaps this is not strictly true 
of the United States, where the tele- 
graphs and telephones, unlike in most 
other civilized countries, are not un- 
der the control of the post-office de- 
partment. 

To England the world is indebted for 
the placing of correspondence by mail 
within the means of everyone. Sir 
Rowland Hill noticed that, although the 
population of England had increased 
6,000,000 during the twenty years from 
1815 to 1835, the postal receipts were 
slowly diminishing. To overcome this 
the postal authorities had increased the 
postal rates, but this led to a further 
decrease in receipts, and means were 
found to defraud the post-office. As 
the charge on the letter could not be 
paid by the sender, those away from 
home arranged codes of signals which 
sh.ould tell their friends of their wel- 
fare. All that was necessary was to 
send an empty envelope, which would 
be refused at the door. Newspapers 
v,-ith words underscored were also used, 
as they were sent through the mails 
free, a stamp tax being levied upon 
them. The finance account for the year 
showed that about one-fifth of the let- 
ters transported were "refused" by the 
persons to whom they were addressed. 
Hill found that the average cost of a 
letter was less than one penny, and he 



Sio 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REI'EKENCE 



urged that a uniform charge of id (2 
cents) be made for the carriage of a 
letter, claiming that there would be an 
enormous increase in correspondence. 

Penny postage finally became a fact 
and was in operation on January 10, 
1S40. In respect to the distance for 
which a letter is conveyed for two cents 
the United States is now the cheapest 
postal system in the world, but in the 
matter of cheap postage the United 
States was far behind Great Britain. 
Until 1863 the distances over which 
the mails were carried was the basis 
of the rates of postage. In 1845 'he 
rates were: Not exceeding 300 miles, 
five cents ; exceeding 300 miles, ten 
cents. By a law of 1851 the distance for 
which the minimum rate was charged 
was increased to 3,000 miles. The 
uniform rate of three cents was made 
in 1863, and in 1883 it was reduced to 
two Cents, the rate which had been in 
force in Great Britain for forty-three 
years. The weight carried for the two- 
cent stamp was increased from a half 
ounce to one ounce in a few years, mak- 
ing a further reduction in the cost of 
communication by mail. 

The money order system introduced 
in England in 1792 by a private com- 
pany was adopted by the British post- 
office in 1838. The system was not em- 
ployed in the United States until 1864. 
There has been a gradual reduction of 
fees. 

The little bits of colored paper that 
are one of the principal adjimcts to 
the postal business were first used in 
England in July, 1840, and came into 
use in this country in July, 1847. There 
are now said to be as many as 9,300 
varieties- — some, of course, obsolete, 
and including the stamps on newsbands 
and those used as revenue stamps. 
Postal cards were first issued by Aus- 
tria, and in the year 1870. They were 
adopted by the United States in 1873. 

In the United States the free delivery 
system was authorized in 1885. Rail- 
ways were first used by the United 
States for postal purposes in 1834. 
Other reforms have been the introduc- 
tion of railway post-offices, electric 
street cars and pneumatic tubes. 



The post-office does many things in 
other countries that it does not do in 
the United States. The parcels post 
was introduced in Great Britain in 
1883, and transports small packages at 
a small charge. Most European coun- 
tries now have a system of sending 
packages by mail cash on delivery, sim- 
ilar to our express companies. The 
telegraph business is a part of the 
post-ofifice abroad. Free delivery now 
extends even into the rural districts. 
The United States has introduced the 
postal savings bank, which institution, 
for the benefit of small depositors, espe- 
cially in the rural districts, was intro- 
duced by England in 1861. The pneu- 
matic tul)e was first used in London in 
1858, and in Boston in 1896. 

The crowning triumph of the postal 
service was the establishment in 1874 
of the Universal Postal Union, which 
includes nearly every nation with a 
post-office. Five cents is now all that 
is necessary to carry a letter to the 
tittermost part of the earth. An idea 
of tlie extension of the post-office may 
be obtained by a glance at the Congo 
Free State. The post-office department 
of that vast country was organized in 
1885, and ten post-offices have since 
been established, making it possible to 
send a letter at a cost of five cents to 
the wilds of Central Africa. The can- 
nibals who reside on the banks of the 
Arumwi River enjoy all the advantages 
of the Postal Union if they so desire. 

P'ost-offices are now scattered over 
the various countries of the world, of 
which the largest number in any one 
country is in the United States. Fig- 
ures scarcely convey an idea of the 
magnitude of the business that is an- 
nually transacted through the world's 
post-offices. The postal savings bank 
business has reached its highest devel- 
opment in Great Britain. 

Long a dream of the imagination, 
the telegraph found its realization in 
the Nineteenth Century. Laplace sug- 
gested the idea of signaling by means 
of breaks in electrical currents. His 
idea was seized by others, and in 1832 
Schilling, a Russian, devised a system 
of telegraphy in which thirty-six 



GEOGRAPHY AND ACHIEVEMENTS— COMMUNICATION 



needles were used. Gauss and Weber, 
two German physicists, established a 
line about three miles long at GiJttingen ; 
and Steinheil, working on their ideas, 
constructed several telegraph lines, ra- 
diating from Munich. Steinheil was 
the first to make use of the earth as 
a return current, thus using a single 
wire to carry each current, and con- 
nected to the earth at both the sending 
and receiving stations. Wheatstone, an 
English inventor, together with Wil- 
liam F. Gooke, in 1836 took out a pa- 
tent for a needle telegraph. The 
Wheatstone telegraph was tried suc- 
cessfully between Euston and Gamden 
Town stations on the London & North- 
western railways, on July 25, 1837. 

These early telegraphs were imprac- 
ticable, and the credit of the invention 
of the electro-magnetic telegraph, which 
is the basis of the one used to-day, be- 
longs to Samuel F. B. Morse, who be- 
gan his experiments as early as 1832. 
His first practical instrument was per- 
fected in 1836. It was a clumsy affair. 
His friends laughed at him, as inven- 
tors have always been laughed at, and 
he received no encouragement, but was 
ridiculed for spending all of his meager 
income on the useless toy. A caveat 
was filed at Washington, and in Feb- 
ruary, 1838, he. with Alfred Vail and 
Professor Gail, took the instrument to 
Washington and exhibited the telegraph 
on a ten-mile circuit to President Van 
Buren. They then asked an appropria- 
tion of thirty thousand dollars for an 
experimental line of fifty miles, but the 
appeal was not acted upon by Gongress. 
Foi two years he wandered about 
Europe, trying to secure patents and 
aid. On his return he found that his 
partners had met with financial reverses 
and were unable to help him. He went 
to Washington in 1841, and set up his 
instrument and strung his wires. In 
the direst poverty, he explained his in- 
vention to Gongressmen, who were 
amused, but regarded it merely as a toy. 
Finally, when he had only 37 cents left 
in his pockets, he secured the influ- 
ence of a classmate, who undertook to 
get the appropriation through Gongress. 
It was passed on the last day o"f the 



session, at a few moments before mid- 
night, and after eight years of waiting, 
Morse had what he had sought — an 
opportunity to show the world what he 
could do. Then began the construction 
of the line from Washington to Balti- 
more. When ten miles had been laid 
in pipes, it was found that the current 
grew weaker. The fault was due to in- 
duction, the carrying away of the elec- 
tricity by the earth, and it was after 
much discussion that Vail's idea of 
stringing the wires on poles was 
adopted. On May, 1844, Morse was 
able to fulfill the promise he had made 
to Miss Annie G. Ellsworth, that her 
message should be the first sent over 
the line. In the presence of distin- 
guished officials of the government, the 
message was sent. It was "What hath 
God wrought?" It became famous, and 
we are not yet sure of the answer. 

The telegraph devised by Morse was 
crude. To his partners is due much 
of the development of the idea. Morse 
knew nothing of what is known as the 
Morse alphabet. Vail invented the dot 
and dash alphabet, which is now in 
universal use. 

In the very beginning the recording 
instrument was replaced by the sounder, 
which was also of X'ail's invention. 

During the month of May, 1844, an- 
other opportunity for conspicuously 
demonstrating the value of the tele- 
graph occurred when three important 
national conventions were held in Balti- 
niore, and the news of their proceed- 
ings was instantaneously transmitted by 
the electric current to eager crowds of 
congressmen and others at the national 
capital. For one year the telegraph line 
was operated gratuitously, and then a 
small charge was made for messages by 
the postmaster-general, under whose di- 
rection it was. The government was 
ofTered the invention for $100,000, but 
declined to buy it, and the develop- 
ment of the telegraph was left to pri- 
vate enterprise. 

The improvement of the telegraph 
was rapid during the next decade. By 
1847 a telegraph line ran from Wash- 
ington to Albany, with many branches. 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



Lines were built on the Morse system 
in every part of Europe. 

To-day the telegraph has developed 
to an enormous extent, and is used in 
every part of the world. 

An interesting development of the 
telegraph which has been utilized in the 
United States and Great Britain, is the 
ability to send messages from moving 
trains. 

Since the beginning of telegraphy, at- 
tempts have been made by various in- 
ventors to communicate without wires. 
Joseph Henry, of Washington, found 
in 1842 that when he threw an elec- 
tric spark an inch long on a wide cir- 
cuit in a room at the top of his house, 
electrical action was instantly set up 
in another circuit in the cellar. Visible 
means of communication between the 
two circuits being absent, he reasoned 
that the electric spark produced some 
kind of action in the other, and, pass- 
ing through two fluids and ceilings 14 
inches thick, caused induction in the 
wires in the cellar. 

Edison's application of induction to 
telegraphy from moving trains, and 
Hertz's discovery that electric waves 
penetrate wood and brick, but not 
metal, are the bases upon which in- 
ventors of wireless telegraphy have 
worked. This was carried to its early 
stage of promise by an Italian elec- 
trician, Guiglielmo Marconi, while at 
work in the laboratory of Prof. Riglio, 
of Bologna. He was mainly indebted 
for the success of his experiment to 
W. H. Preece, Director of the English 
Postal System, whose official position 
enabled him to test it in the British 
Post-Office Department, these tests 
proving successful. The Marconi 
system of telegraphy depends not upon 
an electrical magnet, but on electrical 
vibrations — that is to say, on electrical 
waves — set up at a rate of 250,000,000 
to the second. These vibrations travel 
through space in straight lines, and can 
be reflected and refracted like light — 
indeed, they are capable of all the phe- 
nomena of which light is susceptible. 

The invention which dealt with the 
method of receiving and sending mes- 



sages by this means was first experi- 
mented with on the roof of the post- 
office, and then for three-quarters of 
a mile on Salisbury Plain. Marconi 
vvas present that night, and this was 
the first occasion on which the appar- 
atus was shown, except to government 
officials. The great difference between 
the systems, which had already been 
tried, and that of Mr. Marconi, was 
that in the former a wire on each side 
Vv-as necessary, while in the latter no 
wire was required. Vibrations were 
simply set up by one apparatus and re- 
ceived by the other, the secret being 
that the receiver must respond to the 
number of vibrations of the sender. 
The apparatus was then exhibited. 
What appeared to be just two ordinary 
boxes were stationed at each end of 
the room, the current set in motion at 
one, and a bell was immediately rung 
in the other. "To show that there was 
no deception," ]Mr. Marconi held the re- 
ceiver and carried it about, the bell 
ringing whenever the vibrations at the 
other box were set up. 

The most valuable use to which teleg- 
raphy without wires has up to the pres- 
ent time been put is communicating 
from ship to ship at sea, or between 
lightships and lighthouses ; which not 
only adds to the convenience of navi- 
gation, but renders it more safe. 

Practical use has not yet been made 
of the telautograph, which is the name 
given to the apparatus for the trans- 
mission of sketches and drawings by 
wire. The most successful of these in- 
ventions is that of Elisha Gray, of Chi- 
cago, which was put to practical use 
by the Chicago Times-Herald, on June 
22, 1895. Using the ordinary telegraph 
wires, the Times-Herald was enabled 
to receive exact facsimilies of letters 
written in Cleveland by men in attend- 
ance at the national convention of Re- 
publican clubs. The fact that teleg- 
raphic sketches have not since come 
into general use shows that the telau- 
tograph has not yet reached a condi- 
tion of real usefulness. An invention 
called the Telegraph Pen, devised by E. 
A. Cooper, of England, is somewhat 
similar, though less reliable. 



GEOGRAPHY AND ACHIEVEMENTS— COMMUNICATION 



Even before Morse had succeeded in 
obtaining connection between Baltimore 
and Washington, inventors were at 
work upon methods for estabhshing 
communication through bodies of 
water as well as over stretches of land. 
The two banks on the Hoogly River 
in India had been connected as early 
as 1839 by a Mr. O'Shaughnessy, who 
made use of an insulated wire plunged 
into the stream. Wheatstone proposed 
to connect Dover and Calais by sub- 
marine telegraph cable in 1840, but it 
was ten years before the plan was 
realized, and then the cable broke, after 
transmitting only a few signals. In 
185 1 a new cable was laid. The devel- 
opment of submarine telegraphy was 
chiefly delayed by the difficulty of devis- 
ing protection and insulation for the 
wire. Gutta-percha was used for this 
purpose in 1848, and the cable was laid 
across the Hudson River from Jersey 
City to New York. The cable was 
strengthened by a covering not only of 
gutta-percha, but by a layer of tarred 
hemp, which in its turn is covered and 
protected by galvanized iron wire 
twisted around the core. 

Cables of increasing length were laid 
but the Atlantic Ocean still seemed an 
insuperable barrier between Europe and 
America. To Cyrus W. Field was due 
the realization of what had long ap- 
peared an impossible project. He or- 
ganized a company for the purpose in 
1854, but it was twelve years before 
they succeeded. These twelve years 
were filled with disappointing failures, 
which, however, did not daunt the in- 
domitable pluck and energy of Mr. 
Field and his associates. The first at- 
tempt was made on August 7, 1857, by 
the United States frigate Niagara, 
which sailed from \^alencia, Ireland, in 
the direction of Heart's Content, New- 
foundland. The cable broke when 
about 400 miles had been laid, and the 
steamer returned. The next year an- 
other attempt was made. This time 
two ships separating in mid-ocean, pro- 
ceeding shoreward, one to the east and 
one to the west, each laying cable as 
they separated. Again the cable broke ; 
but a third attempt was made later in 



the year, which saw the whole distance 
successfully spanned, and on August 16, 
1858, Queen Victoria and President Bu- 
chanan exchanged congratulatory 
messages. Great was the joy over this 
triumph, but it was of short duration. 
Day by day the messages by the cable 
grew more indistinct, and finally ceased. 
Though laid, the cable was a failure. 

Field was not discouraged, but his 
associates were, and for eight years the 
cable remained useless at the bottom of 
the sea. During this period the Lfnited 
States was torn with civil war, and the 
sympathy of Great Britain for the Con- 
federate states aroused an enmity in 
the hearts of Americans which checked 
any desire for closer communication be- 
tween the two countries. In spite of 
discouragement and previous failures, 
Field succeeded in reorganizing his 
company and making a new cable. The 
steamship Great Eastern, which was 
unavailable for ordinary uses of com- 
merce, was chartered, and in this giant 
vessel a cable 2,273 nautical miles long, 
and weighing 300 pounds per mile, was 
stowed. More than half of it had been 
laid when the cable parted, and the 
broken end disappeared from view. At- 
tempts to secure it proved futile, and 
the Great Eastern returned to Europe. 
Five cables were now at the bottom 
of the Atlantic Ocean, and they repre- 
sented an expenditure of millions of 
dollars. Still Mr. Field did not despair, 
and he persuaded his associates to in- 
vest a still larger sum. Again the Great 
Eastern made another journey with a 
new cable, equal in length to the old. 
She started from Queensland, and 
without further serious misadventure, 
accomplished the whole distance on 
July 27, 1866. Telegraphic communica- 
tion with Europe has been uninter- 
rupted since that time. No greater tri- 
umph of engineering skill has ever been 
accomplished, nor can there be pointed 
out a more forceful object lesson in 
pluck and perseverance. 

Since then the world has been girdled 
by cables. Communication has been 
made possible to the uttermost parts of 
the earth. When all the lines are clear 
it takes about 15 seconds to send a sin- 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



gle sign from London to New York. 
The great Pacific Ocean has been 
crossed and there is telegraphic com- 
munication between America and Asia. 

Great as the telegraph is, still greater 
is the telephone. By it articulate 
speech, with all its shades of tone and 
quality, is so accurately transmitted and 
reproduced that the voice of a friend 
speaking at a great distance can be 
easily recognized. In the United States 
alone the use of the long distance tele- 
phone has brought forty million within 
speaking distance of each other. There 
is no more remarkable achievement of 
science than this. The speech of the 
telephone is as great an improvement 
over that of the telegraph as is the con- 
versation of men over the chatter of 
monkeys. 

But the telegraph did not suggest the 
telephone, and the two inventions have 
run along entirely different lines. Its 
first basis was the discovery of Page in 
1837, that when substances are mag- 
netized they emit sound. Philip Reis, 
a German schoolteacher, in i860, utiliz- 
ing this principle, managed to trans- 
mit both words and music over a short 
distance. Reis's experiment set several 
inventors at work along these lines, and 
the present electro-magnetic telephone 
was invented at about the same time 
by Graham Bell and Elisha Gray, both 
Americans. Bell's telephone is the one 
now in use. He exhibited his invention 
at the Philadelphia Centennial in 1876. 
By this it was made possible for two 
people to talk over a single wire for a 
distance of ten miles. Its principle was 
not the transmission of speech, but the 
mechanical reproduction thereof by 
means of the vibration of a thin sheet 
of iron near the listener's ear. The 
transmitter has a membrane, bearing on 
its center a small piece of iron placed op- 
posite the poles of the electro-magnet. 
The receiver, in which is enclosed an 
electro-magnet, has fi.xed in the top a 
thin disc of iron, left free to vibrate. 
Sounds are produced by the vibration 
of this disc corresponding to currents 
of electricity from the other end. 

Many improvements have been made 
in the arrangement of the receiver and 



transmitter since Bell's instrument was 
invented, with a view to intensifying 
the effect in the receiver. Most impor- 
tant of these improvements is that of 
Prof. Hughes, who in 1878 discovered 
that if one piece of carbon be allowed 
to rest upon another and an electrical 
current be passed from one to the other 
in a circuit containing a Bell receiver, 
the lines will respond to very minute 
sounds in the vicinity of the carbons. 
This is called the microphone, and is in 
most transmitters. Copper wire instead 
of iron is used for trunk lines of tele- 
phones, because it is inductive, and the 
Bell telephone is extremely sensitive — 
so much so that conversation over one 
wire can often be heard on a neigh- 
boring wire. 

The original telephone which made 
possible conversation between one per- 
son and another at a distance of ten 
miles, has been improved so that large 
numbers of persons are enabled to in- 
ter-communicate at will. This is due 
to the switchboard. The use of the 
telephone, like the telegraph, is univer- 
sal. 

LIGHT AND PHOTOGRAPHY 

The history of fire as a light is both 
picturesque and interesting. It is 
thought to have been first utilized in 
volcanic districts, where sticks of wood 
can sometimes be ignited by thrusting 
them into subterranean cavitfes. The 
theory has also been advanced that 
primitive man came into possession 
through the agency of the electric. 
storm, when trees might have been set 
on fire by lightning strokes. Or, as 
it is known that trees are sometimes 
fired by friction of dry branches, it is 
not impossible that prehistoric man be- 
came acquainted with the fierce element 
in that way. But by whatever means he 
did become familiar with fire — and it 
may have been any or all of these phe- 
nomena — the astute savage recognized 
its usefulness and the necessity for its 
preservation, and, at a presumably later 
age, discovered that he could produce 
it himself by friction. 



GEOGRAPHY AND ACHIEVEMENTS— LIGHT AND PHOTOGRAPHY 515 



This iMiniitive custom, descending to 
civilized peoples, in time evolved into 
tlie more convenient tlint and steel pro- 
cess, which probably did not originate 
until after iron was made. Thus the 
method of fire-getting by the rubbing 
of one substance on another continued 
in use from the days of prehistoric 
man, through all the ages of barbarism 
and civilization until early in the Nine- 
teenth Century, with practically no im- 
provement in all that period. 

And then a great discovery was 
made. In April, 1827, John \Valker, 
a chemist and druggist of Stockton-on- 
Tees, invented a fire-getting implement 
which consisted of a splint of wood 
tipped with a solution of chlorate of 
potash, sulphur, starch and gum, which 
ignited by friction on sandpaper or 
glass, and to which he gave the name of 
congreve, in honor of Sir William Con- 
greve, inventor of the rocket. Another 
chemical discovery at the beginning of 
the last century gave further impetus to 
such an invention and ultimately led 
to the match as we know it to-day. The 
chemist Berthollet accidently discov- 
ered what he termed the "principle of 
the oxidation of combustible bodies by 
chlorates in the presence of strong 
acids." Chancel, in 1805, made prac- 
tical application of Berthollet's discov- 
ery and produced his so-called "oxy- 
mariate" matches. These consisted of 
strips of wood dipped in a mi.xture of 
chlorate of potash, sugar and gum, and 
were ignited by contact with sulphuric 
acid. As early as 1780 there had been 
in use an "electro-pneumatic fire pro- 
ducer," in which a jet of hydrogen was 
lighted by an electric spark. The Do- 
bereiner "platinum lamp" came into ex- 
istence in 1823. In this hydrogen gas 
was ignited by contact with spongy plat- 
inum. During the use of the platinum 
lamp there had also appeared in parts 
of Prussia a device consisting of a 
small glass tube, containing equal parts 
of phosphorus and sulphur carefully 
mixed together. Splints of wood were 
thrust into this, and the friction caused 
ignition. 

John Walker's invention, modeled af- 
ter the idea advanced by Berthollet, 



was, however, the real precursor of our 
present day match, and even that had 
to be greatly improved upon before it 
was rendered practical or satisfactory. 
The Walker match contained no phos- 
phorus, the absence of which was re- 
sponsible for its not being a success 
commercially. In 1833 wooden fric- 
tion matches containing phosphorus 
were manufactured in \'ienna, Darm- 
stadt and other European cities, and the 
use of the new implement spread ra- 
pidly. On October 24, 1836, A. D. 
Phillips, of Springfield, Mass., took out 
the first patent in the United States for 
a phosphorus match, the igniting com- 
position being a mixture of sulphur. 
By this time the people commenced to 
gain sufficient confidence in the innova- 
tion to throw away their ill-smelling 
and clumsy old tinder boxes, and 
matches came into use all over the civ- 
ilized world. Lundstrom, of Jonkop- 
ing, Sweden, invented the first safety 
match in 1855. His process consisted 
in putting the oxiding mixture on the 
splint and what is known as red phos- 
phorus (a safe form of that chemical) 
on the box. The new match was a 
great improvement on the original, and 
led to the discovery of other non-dan- 
gerous igniting mi.xtures. The use of 
the safety match was enforced by law 
in various countries of Europe, and to 
this day the use of Swedish safety 
matches only is allowed in Denmark 
and Switzerland. In late years, how- 
ever, by the enforcement of regulations 
regarding ventilation, cleanliness, and 
the impiegnation of the air of the fac- 
tory with turpentine fumes, m-^tch- 
making has been relieved of almost 
every element of danger to its work- 
ers, and the match itself is quite as 
harmless as its cumbrous predecessor. 

Rivaling in importance the improve- 
ment in the process of fire-producing, 
are the advances that have been made 
in the methods for its utilization for il- 
luminating purposes. From a tallow- 
candle to an arc light is a far cry, and 
yet less than a century ago even the 
common oil lamp as we know it to-day 
was unheard of. The nearest approach 
to the modern kerosene lamp was a 



Si6 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



rudely constructed vessel filled with 
melted animal oil and enclosed in a 
glass case, and which was really the or- 
iginal prototype of our modern lantern. 
What was called a lamp consisted of a 
small earthenware cup and contained 
melted animal fat or vegetable oil, into 
which a wick was introduced. The 
wealth and nobility of the world had no 
better means of illumination than had 
the simplest laborer. The gold and sil- 
ver vessels in the palace were the ex- 
act counterparts of the crude clay lamps 
in the peasant's cottage. For out-of- 
door lights torches were used almost 
exclusively in the cities, and their mode 
of preparation differed very little from 
that employed in the middle ages. They 
were made of the twigs of resinous 
woods tied together in a bundle and 
mounted on a tall sapling or post. For 
all practical purposes the tallow candle 
and the more elegant wax taper stood 
paramount at the beginning of the 
Nineteenth Century. It is almost im- 
possible to realize that we have been 
using lamp chimneys not quite one 
hundred years, and that the Argand 
burner, althought invented late in the 
Eighteneth Century, was not sufficiently 
improved and cheapened to come into 
general use until 1830. While not so 
glorious as the discovery of electric 
light and of coal gas, the invention of 
the Argand burner and the subsequent 
application of the glass chimney as a 
means of supplying a regular current 
of air to the flame, marked a distinct 
epoch in civilization. 

So perfect has the common oil lamp 
now become that with the use of the 
cheap mineral oils, its light in many in- 
stances rivals that of the gas jet or the 
incandescent lamp. And yet these very 
mineral oils, almost, as plentiful as 
water to the present generation, were 
practically unknown to the people of 
the Eighteenth Century. 

Next in importance to the improve- 
ment of the oil lamp as a means of il- 
lumination was the discovery and intro- 
duction of coal gas, which belongs al- 
most exclusively to the category of 
Nineteenth Century achievements. Al- 
though his first experiment took place 



in 1792. it was not until 1802, on the 
occasion of the celebration of the Peace 
of Amiens, that Murdock, a Redmuth 
engineer, made a public display of his 
process of utilizing the gaseous pro- 
ducts of coal for illumination. Though 
Murdock was the first to put gas to a 
practical use, he was not its original 
discoverer. So far as can be learned, 
that distinction beloags to a Dr. Clay- 
ton, who, about a hundred years be- 
fore, had conceived the idea of heating 
coal in such a manner as to force out 
and retain its gaseous constituents. He 
left an interesting description of his 
experiment, which he evidently con- 
sidered more in the nature of a huge 
joke than enything else. 

And so it remained until Murdock's 
time — a chemical wonder — a myste- 
rious and evil-smelling "spirit." In 
1807 a few gas lamps were placed in 
the streets of London, but not until 
18 1 3 did its use become at all general. 
In that year Westminster Bridge was 
illuminated with it, and then it came 
rapidly into use, not only for lighting 
private houses, but for dwellings and 
public buildings. Like all innovations, 
it met wih fierce opposition in every di- 
rection. Peale, in his museum in the 
State House at Philadelphia, had as 
early as 1816 or 1817 produced a fine 
illumination through the use of gas ob- 
tained from a private plant belonging 
to a man on Lombard Street, whose 
dwelling was probably the first in 
America to be lighted with gas. 

The Council of Philadelphia, with 
much misgiving, reluctantly granted an 
ordinance for the use of gas. After 
the victory in Philadelphia, the use of 
gas spread rapidly all over the country, 
with the result that now every great 
coal region has its corresponding area 
of coke ovens, or gas retorts. 

The discovery of oil pools of fabu- 
lous contents in America not only had 
a great influence in bringing about bet- 
ter illumination for the great middle 
class, but it introduced a new kind of 
fuel, which, for a time, appeared to be 
inexhaustible. The same territory 
which produces petroleum also abounds 
in greater or less deposits of natural 



GEOGRAPDV AND ACHIEVEMENTS— LIGHT AND PHOTOGRAPHY 517 



gas, which for a number of years now 
has served the purpose of fuel to a 
large part of the ]iopulation of the 
L'nited States. 

But the use of gas for heating pur- 
poses is not restricted to the radius of 
territory fortunate enough to produce 
the natural element. The manufac- 
tured product is fast taking the place 
of coal all over the country, for cook- 
ing purposes at least. It has been 
proved to be the best and often the 
most economical cooking powder in ex- 
istence, as there is no waste to it as 
with coal. With the development of 
improved and inexpensive processes for 
the manufacture of gas, who shall say 
that the day may not come when the 
coal fire will have entirely disappeared? 
\\'ho knows but that a few generations 
hence the use of the begriming mineral 
as a fuel in its natural state will be as 
archaic as would be to us the use of 
the flint and steel ? 

The story of the discovery of acety- 
lene gas might be called one of the ro- 
mances of science. The new illuminant 
liad been known to chemists for years, 
but the difficulty of its manufacture 
prevented them from using it. In 1895 
T. L. Wilson, of North Carolina, while 
superintending the production of alu- 
minum by the electric smelting process, 
noticed a by-product of the operation, 
the nature and character of which was 
unknown to him. Upon throwing the 
substance into a bucket of water a gas 
was given off, whose chief character- 
istic seemed to be its penetrating and 
disagreeable odor. On applying a light 
Mr. Wilson discovered that the gas 
burned freely with a luminous flame. 
A repetition of the experiment proved 
I he unknown substance to be calcic car- 
bide. It was found that a pound of 
this calcic carbide would yield 5.3 cu- 
bic feet of acetylene gas, and a com- 
])any was formed to manufacture the 
gas on a large scale. From an economic 
point of view this gas is of great value, 
for it can be generated in a house as 
needed, by a very simple apparatus. 
Perhaps the most remarkable quality of 
the gas is the fact that it can be liqui- 
fied by pressure and put in cans that can 



be tapped when the gas is needed. A 
very simple device has been arranged 
by which the pressure of the gas can 
be regulated while changing from its 
liquified condition, and then pass into 
the various pipes. Acetylene is a most 
powerful illuminant. It is dazzling in 
the brightness and steadfastness of its 
flame, and for this reason is much used 
in the illumination of bicycles and car- 
riages. It has been conjectured that it 
may in time supplant coal gas in the 
illumination of streets, thereby doing 
away with gas piping, for it is said that 
lamps can be made in such manner as 
to generate the gas on the spot. It has 
been proved that the acetylene can be 
manufactured at one-third the present 
cost of coal gas, and in view of this 
fact it is entirely possible that if the 
discovery proves as practical as 
claimed, it will revolutionize tlie manu- 
facture of gas. 

The electric spark had been familiar 
to the earlier experimenters with elec- 
tricity, but not much more familiar than 
it had been to the ancient philosophers. 
But it remained for Sir Humphrey 
Davy, the Cornish philosopher, to seize 
the evanescent spark and make it burn 
into a brilliant glow by passing it be- 
tween two points of carbon. 

Arc lamps constructed on the prin- 
ciple discovered by Davy constitute the 
most luminous artificial light of the 
present time. Many ingenious lamps 
have been invented, all embodying the 
one original idea. Those devised by 
Serrin, Siemens, Brockie and Duboscq 
are probably the best known. Some of 
them regulate the arc by clockwork and 
electro-magnetism, and others by ther- 
mal effects of the electric current. 
They are used principally for out-of- 
door illumination, for large areas, 
streets, railway stations and lighthouses. 
In the latter instance the arc is placed 
exactly in the focus of the condensing 
lenses of a parabolic mirror, which pro- 
jects the rays all in any one direction, 
the beam being visible for thirty miles 
on clear nights. Specially constructed 
arc lights, equivalent to hundred of 
thousands of candles, can cast a beam 



Si8 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



of light a distance of one hundred and 
fifty miles. 

In 1880 Thomas Edison constructed 
an incandescent lamp of commercial 
value that has now reached a state of 
apparent perfection. 

Since electric light has proved to be 
so great a success, electric heating for 
all purposes bids fair to soon become 
fully as important as electric illumina- 
tion. The electric arc is now applied 
freely in the iron and steel industries 
for the welding of boiler plates, wires, 
rails and indeed all kinds of metal 
work. It is also used with great suc- 
cess in the heating of railroad trains, 
carriages and dwelling houses. Cook- 
ing by electricity is coming more and, 
more into favor. Kitchen ranges, en- 
tirely heated by the electric current, are 
used in many of the best hotels and 
line dwellings of the country. There 
have also been invented a number of 
cooking utensils equipped individually 
with batteries for the generation of the 
electric current. The principle on 
which all such articles are based is that 
of incandescence, the current flowing 
through a network of fine wires of plat- 
inum covered with fire-proof insulating 
cement at its bottom. The electric rad- 
iator is constructed pretty much after 
the fashion of the steam radiator, 
which it resembles in appearance, the 
heat from a strong current being dif- 
fused over an area of highly resisting 
metal. The devices for the utilization 
of electric heat that have been patented 
in the past few years are unique and 
numerous. It is now possible to have 
bed clothing heated to any degree and 
a constant temperature maintained, by 
means of a fine wire network enclosed 
between the quilts and connecting with 
an electric current. 

One of the most curious properties 
of light is its ability to trace images un- 
der certain conditions, called photog- 
raphy. 

From the early history of photog- 
raphy it would appear that it was the 
amusement of all the great philosoph- 
ers, and it remained for M. Xiepce, a 
French scientist, to continue with so 
much success that he is justly entitled 



to the honor pf making the most sug- 
gestive developments in connection with 
the discovery of photography. From 
1801 until the end of his life, Xiepce 
devoted himself to his idea of heliog- 
raphy (from helios, the sun). Niepce 
discovered that asphalt will become sol- 
uble in certain oils. Rli.xing the asphalt 
with oil of lavender, he poured the sol- 
ution over a metal plate, allowing it to 
dry and form a film. When placed 
where the image of the camera obscura 
fell upon it, the result was that the 
asphalt remained soluble where the 
shadows had fallen, but became insol- 
uble where the light had struck the film. 
By several hours exposure in the cam- 
era, and a subsequent application of 
essential oils, Niepce secured a helio- 
giaph traced upon the metal plate in 
lines of asphalt. 

The name that is most familiar in the 
history of early photograhpy is that of 
Louis Jacques Daguerre, to whom for 
many years was accorded the chief 
honor of the invention of photography. 
The discovery of the daguerreotype 
was purely accidental. Several plates 
that had been under-exposed were 
placed in a dark room in which were 
various chemicals. The plates were 
thought to be useless, as no images had 
ai)peared. Some time afterwards, in 
searching for something else, Daguerre 
discovered the discarded plates, and, 
to his ' amazement, there was a 
picture on each one of them. He 
accounted for the phenomenon only 
by the fact that the plates must have 
been exposed to the action of some 
chemical lying in pro.ximity to the 
plates. Removing the chemicals one by 
one, he discovered that the secret of the 
art was concealed in a vessel of mer- 
cury, which evaporates at an ordinary 
temperature. This incident occurred 
some years subsequent to Niepce's 
death, and according to the term of the 
agreement he made with Daguerre, his 
name would also have been attached to 
the discovery, had it not been that after 
Niepce's death his son relinquished this 
right for material considerations. 

Thus far photography had only been 
employed upon metal. Henry Fo.x- 



GEOGRAPHY AND ACHIEVEMENTS— LIGHT AND PHOTOGRAPHY 519 



Talbot, after years of faithful experi- 
ment, solved the problem of "fixing" a 
photograph on sensitized paper. In the 
year 1850, the collodion-film on glass 
was perfected and came into use as 
a sensitizing material. This method 
produced as beautiful a likeness as the 
daguerreotype itself and at much less 
cost. Shortly afterward positives 
were printed from the transparent neg- 
atives on properly prepared paper, and 
thus the process now in use was in- 
itiated. There have been endless mod- 
ifications and improvements upon the 
original method, mainly to the end of 
increasing the sensitiveness of the 
plates so that quickly moving objects 
could be photographed with lifelike ac- 
curacy. 

It has long been the dream of pho- 
tographers to discover some method by 
which they could produce photographs 
in all the colors of nature. Thus far 
the process has not been perfected, but 
the developments of the past few years 
are extremely encouraging. 

It would be difficult to name a branch 
of industry or science which has not 
been benefited by photography. The 
applications to which it has been put are 
quite as marvelous as the art itself. 
Late in the year 1895 a great sensation 
was caused throughout the civilized 
world by the announcement that a Ger- 
man scientist, Professor Roentgen, of 
Wiirzburg, had succeeded in photog- 
raphing the bones of the hand through 
its covering of flesh by the agency of 
rays known as X-rays proceeding from 
a spherical glass tube. The instrument 
by which the New Photography was 
first observed is known to scientists as 
the Crookes' tube, so called from the 
fact of its first experiment in England 
being made by Professor Crookes. 

Scarcely less of a surprise than the 
X-rays to the world was the develop- 
ment of photography in the form of the 
Cinematograph, the Kinetoscope, the 
Theatrograph, etc.. all of which might 
be properly termed "animated photog- 
raphy." The first patentee of this in- 
teresting application of the photog- 
raphers' art was W. Friese-Greene, 
who invented a camera in 1889 for the 



rapid taking of consecutive photo- 
graphic views ; combined with the 
camera was an optical lantern which 
threw the images of the camera upon 
a screen, and by means of a handle the 
successive pictures were moved so ra- 
pidly as to give the appearance of life. 
The idea was not exactly new. It had 
been experimented with before by both 
Marey and JNIuybridge, and was known 
as the zootrope or the wheel-of-life. 
But Friese-Greene was the first to con- 
struct a machine for popular purposes. 
About the same time that Friese-Greene 
was taking out his patent Edison came 
forth with his Kinetoscope, con- 
structed on the same principle. The 
Kinetoscope was soon followed by the 
Cinematograph and various other in- 
ventions, all embodying the same idea, 
and designed for the same purpose — 
that of amusement. These apparati 
have since become so perfected that 
they can present a moving scene with 
almost lifelike fidelity. 

The application of photography to the 
printing industry has been in incalcul- 
able value to civilization, in that it has 
had a tendency to materially decrease 
the price of books and engravings. 
These applications have been many, but 
the chief one is the process of photo- 
block printing, invented by Walter B. 
Woodbury in 1866, which he followed 
up a few years later with the stanno- 
type. By these inventions photo-en- 
graving has become one of the fine arts. 
The sy.stem of letter press printing, by 
which an author's own manuscript may 
be printed from in his own chirog- 
raphy, is another application of the art 
of photography which is as marvelous 
as the Kinetoscope or the X-rays. This 
process is the invention of Mr. Friese- 
Greene, and was suggested to him while 
experimenting with another invention. 

MOUND BUILDERS AND CLIFF 
DWELLERS 

The Mound Builders are supposed 
to have lived over two thousand years 
ago, but, to-day, their earthworks still 
exist in large numbers in the river val- 
leys and plain which they inhabited. In 



520 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



Ohio alone there are nearly ten thou- 
sand artificially constructed mounds, 
and in the neighborhood of Trempea- 
leau, Wisconsin, almost two thousand. 
But the mounds are not confined to a 
few states, being found in almost every 
section of the Union, and in Mexico. 
They are rarer in British America. 
They vary vastly in size and shape. 
Many of them exhibit mathematical 
regularity, being built in geometrical 
figures, others are shaped to resemble 
animals, including man. The "Ser- 
pent Mound" in Ohio is gigantic, being 
more than one thousand feet long, and 
is regarded by archaeologists as the most 
remarkable of all the structures built 
by this singular people. Through the 
efforts of F. W. Putnam, the eminent 
archaeologist, the Serpent Mound was 
purchased by the American Associa- 
tion for the Advancement of Science 
and presented to the Peabody Museum 
of Harvard University. Soon after- 
wards, the trustees of the museum 
made the additional purchase of sev- 
enty acres of land immediately sur- 
rounding the mound, and the whole was 
laid out as a public park. The ser- 
pent measures 1,254 feet in length from 
the tip of the upper jaw to the end of 
the tail. The jaws are open as if to 
swallow the oval commonly known as 
the egg. Viewed as a whole, it ap- 
pears as though the huge python were 
creeping forward to seize the oval, 
which gives it a wierd lifelike appear- 
ance. Such structures as the Serpent 
Mound are called "effigy mounds." 
Many curious "effigy mounds" have 
been discovered, some of them repre- 
seenting men, panthers, wild cats, liz- 
ards, raccoons, tortoises, spiders, and 
squirrels. 

Many of the earthworks of the 
Mound Builders are breastworks and 
fortresses, and it has been found that 
their builders, who lived so long ago, 
were .skilful enough to erect defence 
walls, redoubts and other fortifications, 
choosing their sites with the acumen 
of trained engineers. Archaeologists 
have lately discovered that their fortifi- 
cations are connected by deep trenches 
and admirably constructed secret pas- 



sages. Some of the high mounds built 
on hill tops were evidently used as ob- 
servation posts from which to signal or 
to spy on the movements of enemies. 
E.xcavation and exploration are reveal- 
ing more and more about these inter- 
esting people, but, in spite of the nu- 
merous relics unearthed from their 
mounds and the patient investigations 
of archaeologists, many of their secrets 
seem to be lost forever. 

The wonderful structures of Colo- 
rado, Arizona, New Mexico and tJtah, 
known as the cliff-dwellings, are still 
a puzzle to archceologists. Why did 
these prehistoric people build so high ? 
Science has no better answer than that 
they builded because they found the 
caverns in which to build. However, 
this answer seems insufficient, since the 
Pueblos, who seem to be descended 
from them, are much nearer the level 
of the ordinary habitations of men. 
Traditions in all tribes from Oregon to 
Mexico agree in the story of a great 
flood, ages and ages ago, which but few 
escaped, and the question arises whe- 
ther the Cliff Dwellers, like the build- 
ers of the Tower of Babel, may not 
have intended to build so high as to 
avoid such danger in future. 

These singular habitations are found 
within an area of three hundred miles 
square in the steep cliffs which border 
the canyons of that region. The rock 
of the cliffs runs in layers with ledges 
and galleries varying from a few feet 
in extent to a thousand and fifty feet 
wide. On these ledges the Cliff' Dwel- 
lers erected their homes. The houses 
vary much, as do human dwellings 
everywhere, some being small adobe 
structures like huge swallows' nests, 
other substantial stone houses with 
three or four stories, though the sto- 
ries are rarely more than six feet in 
height, others yet show the ruins of 
towers. The stone edifices are built of 
blocks of stone cut into regular shape 
and held together by adobe cement. 
The roofs are constructed of a layer of 
pine or cedar poles crossed by another 
of small sticks and covered with adobe 
cement into Vv-hich vegetable fiber was 
pressed. Six by eight to eight by ten 



GEOGRAPHV AND ACHIEVEMENTS— LIGHT AND PHOTOGRAPHY s-'i 



was the usual size of the rooms. 

Estimates place t'.^e period at which 
the dwellings of the Cliff Dwellers 
were abandoned at thousands of years 
ago, but the relics found in their graves, 
their dwellings, and refuse heaps show 
them to have attained a degree of civil- 
ization as high as that of the Moquis, 
or even the Aztecs. The skulls show 
fully average brain capacity. The 
mummies prove that the men reached a 
height of six feet, while some of the 
women stood five feet, seven inches. 
The skull of one woman has soft red- 
dish-brown hair still adhering, which 
is neither wiry like the Indian's nor 
woolly like the negro's, but is as fine 
and as straight as that of a Caucasian. 
Among the relics of the Cliff Dwellers 
are spear-heads, arrows and throwing- 
sticks, basket work which equals any- 
thing done by modern workmen and, 
most wonderful of all, a robe of feath- 
ers and fur in quaint pattern and color- 
ing. Their wooden vessels were 
painted with a resinous substance 
which filled the pores of the wood and 
hardened, rendering them waterproof. 
In the grave of one woman were found 
several bracelets of turquoise beads and 
a small pouch of skin containing 
yucca fiber with two finely pointed 
prickers. Their bone needles and 
spoons show clever workmanship, and 
their pottery closely resembled that of 
the Pueblo Indians of New Mexico. 

From their eyrie-like adobes the Cliff 
Dwellers are supposed to have de- 
scended after their number became 
much greater. Then were built the 
rounded towns on plains or table lands. 
To them were applied the ancient ar- 
chitecture of their forefathers. High, 
perpendicular walls, artificially con- 
structed, took the place of the sheer 
walls of the canyons, and from them 
houses were built, descending in ter- 
raced stories exactly as houses had been 
built from the natural walls of canyons. 



All the dwellings faced the open court. 
Thus the court took the place of the 
canyon which the ancient dwellings 
overlooked. Not only were the main 
features of the cliff-dwellings trans- 
ferred to the rounded towns of the 
plains, but inconspicuous details which 
had been admirably suited to the ex- 
igencies of the cliffs were exactly 
copied on the plains with no apparent 
reason except the prompting of long 
usage. 

The great difference in the houses of 
the Cliff Dwellers gives rise to the be- 
lief that there were two distinct races 
of these peoples. Frank Hamilton 
Cushing, who has lived among the Zuni 
Indians for years, says that the "cave 
dwellings," usually further down on the 
cliffs, are of an older type than the 
"cliff-dwellings." The "cliff-dwellings" 
are rounded, while the "cave-dwellings" 
are rectangular. The Zuni Indians are 
supposed to be descended from a union 
of the two kinds of Cliff Dwellers who 
came together after they had built their 
towns on the plains. This is attested 
by the fact that the Zunis have among 
their wealth of legends one in which is 
told of the coming together of the 
"People of the jNIidmost" and the 
"Dwellers-in-the-towns-builded-round." 
Gradually the building customs of the 
"People of the Midmost" who builded 
"square" superceded the customs of the 
people who builded "round." So. when 
the white man came to America, he 
found the Zunis dwelling in square 
towns, and only ruins bore witness to 
the round ones. 

The Zunis are particularly interest- 
ing to study, being more like the ar- 
chaic peoples of America than any other 
of the Indians, even among the 
Pueblos. Although more highly de- 
veloped in many ways than any of the 
aborigines, they retain many of the 
ancient myths and customs of their 
ancestors. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

THE NATIONAL CONSTITUTION' 



Objects. 
We the People of the United States, ' in 
order to form a more perfect Union ,estab- 
hsh justice, insure domestic Tranquility, 
provide for the common defence, promote 
Ihe general Welfare, and secure the Bless- 
ings of Liberty to ourselves and our Pos- 
terity, ' do ordain and establish this Consti- 
tution for the United States of America. 

ARTICLE I 

Legislative Powers. 

Section i. All legislative Powers herein 

granted shall be vested in a Congress of the 

United States, which shall consiste of a 

Senate and House of Representatives.* 

House of Rcfrcsciitativcs. 
Sfxtion 2. The House of Representatives 
shall be composed of Members chosen every 
second Year by the People of the several 
States, and the Electors in each State shall 
have the Qualifications requisite for Electors 
of the most numerous Branch of the State 
Legislature. ° 



Qualifications of Rcj'rcscntativcs. 

No Person shall be a Representative who 
shall not have attained to the Age of twenty- 
five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen 
of the United States, and who shall not, 
when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State 
in which he shall be chosen. " 

Apporlionincnt of Representatives. 

Representatives and direct Taxes shall be 
apportioned among the several States which 
may be included within this Union, accord- 
ing to their respective Numbers, which shall 
be determined by adding to the whole Num- 
ber of free Persons, including those bound to 
Service for a term of Years, and excluding In- 
dians not taxed, three-fifths of all other 
Persons. ' The actual Enumeration shall be 
made within three Years after the first Meet- 
ing of the Congress of the United States, 
and within every subsequent Term of ten 
Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law 
direct. The Number of Representatives shall 
not exceed one for every thirty Thousand: 



' 111 1853, the writer made a very careful copy 
of the Constitution of the United States, from the 
original in the State Department at Washington 
City, together with the autographs of the members 
of the Convention who signed it. In orthography, 
capital letters, and punctuation, the copy here given 
may be relied upon as correct, it having been sub- 
'leq'uently carefully compared with a copy published 
by Mr. Hickey, in his useful little volume, entitled 
Tlie Constitution of the United States of .4merica. 
etc., and attested, on the 20th of July, 1846, by 
Nicholas P. Trist, Chief Clerk of the State De- 
partment. 

- Previous to the Revolution, there were three 
forms of government in the Colonies, namely. Cliar- 
tcr. Proprietary, and Provincial. The charter gov- 
ernments were Massachusetts. Connecticut, and 
Rhode Island. They had power to make laws not 
inconsistent with those of England. The proprietary 
governments were Maryland. Pennsylvania, and 
Delaware. Their governors were appointed by their 
lircprietdVs. and these and the proprietors usually 
made the laws. The provincial were New Ha^mp■ 
shire. New York. New Tersey, Virginia. North 
Carolina. South Carolina, ajid Georgia. In these 
the governor and his council were appointed by the 
crown, and these, with chosen representatives of 
the people, made the laws. 

The Union is older than the Constitution. It 
was formed in the first Continental Congress by the 
representatives of thirteen separate but not in- 
dependent nor sovereign provinces, for they had 
ever been subject to the British crown. Then the 
inhabitants of those colonies were solemnly leagued 
as one people, and two years later they declared 
themselves collectively independent of Great tJritain. 
and recognized the supremacy of the Continental 
Congreso as a central government. See Curtis's 
History of tlie Constitution, i. 39. 40. The plan of 



independent State governments then adopted hav- 
ing failed, a national one was formed, and the 
framers of the Constitution, to give emphasis to the 
fact, said in the preamble of the instrument, "We 
the people of the United States." instead of "We 
the people of Massachusetts, New York." etcetera. 
So argued the Supreme Court. See ll'heaton's S. 
C. Reports, i. 304. 

^ Six objects, it is seen, were to be obtained, each 
hyving a national breadth of purpose. 

♦ The members of the House of Representatives 
are elected to seats therein for two years and they 
hold two regular sessions or sittings during that 
time. Each full term is called a Congress. Sena- 
tors are elected by the State legislatures, to serve 
for six years. 

® There is a Senate and House of Representatives, 
or Assembly, in each State. .\ny person qualified 
t'l vote for a member of his State .\ssembly. mav 
vote for a member of the National House of Repre- 
sentatives. 

® .-\ person born in a foreign country, may be 
elected a representative after he has been for seven 
years a citizen of the United States. 

' It has been decided that this does not restrict 
the power of imposing direct taxes, to States only. 
The Congress of the United States has power to do 
so, but only for the purpose of paying the national 
debts and providing for the national welfare. See 
Kent's Commentaries on the Constitution, abridged 
edition, page 330. Direct taxes had been laid three 
times by the National Congress, previous to the 
Great Civil War that broke out in 1S61. namely, in 
1798, 1S13, and 1815. The "other persons" here 
mentioned were slaves. In making the apportion- 
ment, every five slaves were accounted three per- 
sons. The Thirteenth .-\mendment of the Constitu- 
tion renders this sentence a doad letter. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT— THE NATIONAL CONSTITUTION 



52J 



but each State shall have at Least one 
Representative ; and until such enumera- 
tion shall be made, the State of New 
Hampshire shall be entitled to choose three. 
Massachusetts eight, Rhode Island and 
Providence Plantations one, Connecticut 
five, Delaware one, Maryland six, Vir- 
ginia ten. North Carolina five. South Caro- 
lina five, and Georgia three. ' 

Vacancies, How Filled. 

When vacancies happen in the Representa- 
tion from any State, the Executive Authority 
thereof shall issue Writs of Election to fill 
such V'acancies. 

Speaker, How Affointed. 

The House of Representatives shall choose 
their Speaker and other Officers ; and shall 
have the sole Powder of Impeachment. 

Number of Senators From Each Slate. 

Section 3. The Senate of the United 
States shall be composed of two Senators 
from each State, chosen by the Legislature 
thereof, for six Years; and each Senator 
shall have one Vote. * 

Classification of Senators. 

Immediately after they shall be assembled 
in Consequence of the first election, they 
shall be divided as equally as mav be into 
three Classes. The Seats of the Senators of 
the first Class shall be vacated at the Ex- 
piration of the Second Year, of the second 
Class at the Expiration of the fourth Year, 
and of the third Class at the Expiration of 
the sixth Year, so that one-third may be 
chosen every second year ; '° and if Vacan- 
cies happen by Resignation or otherwise, 
during the Recess of the Legislature of any 
State, the Executive thereof may make tem- 
porary Appointments until the next Meet- 
ing of the Legislature, which shall then fill 
such Vacancies. 



Qualification of Senators. 

No person shall be a Senator who shall 
not have attained to the age of thirty Years, 
and been nine Years a Citizen of the Unitetl 
States, " and who shall not, when elected, 
be an inhabitant of that State for which he 
shall be chosen. 

Presiding Officer of tlic Senate. 

The Vice-President of the United States 
shall be President of the Senate, but shall 
have no vote, unless they be equally 
divided. '" 

The Senate shall chose their other Offi- 
cers, " and also a President pro tempore, in 
the absence of the Vice-President, or when 
he shall exercise the Ofiice of President of 
the United States. 

Senate a Court For Trial of 
Impeachments. 

The Senate shall have the sole Power to 
try all Impeachments : " When sitting for 
that Purpose, they shall be on Oath, or Af- 
firmation. When the President of the 
Lhiited States is tried, the Chief-Justice shall 
preside : and no Person shall be convicted 
without the Concurrence of two tliirds of the 
Members present. 

Judgment in Case of Conviction. 

Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall 
not extend further than to removal from 
Office, and Disqualification to hold and en- 
joy any Office of Honor, Trust, or Profit 
under the United States: but the party con- 
victed shall nevertheless be liable and sub- 
ject to Indictment. Trial. Judgment, and 
Punishment, according to Law. '" 

Flections of Senators and Representatives. 

Section 4. The Times, Places, and Man- 
ner of holding Elections for Senators and 
Representatives, shall be prescribed in each 
State by the Legislature thereof ; but the 
Congress may at any time by Law make or 
alter such Regulations, except as to the 
places of choosing Senators. '° 



** The apportionment is made as 
able after each enumeration of th 
completed. The ratio based on the 
was one Representative for every 33 
The ratio according to the census of i 



as practic- 
habitants is 
of .790, 
persons, 
was one 



ery 137, < 



per 



" This gives perfect equality to the States, in one 
portion of the legislature branch of the Govern- 
ment. The small States of Rhode Island and Dela- 
ware have as much power in the National Senate as 
the large ones of New York and Ohio. 

"This is a wise provision. It leaves representa- 
tives of the people in that branch, at all times, 
familiar with the legislation thereof, and therefore 
more efficient than if an entirely new delegation 
should be chosen at the end of six years. 

"i' This was to allow a foreign-born citizen to 
make himself familiar with our institutions, before 
he should be eligible to a seat in that highest legis- 
lative hall. 

'2 He is not a representative of any State. By 
this arrangement, the equality of the States is pre- 
served. 



'^ Secretary, clerk, sergeant-at-arms. door-keeper, 
and postmaster. 

'■^ The House of Representatives, it will be ob- 
served, accuse the alleged offender, and the Senate- 
constitutes the court wherein he is tried. 

'^This was a modification of the British Consti 
tution, giving exclusive jurisdiction to the National 
Judiciary. In Great Britain, the House of Com 
mons accuses, and the House of Lords fanswering 
to our SenateJ tries the otfender. The latter i^ 
also invested with power to punish in every form 
known to the laws, bv ordering the infliction of 
fines, imprisonments, forfeiture of goods, banish 
ment, and death. 

'" This provision was to prevent the mischief 
that might arise at a time of intense party ex 
citement, when the very existence of the National 
Congress might be at the mercy of the State 
Legislatures. The place of choosing the Senators 
is where the State Legislatures shall be in session 



524 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



Meeting of Congress. 

The Congress shall assemble at least once 
in every Year, and such meeting shall be on 
the first Monday in December, unless they 
shall by Law appoint a different day. " 

Orgcmization of Congress. 

StCTioN 5. Each House shall be the Judge 
of the Elections, Returns, and Qualifications 
of it own Members, and a Majority of each 
shall constitute a quorum to do Business; 
but a small Number may adjourn from day 
to day, and may be authorized to compel the 
Attendance of absent Members, in such man- 
ner, and under such Penalties as each House 
may provide. 

Rules of Proceeding. 

Each House may determine the Rules of 
its Proceedings, punish its Members for dis- 
orderly Behavior, and, with the Concur- 
rence of two thirds, expel a Member. 

Journal of Congress. 

Each House shall keep a Journal of its 
Proceedings, and from time to time publish 
the same, " excepting such Parts as may in 
their Judgment require Secrecy ; '° and the 
Yeas and Nays of the Members of either 
House on any question shall, at the Desire 
of one fifth of those Present, be entered on 
the Journal. "" 

Adjournment of Congress. 

Neither House, during the Session of Con- 
gress, shall, without the Consent of the 
other, adjourn for more than three days, nor 
to any other Place than that in which the 
two Houses shall be sitting. "' 

Compensation and Privileges of Members. 

Section 6. The Senators and Representa- 
tives shall receive a Compensation for their 
Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid 
out of the Treasury of the United States. "' 



They shall in all cases, except Treason, 
Felony, and Breach of the Peace, be privi- 
leged from Arrest during their Attendance 
at the Session of their respective Houses, 
and in going to and returning from the 
same ; and for any Speech or Debate in 
either House, thej; shall not be questioned in 
any other place. "" 

Plurality of Omces Prohibited. 

No Senator or Representative shall, dur- 
ing the time for which he was elected, be 
appointed to any civil Office under the Au- 
thority of the United States, which shall 
have been created, or the Emoluments 
whereof shall have been increased during 
such time ; and no Person holding any office 
under the United States, shall be a Member 
of either House during his Continuance in 
office. "* 

Bills. Hozc Originated. 

Section 7. All Bills for raising Revenue 
shall originate in the House of Representa- 
tives: but the Senate may propose or concur 
with .-Xmendments as on other Bills. -^^ 

How Bills Become Laws. 

Every Bill which shall have passed the 
House of Representatives and the Senate, 
shall, before it become a Law, be presented 
to the President of the United States; if 
he approve he shall sign it, but if not he 
shall return it, with his Objections, to that 
House in which it shall have originated, who 
shall enter the Objections at large on their 
Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. "° If, 
after such Reconsideration, two thirds of 
that House shall agree to pass the Bill, it 
shall be sent, together with the Objections, 
to the other House, by which it shall like- 
wise be reconsidered, and if approved by 
two thirds of that House, it shall become a 
L;iw. But in all such Cases the Votes of 
both Houses shall be determined by Yeas 
and Nays, and the Names of the Persons 



'' This secured an annual meeting of the National 
Legislature beyond the control of State legislation. 
The second, or last session of every Congress, ex- 
pires at twelve o'clock at noon on the 4th of 
March. 

'^ The object is to preserve, for the use of the 
sovereign people, and make public for their benefit, 
every act of Congress. 

"* There are occasions v.'hen the public good re- 
quires secret legislation, and a withholding from 
the people a knowledge of measures discussed aiul 
adopted in Congress, as in a time of war, of in- 
surrection, or of very important diplomatic ne- 
gotiations. 

-"The object of this is to make a permanent 
record of the votes of members, so that the con- 
stituents of each may know their action on im- 
portant questions. It is a salutary regulation. 

-"^ This is to prevent a majority, in either House, 
from interrupting, for more than three days, the 
legislation of Congress. 

" Formerly the members were paid a certain 
amount per day, with a specified amount for each 
mile traveled in going to and returning from the 
National capital. The present compensation is a 
fixed sum for each Congress, with mileage. 



^ This was to prevent the interruption of their 
duties, during the session of Congress, and to give 
them perfect freedom of speech. 

-^ This serves as a check to the increase of the 
power of the executive over the legislative depart- 
ment of the Government, by the means of ap- 
pointment to office. It prevents wide-spread politi- 
cal corruption. A person holding an office, when 
elected to Congress, is compelled to resign it be- 
fore he can take his seat. 

-^ The members of the House of Representatives 
are more immediately elected by the people, and 
are supposed to better understand the wishes and 
wants of their constituents, than those of the 
Senate. The Senate, being the representative of 
the equality of the States, stands as a check to 
legislation that might impose too heavy taxation 
on the smaller States. 

-•^ This power is given to the President to arrest 
hasty or unconstitutional legislation, and to operate 
as a check on the encroachment on the rights and 
powers of one department over another, by legis- 
lation. It is not absolitte, as the context shows, 
as it may be set aside by a vote of two-thirds of 
the members of the Senate and House of Repre- 
sentatives, who passed it. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT— THE NATIONAL CONSTITUTION 



525 



voting for and against the Bill shall be en- 
tered on the Journal of each House respec- 
tively. If any Bill shall not be returned by 
the President within ten Days (Sunday ex- 
cepted) after it shall have been presented to 
him, the Same shall be a Law, in like Man- 
ner as if he had signed it, unless the Con- 
gress by their Adjournment prevent its Re- 
turn, in which Case it shall not be a Law. 



Approval and Veto Powers of President. 

Every Order, Resolution, or Vote to which 
the Concurrence of the Senate and House of 
Ivepresentatives may be necessary (except on 
a question of adjournment), shall be pre- 
sented to the President of the United States ; 
and before the Same shall take Effect, shall 
be approved by him, or being disapproved 
by him, shall be repassed by two thirds of 
the Senate and House of Representatives, 
according to the Rules and Limitations pre- 
scribed in the Case of a Bill. "' 



Pozvcrs Invested in Congress. 

Section 8. The Congress shall have 
power — 

To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts, 
and Excises ; to pay the Debts and provide 
for the common Defence and general Wel- 
fare of the United States ; but all Duties. 
Imposts, and Excises shall be uniform 
throughout the Lhiited States;"^ 

To borrow Money on the credit of the 
L'nited States ; "" 

To regulate Commerce with foreign Na- 
tions, and among the several States, and with 
the Indian tribes ; ™ 



To establish an uniform Rule of Naturali- 
zation, '" and uniform Laws on the subject of 
Bankruptcies^^ throughout the United States; 

To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, 
and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of 
Weights and Measures ; ^' 

To provide for the Punishment of counter- 
feiting the Securities and current Coin of 
the United States ; 

To establish Post Offices and Post Roads ; 

To promote the progress of Science and 
useful Arts, by securing for limited Times 
to Authors and Inventors the exclusive 
Right to their respective Writings and Dis- 
coveries ; " 

To constitute Tribunals inferior to the 
Supreme Court ; 

To define and punish Piracies and Felonies 
committed on the high Seas, and Offences 
against the Law of Nations ; "^ 

To declare War, grant Letters of Marque 
and Reprisal, and make Rules concernriig 
Captures on Land and Water ; 

To raise and support Armies ; but no Ap- 
propriation of Money to that use shall be 
for a longer Term than two Years ; 

To provide and maintain a Navy ; 

To make Rules for the Government and 
Regulation of the Land and Naval Forces; 

To provide for the calling forth the 
Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, 
suppress Insurrections, and repel Invasions ; 

To provide for organizing, arming, and 
disciplining the Militia, and for governing 
such Part of them as may be employed in 
the Service of the United States — reserving 
to the States respectively, the Appointment 
of the Officers, and the Authority of training 
the Militia according to the Discipline pre- 
scribed by Congress ; ^ 



-' This requirement is made that Congress may 
not pass, with the name of order, resolution, or 
vote, what, as a bill, the President has already 
vcloed. as his method of returning a bill, with his 
objections, is called. 

=* The power of Congress to lay and collect 
ditties, etc., for national purposes, extends to the 
District of Columbia, and to the Territories of the 
United States, as well as to the States; but Con- 
gress is not bound to extend a direct tax to the 
District and Territories. The stipulation that the 
taxes, etc., shall be uniform throughout the United 
States, is to prevent favors being shown to one 
State or section of the Republic, and not to an- 
other. 

-® This was to enable the Government to provide 
for its expenses at a time of domestic insurrection 
or a foreign war, when the sources of revenue by 
taxation and impost might be obstructed. 

»This power was lacking, under the Articles of 
Confederation. It is one of the most important 
powers delegated by the people to their representa- 
tives, for it involves national development and 
inosperity. 

=' The power of naturalization was possessed by 
each State under the Confederation. There was 
such want of uniformity of laws on the subject, 
that confusion was already manifested, when the 
people, by the Constitution, vested the power ex- 
clusively in Congress, Thus a State is prohibited 
fiom discouraging emigration, or casting hindrances 
in the way of obtaining citizenship- By a decision 
of the Attorney-General of the Republic, every 
person born within its borders is entitled to the 
rights of citizenship. It is a birthright. 



'-' Since the adoption of the Constitution of the 
United States, a State has authority to pass a 
bankrupt law, provided such law does not impair 
the obligations of contracts within the meaning of 
the Constitution (Art. i., Sec.io), and provided 
there be no act of Congress in force to establish 
a uniform system of bankruptcy conflicting with 
such law. 

'•^ This was to insure uniformity in the metallic 
currency of the Republic, and of weights and 
measures, for the benefit of the people in commer- 
cial operations. 

^* The first copy-right law was enacted in 1790, 
on the petition of David Ramsay, the historian, 
anfl others. .-X copy-right, or patent-right to an in- 
vention is given for a specified time. A copy-riglit 
is granted for twenty-eight years, and a renewal 
for fourteen years. Patents are granted for seven- 
teen years, without the right of extension. 

^•^ Congress has power to provide for the punish- 
ment of offences committed by persons on board 
of an American ship, wherever that ship may be. 

^ Clauses eleven to sixteen inclusive, define the 
war powers of the Government, such as granting 
licenses to privateers, raising and supporting armed 
forces on land and sea, calling out the militia, 
etc. See Article II of the .Amendments to this 
Constitution. These powers, used by the hand of 
an efficient and judicious Executive, are quite suffi- 
cient. The President cannot exercise any of them, 
until the power is given him by Congress, when he 
is bound by his oath to take care that all the laws 
shall be executed. 



526 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



To exercise exclusive Legislation in all 
Cases whatsoever, over such District (not 
exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by 
Session of particular States, and the Ac- 
ceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the 
Government of the United States, " and to 
exercise like Authority over all Places pur- 
chased by the Consent of the Legislature of 
the State in which the Same shall be, for 
the Erection of Forts, Magazines. Arsenals. 
Dockyards, and other needful Buildings;— 
And 

To make all Laws which shall be necessary 
and proper for carrying into Execution the 
foregoing Powers, and all other Powers 
vested bv this Constitution in the Govern- 
ment of 'the United States, or in any De- 
partment or Officer thereof. 

Immigrants, How Admitted. 

Section 9. The Migration or Importation 
of such Persons as any of the States now ex- 
isting shall think proper to admit, shall not 
be prohibited bv the Congress prior to the 
Year one thousand eight hundred and eight, 
but a Tax or Duty may be imposed on such 
Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for 
each Person. ^ 

Habeas Corpus. 

The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Cor- 
pus^' shall not be suspended, unless when in 
Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public 
Safety may require it. 

Attainer. 

No Bill of .-\ttainer " or ex post Facto law 
shall be passed. " 

Ta.res. 

No Capitation, or other direct, Tax shall 
be laid, unless in Proportion to the Census 
or Enumeration herein before directed to be 
taken. '" 



No Tax or Duty shall be laid on articles 
exported from any State. 

Regulations Regarding Duties. 

No Preference shall be given by any Regu- 
lation of Commerce or Revenue to the Ports 
of one State over those of another ; nor shall 
vessels bound to, or from, one State, be 
obliged to enter, clear, or pay Duties in an- 
(,ther. " 

Money, How Drawn. 

No Money shall be drawn from the Treas- 
ury, but in Consequence of .Appropriations 
made by law ; and a regular Statement and 
Account of the Receipts and Expenditures 
of all public Money shall be published from 
time to time. " 

Titles of Nobility. 

No Title of Nobility shall be granted by 
the United States : And no Person holding 
any Office of Profit or Trust under them, 
shall, without the Consent of the Congress, 
accept of any Present. Emolument, Office, or 
Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, 
Prince, or Foreign State. *^ 

Section 10. No State shall enter into any 
Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation ; grant 
Letters of Marque and Reprisal ; coin 
Money ; emit Bills of Credit ; make any 
Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in 
Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainer, 
ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the 
Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title 
of Nobility. 

No State shall, without the Consent of the 
Congress, lay any Imposts or Duties on Im- 
ports or Exports, except what may be abso- 
lutely necessary for executing its inspec- 
tion Laws : and the net Produce of all 
Duties and Imposts, laid by any State on 
Imports or Exports, shall be for the Use of 
the Treasury of the United States; and all 
such Laws shall be subject to the Revision 
and Control of the Congress. 



" Congress has authority to impose a direct tax 
on the District of Columbia, in proportion to the 
census directed by the Constitution to be taken. 

=i» The object of this clause was to end the slave- 
trade, or the importation of negroes from .■\frica. 
to become slaves in the United States, after the 
ist of January, iSo8. The Articles of Confedera- 
ton allowed any State to continue the trafhc m- 
definitcly, for the States were independent of each 
other, and the organic law was silent on the sub- 
ject. The importation of slaves after the beginning 
of 1808 was prohibited under severe penalties by 
the .'\ct of March 2, 1807. Acts on the subject 
have since been passed by Congress from time to 
time. That of 1820 declared the foreign slave- 
trade to be piracy. In Tuly, 1862. Congress made 
provisions for carrying into effect a treaty with 
Great Britain for the suppression of the slave- 
trade. .\ domestic slave-trade was kept up until 
the beginning of the Civil War, in 1861. It was 
Virginia's largest source of revenue. 

" This is a writ for delivering a person from 
false imprisonment, or for renioviug a person from 



one court to another. The act of suspending the 
privilege of the writ must be done by the Execu- 
tive, in the cases specified, under the authority of 
an Act of Congress. 

^'* .\ deprivation of power to inherit or transmit 
property, a loss of civil rights, etc. 

*^ Declaring an act criminal or penal, which was 
innocent when committed. 

*- This was to secure uniformity in taxes laid on 
persons or on lands. 

^' To secure free trade between the States, that 
one might not have an advantage over another, 
was the object of these two clauses. 

*' This gives to Congress the control of the money 
belonging to the Republic, and places it beyond the 
reach of the Kxecutive. 

^ This was to secure equality of rights and 
privileges among the citizens, and to check the bad 
effects of foreign influences in the form of aristo- 
cratic distinctions. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT— THK NATIONAL CONSTITUTION 



S-27 



Powers of Stati-s Defined. 

No State shall, without the Consent of 
Congress, lay any Duty of Tonnage, keep 
Troops, or Ships-of-War in time of Peace, 
enter into any Argument or Compact with 
another State, or with a foreign Power, or 
engage in War, unless actually invaded, or 
in such imminent Danger as will not admit 
of Delay." 

ARTICLE II. 
Executive Power, in ll'hoin Vested. 

Section i. The Executive Power shall be 
vested in a President of the United States of 
America. He shall hold his Office during the 
Term of four Years, " and together with 
the Vice President, chosen for the same 
Term, be elected, as follows : 

Presidential Electors. 

Each State shall appoint, in such Manner 
as the Legislature thereof may direct, a 
Number of Electors, equal to the whole 
Number of Senators and Representatives to 
which the State may be entitled in the Con- 
gress : but no Senator or Representative, or 
Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit 
under the United States, shall be appointed 
an Elector. 

President and Vice-President, Hoiv Elected. 
[The electors shall meet in their respective 
States, and vote by ballot for two persons, ot 
whom one at least shall not be an inhabitant 
of the same State with themselves. And 
they shall make a list of all the persons 
voted for. and of the number of votes for 
each ; which list they shall sign and certify, 
and transmit sealed to the seat of the gov- 
ernment of the United States, directed to the 
President of the Senate. The President of 
the Senate shall, in the presence of the 
Senate and House of Representatives, open 
all the certificates, and the votes shall then 
be counted. The person having the greatest 
number of votes shall be the President, if 
such number be a majority of the whole 
number of electors appointed; and if there be 
more than one who have such majority, and 



have an equal number of votes, then the 
House of Representatives shall immediately 
choose by ballot one of them for President ; 
and if no person have a majority, then from 
the five highest on the list the said House 
shall in like manner choose the President. 
But in choosing the President, the votes shall 
be taken by States — the representative from 
each State having one vote; a quorum for 
this purpose shall consist of a member or 
members from two thirds of the States, and 
a majority of all the States shall be neces- 
sar_v to a choice. In every case, after the 
choice of the President, the person having 
the greatest number of votes of the electors 
shall be the Vice-President. But if there 
should remain two or more who have equal 
votes, the Senate shall choose from them by 
ballot the Vice President. "] 

Time of Choosing Electors. 

The Congress may determine the Time of 
choosing the Electors, and the Day on 
which they shall give their Votes; which 
Day shall be the same throughout the 
United States.*" 

Qualifications of the President. 

No Person except a natural born Citizen, 
or a Citizen of the United States at the 
time of the Adoption of this Constitution, 
shall be eligible to the Office of President; 
neither shall any person be eligible to that 
Office who shall not have attained to the 
Age of thirty-five Years, and been fourteen 
Years a Resident within the United States. 

Resort in Case of His Disability. 

In Case of the Removal of the President 
from Office, or his Death, Resignation, or 
Inability to discharge the Powers and 
Duties of the said office, the same shall de- 
volve on the Vice President, and the Con- 
gress may by Law provide for the Case of 
Removal, Death, Resignation or Inaljility, 
both of the President and Vice President, 
declaring what Officer shall then act as 
President, and such officer shall act accord- 
ingly, until the Disability be removed, or a 
President shall be elected. " 



"^ Uy this section the people of the several States 
who, in conventions, ratified the National Consti- 
tution, invested the General Government with the 
supieme attributes of sovereignty exclusively, while 
reserving to themselves, or their respective com- 
monwealths, the powers peculiar to the municipal 
authority of a State, which are essential to the 
regulation of its internal affairs, and the preserva- 
tion of its domestic institutions from interference 
by another State, or by the National Government 
in a time of domestic tranquillity. The National 
Government is hereby empowered to act for the 
people of the whole Republic as a nation. Having 
no superior it is sovereign. See Story's Com- 
mentaries on the Constitution. Chapter XXXV. 

■*^ The Executive is a co-ordinate but not coequal 
branch of the Government with the legislative, 
for he is the agent provided in the Constitution 
for executing the laws of a superior, the Congress 
or legislature. 

"• This clause was afterward annulled, and Article 



XII of the Amendments to this Constitution was 
substituted for it. Originally the electors voted 
by ballot, for two persons, one of whom, at least, 
should not be an ir.habitant of the same State 
with themselves. The one who received the high- 
est number of votes was declared to be President, 
and the one receiving the next highest number was 
declared to be Vice-President. 

■'" See Amendments to the Constitution, Article 
XII. By an Act passed in 184s (January ^3). the 
electors must be chosen, in each State, on the 
Tuesday next after the first Monday in the month 
of November of the year in which they are to be 
elected. In the preceding portion of this history, 
when the election of a President is spoken of. it is 
meant that electors favorable to such candidates 
were chosen at that time. 

=" Provision has been made for the President of 
the Senate, for the time being, or if there shall be 
no such officer, the Speaker of the House of Repre- 
sentatives shall perform the executive functions. 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



Said I Y 0/ I he President. 

The President shall, at stated Times, re- 
ceive for his Services, a Compensation, which 
shall neither be increased nor diminished 
during the Period for which ht shall have 
been elected, and he shall not receive within 
that Period any other Emolument from the 
United States, or any of them."' 

Oath of OMcc. 

Before he enter on the Execution of his 
Office, he shall take the following Oath or 
Affirmation : 

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I 
will faithfully execute the Office of Presi- 
dent of the United States, and will to the 
best of my Ability, preserve, protect, and de- 
fend the Constitution of the United States." 

Duties of the President. 

Sectiox 2. The President shall be the 
Commander in chief of the Army and Navy 
of the United States, and of the Militia of 
the several States, when called into the actual 
Service of the United States;'" he may re- 
quire the Opinion, in writing, of the prin- 
cipal Officer in each of the executive Depart- 
ments, upon any Subject relating to the 
Duties of their respective Offices, and he 
shall have Power to grant Reprieves and 
Pardons for Offences against the United 
States, except in Cases of Impeachment. ^ 



and by the Advice and Consent of the 
Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other 
public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the 
supreiue Court, and all other Officers of the 
United States, whose appointments are not 
herein hitherto provided for, and which shall 
be established by Law ; " but the Congress 
may by Law vest the Appointment of such 
inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the 
President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in 
the Heads of Departments. 

May Fill Vaeancies. 

The President shall have the Power to fill 
up all Vacancies that may happen during the 
Recess of the Senate, by granting Cotnmis- 
sions which shall expire at the End of their 
next Session. '''" 

Power to Convene Congress. 

Section ,■;. He shall from time to time give 
to the Congress Information of the State of 
the Union, and recommend to their Consid- 
eration such Measures as he shall judge 
necessary and expedient;"* he may, on extra 
ordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or 
either of them, " and in Case of Disagree- 
ment between them, with Respect to the 
Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them 
to such Time as he shall think proper ; he 
shall receive Ambassadors and other public 
Ministers :°* he shall take Care that the Laws 
be faithfully executed, and shall Commission 
all the officers of the United States. 



His Power to Make Treaties. Apfoint 
Embassadors, Judges, etc. 

He shall have Power, by and with the 
Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make 
Treaties, provided two thirds of the Sena- 
tors present concur ; and he shall nominate. 



Hozv Officers May Be Removed. 

Section 4. The President, Vice Presidert. 
and all civil Officers of the United States, 
shall be removed from Office on Impeach- 
ment for, and Conviction of. Treason. Brib- 
ery, or other high Crimes or Misdemeanors. 



salary of the President was fixed 


bv the 


igress at $.>s,ooo a year, and that 


of the 


sident at $8,000. Now the salary 


of tlie 



5^ Tht 
first Cc 

Vice-President at $8.0 

President is $50,000. and the Vice-President, $10- 
000. The salary for each entire term was so fixed, 
that the executive might be independent of the 
legislative department for it. 

^- This was to insure unity and efficiency in 
action, when foreign war or domestic insurrection 
should call for the services of the army and navy. 
His large powers as Executive are directed by 
constitutional provisions. He is the arm of the 
nation to execute its bidding. 

^ It is presumed that the Executive is above the 
personal, local, or sectional influences that might 
be brought to bear, in these cases, on the courts or 
on legislative bodies. The Executive, according to 
a decision of the Supreme Court, has power to 
grant a pardon before trial or conviction. See 
Brightley's Analytical Digest of the Laws of the 
United States, page 7, note ie). 

5* The President is presumed to be more fully 
informed concerning the foreign relations of the 



chments on 



Republic, and the fitness of men for the highest 
offices. The Senate represents the legislative de- 
partment of the Government in treaty-making and 
the appointment of high officers, am' ' 
on the Eexecutive against any encn 
the rights of Congress in the matter 

•■^ This limitation to executive appointments i<; 
to prevent the President from neutralizing the 
action of the Senate as a co-ordinate power. 

5s It is the practice of the President to submit 
to Congress, at the opening of each session, a state- 
ment of national affairs. This is called his Annual 
Message. Washington and John Adams read their 
messages in person to the assembled Congress. 
Jefferson first sent his message to them by his 
private secretary. That practice is still kept up. 

''^ The President, with his better information con- 
cerning national affairs, can best judge when an 
extraordinary session of Congress may be necessary. 

^ He may also refuse to receive them, and 
thereby annul or prevent diplomatic relations be- 
tween the United States and any country. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT— THE NATIONAL CONSTITUTION 



529 



ARTICLE III. 
Judicial Pozvcr, How Vested. 

'Section i. The judicial Power of the 
LTnited States, shall be vested in one supreme 
Court, and in such .inferior Courts as the 
Congress may from time to time ordain and 
establish. The Judges both of the supreme 
and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices 
during good Behavior, and shall, at stated 
Times, receive for their Services, a Compen- 
sation, which shall not be diminished during 
their Continuance in Office. 



To What Cases It Extends. 

Section 2. The judicial Power shall ex- 
tend to all Cases in Law and Equity, arising 
under this Constitution, the Laws of the 
L'nited States, and Treaties made, or which 
shall be made, under their Authority; — to all 
cases afifecting .Ambassadors, other public 
Ministers and Consuls ; — to all Cases of ad- 
miralty and maritime Jurisdiction ; to Con- 
troversies to which the L^nited States shall 
be a party ; to Controversies between two or 
more States; — between a State and Citizens 
of another State ; — between Citizens of differ- 
ent States ;™ — between citizens of the same 
State claiming Lands under Grants of differ- 
ent States, and between a State, or the Citi- 
zens thereof, and foreign States, Citizens or 
Subjects. 

Jurisdiction of the Suf'rcme Court. 

In all Cases affecting .Embassadors, other 
public Ministers and Consuls, and those in 
which a State shall be a Party, the supreme 
Court shall have original Jurisdiction. In all 
the other Cases before mentioned, the su- 
preme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, 



both as to Law and Fact, with .-uch Excep- 
tions, and under such Regulations as the 
Congress shall make. 

Rules Respecting Trials. 

The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of 
Impeachment, shall be by Jury ; and such 
Trial shall be held in the State where the 
said Crimes shall have been committed; but 
when not committed within any State, the 
trial shall be at such Place or Places as the 
Congress may by Law have directed. " 

Treason Defined. 

Section 3. Treason against the United 
States, shall consist only in levying War 
against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, 
giving them .\\d and Comfort. *' 

No Person shall be convicted of Treason, 
unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses 
to the same overt Act, or on Confession in 
open Court. 

How Punished. 

The Congress shall have Power to declare 
the Punishment of Treason, but no .■\ttainer 
of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, 
or Forfeiture except during the Life of the 
Person attained. ^ 



ARTICLE IV. 

Rights of States Defined. 

Section i. Full Faith and Credit shall be 
given in each State to the public Acts. 
Records, and judicial Proceedings of every 
other State. " And the Congress may by 
general Laws prescribe the Manner in which 
such Acts, Records and Proceedings shall be 
proved, and the Effect thereof. "' 



^* This section provides that the Supreme Court 
shall be a co-ordinate branch of the National Gov- 
ernment, yet independent of and distinct from both 
the legislative and executive departments. The 
pouers of the National Government, it will be seen, 
are threefold, namely. It'aisializ-e. Judicial, and 
i-.recutive. The tirst enacts laws, the second in- 
terprets them, and the third enforces them. The 
Supreme Court consists of one Chief Justice and 
several .\ssociate Justices, who hold an annual ses- 
sion at the national capital, commencing on the day 
when Congress meets — first Wednesday in Decem- 
ber. 

«» .\ citizen of the District of Columbia is not a 
citizen of a State, within the meaning of this 
Constitution. The District is under the immediate 
control of Congress, and has neither a legislature 
or governor. 

^ See .Amendments to the Constitution, Articles 
V, VI, VII. VIII. 

^ .-\t the trial of .Aaron Burr, Chief Justice Mar- 
shall said: *..\ny combination to subvert by force 
the Government of the United States; violently to 
dismember the Union; to compel a change in the 



administration, to coerce the repeal or adoption of 
a general law. is a conspiracy to Ic-.'V -war. ,\nd if 
conspiracy be carried into effect by the actual em 
ployment of force, by the embodying and assembling 
of men for the purpose of executing the treasonable 
design which was previously conceived, it amounts 
to levying war." 

^ The limit as to forfeiture applies only to the 
real estate of the criminal, which, at his death, 
must be restored to his heirs or assigns. The 
dcwer right of his wife also remains untouched. 
See Kent's Commentaries on .American Law. ii. 
464. This is more humane than the English law of 
treason. It does not punish the innocent wife and 
children of a criminal on account of his crimes. 

" .\ judgment of a State court has the same 
credit, validity, and effect, in everv other court 
within the United States, which it had in the court 
where it was rendered; and whatever pleas would 
be good to a suit thereon in such State, and none 
others, can be pleaded in any other court within 
the United States.— Hampton v. McConnell, 3 
li heaton, 23^. 

*^ On the 26th of May. 1790, Congress, by act, 
gave effect to this section. 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



Privileges of Citizens. 

Section 2. The Citizens of each State 
shall be entitled to all Privileges and Im- 
munities of Citizens in the several States."'' 

Executive Requisition. 

A person charged in any State with Trea- 
son, Fclon\'. of other Crime, who shall flee 
from Justice, and be found in another State, 
shall on Demand of the executive authority 
of the State from which he fled, be delivered 
up, to be removed to the State having Juris- 
diction of the Crime. " 

Laiv Regulating Service or Labor. 

No Person held to Service or Labor in 
one State, under the Laws thereof escaping 
to another, shall, in Consequence of any Law 
or Regulation therein, be discharged from 
such Service or Labor, but shall be de- 
livered up on Claim of the Party to whom 
such Service or Labor may be due. " 

Neiv States, How Formed and Admitted. 

Section 3. New States may be admitted 
by the Congress into this Union ; "" but no 
new State shall be formed or erected within 
the jurisdiction of any other State; nor any 
State be formed by the Junction of two or 
more States, or the States concerned as well 
as of the Congress. '" 

Power of Congress Over Public Lands. 

The Congress shall have Power to dispose 
of and make all needful Rules and Regula- 



tions respecting the Territory or other 
Property belonging to the United States; and 
nothing in this Constitution shall be so con- 
strued as to Prejudice any Claims of the 
United States, or of any particular State. " 

Republican Government Guaranteed. 

Section 4. The Constitution shall guarantee 
to every State in this Union a Republican 
Form of Government. '' and shall protect 
eacli of them against Invasion; and on .Ap- 
plication of the Legislature, or of the E.x- 
ecutive (when the Legislature can not be 
convened) against domestic violence." 

ARTICLE V. 

Constitution, Hoiij to be Amended. 

The Congress, whenever two thirds of both 
Houses shall deem it necessary, shall pro- 
pose Amendments to this Constitution, or. 
on the Application of the Legislatures of two 
thirds of the several States, shall call a Con- 
vention for proposing Amendments, which, 
in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents 
and Purposes, as part of this Constitution, 
when ratified by the Legislatures of three 
fourths thereof, as the one or the other 
Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the 
Congress ; " Provided that no Amendment 
which may be made prior to the Year one 
thousand eight hundred and eight shall in 
any Manner affect the first and fourth 
Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first 
Article;" and that no State, without its 
Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suf- 
frage in the .Senate. "' 



"This is a recognition of nationality — tVie su- 
preme rights of the peopie as citizens of the United 
States. It decrees the right to all fundamental 
privileges and immunities which any State grants 
to its citizens, excepting those granted to cor- 
porations, or conferred by special local legis- 
lation. It is intended to secure and perpetuate a 
friendly intercourse throughout the Republic. It 
sets aside the erroneous assumption that National 
citizenship is subordinate to State citizenship. 

«' This is to aid the claims of justice, by pre- 
venting one portion of the Republic becoming an 
asylum for the criminal;^ of another portion. 

"* This is the clause of the Constitution on which 
was based the provisions of the Fugitive- Slave 
Law of 1850. It applied to runaway slaves and ap 
prentices. Congress gave eflect to it by an act on 
the 1 2th of February, 1793. and another on the 
iSth of September. 1850. .^t the time when the 
Constitution was framed, slavery existed in all the 
States of the Union, excepting Massachusetts. By 
the operation of the Thirteenth .Amendment of the 
Constitution, this clause has no relation to any 
other persons excepting fugitive indentured ap- 
prentices. 

■^^ The Congress is not compelled to admit a new 
State. It is left to the option of that body, 
whether anv new State shall be admitted. 

"States have been admitted in three ways: i. 
By joint action of the Congress and a State, by 
which a portion of a State has been made a sepa- 
rate commonwealth as in the case of Vermont 
Kentucky. Maine, and Virginia. 2. By an act of 
Congress, creating a State directly from a Terri- 
tnrv of the United States, as in the case of Tennes- 
see' 3 By a joint resolution of Congress and a 
foreign St'ate. such State may be admitted, as in 
the case of Texas. 



^1 This provides for the establishment, under the 
authority of Congress, of Territorial governments, 
which is the first step toward the formation of a 
State or States. The first government of the kind 
was that of the Northwestern Territory, established 
in 1787, and adopted by Congress under the National 
Constitution of the 7th of .August. 1789. 

'- No other form of government could exist 
within the United States, without peril to the Re- 
public. By this section, the National Government 
is empowered to assume positive sovereignty as to 
the fundamental character of the State Govern- 
ment, leaving to the State territorial sovereignty, 
as to its municipal laws and domestic institutions, 
so long as they are consonant with a republican 
form of goveri -neiit. 

"The States are prohibited from keeping troops 
as a standing army, or ships of war. in time o-f 
peace, individually; therefore it is made the duty 
of the sovereign power of the United States to 
protect the States against invasion and "domestic 
violence." such as treason, rebellion, or insurrec- 
tion. When these exist in any State, it is the duty 
of the National Government to use its power in 
suppressing it. 

^1 This article eflectually checks any fundamental 
change in the Constitution, excepting in a_ way 
whicli recognizes the source of all true sovereignty, 
the "People, unless it be by sudden and violent 
revolution. 

" See Section 9. page 747. The adoption of the 
Thirteenth .Amendment of the Constitution renders 
this section a dead letter. 



'Her 



agaii 



States from 
by the larger States. 



prov 



ision for securing the 
hments on their rights 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT— THE NATIONAL CONSTITUTION 



ARTICLE VI. 



MASSACHUSETTS. 



Validity of Debts Recognized. 

All Debts contracted and Engagements en- 
tered into, before the Adoption of this Con- 
stitution, shall be as valid against tlie United 
States under this Constitution, as under the 
Confederation. " 

Supreme Laiv of the Land Defined. 

This Constitution and the Laws of the 
United States which shall be made in Pur- 
suance thereof; and all Treaties made, or 
which shall be made, under the authority of 
the LTnited States, shall be the supreme Law 
of the Land; and the Judges in every State 
shall be bound thereby, any thing in the 
Constitution or Laws of any State to the 
Contrary notwithstanding. " 

Oath, of Whom Required, And What For. 

The Senators and Representatives before 
mentioned, and the Members of the several 
State Legislatures, and all executive and 
judicial Officers, both of the United States 
and of the several States, shall be bound by 
Oath or .Affirmation, to support this Consti- 
tution;" but no religious Test shall ever be 
required as a Qualification to any Office or 
public Trust under the United States. '" 

ARTICLE VII. 

Ratification. 

The Ratification of the Conventions of nine 
States shall be sufficient for the Establish- 
ment of this Constitution between the States 
so ratifying the Same. 

Done in Convention by the LTnaninious Con- 
sent of the States present, the Seventeenth 
Day of September, in the Year of our 
Lord one thousand seven hundred and 
Eighty-seven, and of the Independence of 
the Linited States the Twelfth. In Wit- 
ness whereof We have hereunto sub- 
scribed our Names. 

GEO. WASHINGTON, 
President, and deputy from yirginia. 

NEW HAMPSHIRE. 

John L.xkcdon. 
Nicholas Gilm.vn. 



Nathaniel Gorham, 
RuFus King. 

CONNECTICUT. 

William Samuel Johnson, 
Roger Sherman. 



NEW YORK. 

Alexander Hamilton. 

NEW JERSEY. 

William Livingston, 
David Brearley, 
William P.\tterson, 
Jon.\than Davton. 

PENNSYLVANIA. 

Benjamin Franklin, 
Thomas Mifflin, 
Robert Morris, 
George Clymer, 
Thomas Fitzsimons, 
Jarf.d Ingersoll, 
James Wilson, 
GouvENEUR Morris 

DELAWARE. 

George Reed, 
Gunning Bedford, Jr., 
John Dickinson, 
Richard Bassett, 
Jacob Broom. 

MARYLAND. 

James McHenry, 

Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, 

Daniel C.\reoll. 

VIRGINIA. 

John Blair, 
James Madison, Jr. 

NORTH CAROLINA. 

William Blount, 
Richard Dobbs Spaight. 
Hugh Williamson 



'' This was for the security to the creditors of 
e United States, of the payment of debts in- 
irred during the Revolution. It was a national 
id positive recognition of the postulate in inter- 



national law, that 
obligations to otlie 
the Government." 

-■' .\ clear and . 
premacy of the National Co 
which is treason. 



due to foreigne 



change 



and 



"* State officers are bound 
stitution because they m.ay 
form some service in giving 
law of the land," in other v 



to support the Con- 
be required to per- 
fffect to that "supreme 
ords. of the Republic. 



'''' This is to prevent a political union of Church 
and State, which is always prejudicial to the best 
interests of both. 



THE HOME AUXILIARY AND REFERENCE 



SOUTH CAROLINA. 

Charles C. Pinckney, 
Charles Pinckney, 
John Rutledge, 
Pierce Butlr. 

GEORGIA. 

William Few. 
Abraham Baldwin. 

Attest: WILLIAM JACKSON, Secretary. 

AMENDMENTS. " 

TO THE CONSTITUTION OF THE 
UNITED STATES, RATIFIED AC- 
CORDING TO THE PROVISIONS 
OF THE FIFTH ARTICLE OF THE 
FOREGOING CONSTITUTION. 

ARTICLE I. 

Freedom in Religion and Sfeech. and 
of the Press. 

Congress shall make no law respecting an 
establishment of religion, or prohibiting the 
free exercise thereof; or abridging the free- 
dom of speech, or of the press; or the right 
of the people peaceably to assemble, and to 
petition the Government for a redress of 
grievances. " 



ARTICLE IL 
Militia. 

A well-regulated Militia being necessary 
to the security of a free State, the right of 
the people to keep and bear .Arms, shall not 
be infringed. 

ARTICLE III. 

Soldiers. 

No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quar- 
tered in any house, without the consent of 
the Owner, nor in a time of war, but in a 
manner to be prescribed by law. ' 

ARTICLE IV. 

Search-lVarrants. 

The right of the people to be secure in 
their persons, houses, papers and effects, 
against unreasonable searches and seizures, 
shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall 
issue, but upon probable cause, supported by 
Oath or affirmation, and particularly describ- 
ing the place to be searched, and the person 
or things to be seized. ' 

ARTICLE V. 

Capital Crimes. 

No person shall be held to answer for a 
capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless 
on a presentment or indictment of a Grand 
Jury, except in cases arising in the land or 
naval forces, or in the Militia, when in 
actual service in time of War or public 
danger ;° nor shall any person be subject for 



' At the first session of the First Congress, be- 
gun and held in the city of New York, on Wednes- 
day, the 4th of March, 1789, many amendments to 
the National Constitution were offered for con- 
sideration. The Congress proposed ten of them 
to the legislatures of the several States. These 
were ratified by the constitutional number of State 
Legislatures in the middle of December, 1791. An- 
other was proposed on the 5th of March, 1794. 
and was ratified in 1798, and still another on the 
12th of December, 1803. which was ratified in 1804. 
These, with the other ten, became a part of the 
National Constitution. A thirteenth amendment 
was proposed by Congress on the ist of May, 1810, 
but has never been ratified. It was to prohibit 
citizens of the United States accepting, claiming, 
receiving, or retaining any title of nobility or honor, 
or any present, pension, office, or emolument of 
any kind whatever, from any "person, king, prince, 
or foreign Power," without the consent of Con- 
gress, under the penalty of disfranchisement, or 
ceasing to be a citizen of the United States. 

The Thirteenth Amendment was adopted by Con- 
gress on the 31st of January, 1865, and its ratifi- 
cation by the requisite number of State f^egisla- 
tures was announced on the i8th of December fol- 
lowing. .\ Fourteenth .Amendment was proposed 
by a joint resolution adopted on the 13th of June. 
1866. the object of which was to complete the work 
done by the Thirteenth Amendment, by guarantee- 
ing all citizens an equality of civil and political 
rights, and the payment of the public debt; also to 
forbid the payment, by the general or any State 



government, of any debt or obligation incurred in 
aid of the rebellion, or any claim for the loss or 
emancipation of any slave. This amendment was 
ratified, and on the 20th of July, 1868, the Secre- 
tary of State proclaimed it to be a part of the 
National Constitution. A Fifteenth Amendment 
was adopted by Congress on the 26th of February, 
1869, and subsequently ratified. This was to se- 
cure the elective franchise for the colored race in 
our country, and is the crown of the Emancipation 
Act. 

The Amendments to the Constitution, excepting 
the Twelfth, are authoritative declarations securing 
to the people and the several States certain rights, 
against any possible encroachments of Congress. 
They form a Bill of Rights. 

" This article gives an additional assurance of 
religious freedom. See clause 3d, Article VI, of 
the Constitution. It also secures the invaluable 
right of the freedom of speech and of the press: 
and the privilege for the people of making their 
grievances known to the National Government. 

* This is to protect citizens, in time of peace, 
from the oppressions of military power, and to 
secure uniformity in the rules for quartering sol- 
diers upon citizens in time of war. 

* The security of the private citizen from an in- 
fringement of his rights by public officers, herein 
guaranteed, is in accordance with the English 
maxim that "Every man's house is his castle." 

'' In such cases offences are within the juris- 
diction of the military and naval courts-martial. 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT— AxMEXDMENTS 



the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy 
of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in 
any Criminal Case to be a witness against 
himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or 
property, without due process of law ; nor 
shall private property be taken for public 
use, without just compensation. ° 



ARTICLE X. 
Rights Reserved. 

The powers not delegated to the United 
States, by the Constitution, nor prohibited 
by it to the States, are reserved to the States 
respectively, or to the people. * 



ARTICLE VI. 

Trial by Jury. 

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused 
shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public 
trial, by an impartial jury of the State and 
district wherein the crime shall have been 
committed, which district shall have been 
previously ascertained by law, and to be in- 
formed nf the nature and cause of the ac- 
cusation ; to be confronted with the witnesses 
against him ; to have Compulsory process 
for obtaining Witnesses in his favor, and 
to have the Assistance of Counsel for his 
defence. 

ARTICLE Vn. 

Suits at Common Law. 

In Suits at common law, where the value 
in controversy shall exceed twenty dollar-;, 
the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, 
and no fact tried by a jury, shall be other- 
wise re-examined in any court of the Lhiited 
States, than according to the rules of the 
common law. 

ARTICLE VIIL 



3ail. 



Excessive bail shall not be required, nor 
excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and un- 
usual punishments inflicted. ' 



ARTICLE IX. 

Certain Rights Defined. 

The enumeration, in the Constitution, of 
certain rights, shall not be construed to 
deny or disparage others retained by the 
people. 



ARTICLE XI. 

Judicial Power Limited. 

The judicial power of the L'nited States 
shall not be construed to exfend to any suit 
in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted 
against one of the United States by Citizens 
of another State, or by Citizens or Subjects 
of any foreign State. '° 

ARTICLE XII. 

Amendment Rcsf'ecting tlie Election 
of President and ricc-Prc.^ident. 

The Electors shall meet in their respective 
States, and vote by ballot for President and 
Vice President, one of whom at least, shall 
not be an inhabitant of the same State with 
themselves; they shall name in their ballots 
the person voted for as President, and in 
distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice 
President, and they shall make distinct lists 
of all persons voted for as President, and of 
all persons voted for Vice President, and of 
the number of votes for each, which lists 
they shall sign and certify, and transmit 
sealed to the seat of the government of the 
L'nited States, directed to The President of 
the Senate ; — The President of the Senate 
shall, in the presence of the Senate and 
House of Representatives, open all the cer- 
tificates and the votes shall then be counted ; 
— the person having the greatest number of 
votes for President, shall be the President, 
if such number be a majority of the whole 
number of electors appointed ; and if no per- 
son have such majority, then from the per- 
sons having the highest numbers, not ex- 
ceeding three on the list of those voted for 
as President, the House of Representatives 
shall choose immediately, by ballot, the Presi- 
dent. But in choosing the President, the 
votes shall be taken by states, the representa- 
tion from each state having one vote ; a 



' These prohibitions do i 
to the Na 



relate 

al <;. 



.state gov- 
the National dovernment, ae- 
decision of -he Supreme Court. The 
several States make their own laws on these sub- 
jects. 

' These several amendments, concerning the op- 
erations of law through the instrumentality of the 
courts, are al! intended to secure the citizen against 
the arbitrary exercise of power on the part of the 



* That is to say, because certain rights and pov 
uf the people are not enumerated in the Const 
tion. it is not to be inferred that thev are den 



simply an enunciation 
principle, that the people 
all political power. 



' Thi: 



. J limit the judicial p 
National courts. Previous to the acl( 
amendment, the Supreme Court had 
the power of the National judiciary 
suits brought by or against a State 
public. Now. no person has a right 
a personal suit against a State, in 
Court of the United States, 
property seized and sold by 



the 



Dwer of the 
ption of this 
decided that 
extended to 
of the Re- 

the Supreme 



534 



THE HOME AUXTLTARY AND REFERENCE 



quorum for this purpose shall consist of a 
member or members from two thirds of the 
States, and a majority of all the states shall 
be necessary to a choice. And if the House 
of Representatives shall not chose a Presi- 
dent whenever the right of choice shall de- 
volve upon them, before the fourth day of 
March next following, then the Vice Presi- 
dent shall act as President, as in the case of 
the death or other constitutional disability 
of the President. The person having the 
greatest number of votes as Vice President 
shall be the Vice President, if such number 
be a majority, then from the two highest 
numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose 
the Vice President ; a quorum for the pur- 
pose shall consist of two thirds of the whole 
number of Senators, and a majority of the 
whole number shall be necessary to a choice. 
But no person constitutionally ineligible to 
the office of President shall be eligible to 
that of Vice President of the United States. 

ARTICLE Xni. 
Slavery Forbidden. 

Section i. Neither slavery nor involun- 
tary servitude, except as a punishment for 
crime, whereof the party shall have been 
dulv convicted, shall exist within the United 
States, or in any place subject to their juris- 
diction. 

Section 2. Congress shall have power to 
enforce this Article by appropriate legisla- 
tion. 

ARTICLE XIV. 

Citicensliil'. 

Section i. All persons born or naturalized 
in the United States, and subject to the 
jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the 
United States and of the State wherein they 
reside. No State shall make or enforce any 
law which shall abridge the privileges or 
immunities of citizens of the United States; 
nor shall any State deprive any person of 
life, liberty, or property without due process 
of iaw ; nor deny to any person within its 
jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. 

Apportionment Regulated by the 
Elective Franchise. 

Section 2. Representatives shall be ap- 
portioned among the several States accord- 
ing to their respective numbers, counting the 
whole number of persons in each State, ex- 
cluding Indians not taxed; but when the 
right to vote at any election for the choice of 
electors for President and Vice-President of 
the United States, Representatives in Con- 
gress, the executive and judicial officers of 
a State, or the members of the Legislature 



thereof, is denied to any of the male in- 
habitants of such State, (being twenty-one 
years of age and citizens of the United 
States), or in any way abridged except for 
participation in rebellion or other crime, the 
basis of representation therein shall be re- 
duced in the proportion which the nimiber 
of such male citizens shall be."r to the whole 
number of male citizens twenty-one years of 
age in such State. 

Disabling Conditions. 

Section 3. No person shall be a Senator 
or Representative in Congress, or Elector of 
President and Vice President, or hold any 
office, civil or military under the United 
States, or under any State, who, having pre- 
viously taken an oath as a member of Con- 
gress, or as an officer of the United States, 
or as a member of any State Legislature, or 
as an executive or judicial officer of any 
State, to support the Constitution of the 
United States, shall have engaged in insur- 
rection or rebellion against the same, or 
given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. 
But Congress may, by a vote of two thirds 
of each House, remove such disability. " 

Treatment of the Public Debts. 

Section 4. The validity of the public debt 
of the United States, authorized by law, in- 
cluding debts incurred for payment of pen- 
sions and bounties, for services in suppress- 
ing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be 
questioned. But neither the United States. 
or any State, shall assume or pay any debt 
or obligation, incurred in aid of insurrection 
or rebellion against the United States, or any 
claim for the loss or emancipation of rmy 
slave; but all such debts, obligations and 
claims shall be held illegal and void. 

Section 5. Congress shall have power to 
enforce, by appropriate legislation, the pro- 
visions of this Article. 



ARTICLE XV. 

Section i. The right of the citizens of the 
United States to vote shall not be denied or 
abridged bv the United States, or by any 
State, on account of race, color, or previous 
condition of servitude. 

Section 2. The Congress shall have power 
to enforce this Article by appropriate legisla- 
tion. 



" Under the provisions of the Amnesty Act, 
passed May 22, 1872, the political disabilities have 
been removed from all persons excepting members 
of the Thirty-sixth Congr-ess, heads of depart 
ments. members ot diplomatic corps, and ofticers 
of the Army and Navy engaged in rebellion. 



INDEX 



ABENAKES defend their terri- 
tory, io6. 
Abercrombie, General Jas., 
commands Britsh troops in Am- 
erica, 133; expedition against 
Ticonderoga, 136. 

Abraham, Plains of, events on, 137. 

Acadie, region of, 54; English con- 
quest of, 105 ; cruel acts in, 126; 
military events in, 132. 

Acadiens, the, cruel treatment of, 
133: treatment of the, in the 
English colonies, 135. 

Acetylene gas, discovery of, 517. 

Adams, Abigail, 352. 

Adams, John, a self-made man, 
351; marries, defends Capt. Pres- 
ton, 3S~', appointed Chief Justice 
of Massachusetts, 353: visits 
England. 184; visits France, 353; 
installed as minister at the 
Hague, 354; elected President of 
the United States, 195, 354; re- 
commends war with France, 197; 
death of, 354-^ 

Adams. John Qumcy, birth and 
youth of, his life abroad, diary 
of, minister to Prussia. V. S. 
Senator, appointed to Russia, 382. 
Elected President, supports Jack- 
son, relation to Congress, ap- 
pearance and habits of, elected 
to Congress, his fight against 
slavery, death of. 383. 

Adams. Samuel. 140, 143. 147, 149. 

Aeronautics, balloons, 497; flying 
machines, 509. 

Africa, circumnavigation of, 33, 34; 
early discovery, Livingstone, lost, 
Stanley's explorations. 472. 473; 
lost expeditions, Gerhard 
Rohlfe's. colonization of. political 
divisions of. -Abyssinia and Trans- 
vall. Liberia and Morrocco. 474- 

Agricultural experiment farms. 447. 

Agricultural machinery, 450; vari- 
ety of plows, other tools, evolu- 
tion of. 451. 

Agricultural schools. 452. 

Agriculture, history of. 446 im- 
provement of. agricultural societ- 
ies, first agricultural school. 447; 
board of. and agricultural dept., 
448; chemistry and geology ap- 
plied to. agricultural implements 
made light and pretty by. 449. 

Aguinaldo. insurgent leader. 312. 

.Mx-la-Chapelle. treaty of. 106; ef- 
fects of the treaty. 126. 

Alabama. De Soto in. 45. 

Albany, colonial convention at. 1 26. 

Albermarle County Colony organ- 
ized. 81. 

.\lden. John, diplomacy and mar- 
riage of. 65. 

-Alger-Miles Controversy. 310. 

Algonquins. 13. 

Alien and Sedition laws, action on 
the. 200. 

Allen, Colonel Ethan, at Ticonder- 
oga, 159. 

-Mliquippi, Queen, visited by Wash- 
ington, 130. 

Aluminum. 459; experiments in 
producing. by whom. Hall's 
cheap method of producing, fut- 
ure of, supplantmg iron and 
steel, 460. 

.America, early discoverers of, 22. 

Americus V'espuccius. 36. 

.Amherst. General Jeffrey, at Al- 
bany, 737; captures Montreal, 
138. 

Ames, Oakes, scandal of, 271. 



Ames, Oliver. 271. 
,\msterdam. New, fort at. 68. 
.Anderson, Major, at Fort Sumter, 

AndVe, Major Tohn, and General 
-Arnold, 179-81; trial and execu- 
tion of. 182. 

.Andros. Edmund, governor of New 
York, career of. 93; in New Eng- 
land. 102; performance of at 
Hartford, no; seizes charter ot 
R. I. Ill, governor of New Jer- 
sey. 112. 

.\ndree's balloon expedition, 470. 
.\nnapolis. Md.. seat of govern- 
ment removed to. 114; destruc- 
tion of tea at. 147. 

.Animated photography. 519. 

Anne. Queen, accession of. declares 
war against France. 105. 

Antarctic Explorations — minor dis- 
coveries — W i I k e s expedition — 
Ross expedition. 470. 

-\ppomattox Court House, surren- 
der of Lee near the. 264. 

Archdale. John, governor of North 
Carolina. .16. 

.Argall. Samuel, kidnaps Pocohontas. 

.Arkansas, admission of. 226. 

.Army reorganization bill. 311. 

Arnold. Benedict, march through 
the wilderness, besieges Quebec. 
102; in command at Philadelphia, 
treason of. 179. 

.Arthur. Chester A., elected vice- 
President. 281. becomes Presi- 
dent. 283; his administration. 
284. 

.Articles of Confederation. 185. 

.Artillery, modern. Hotchkiss gun. 
Catling gun. Maxim gim. 496. 

.Ashburton Treaty, the. 91. 

Astronomy, progress in. 435; dis- 
covery of Neptune. 443. spectro- 
scope, 445. 

.Atlanta. Sherman's march to. 2114- 

Austria, unpleasant relations with. 
J40. 

.Australia, exploration of. 474. 

.Automobiles, in France. 505; pe- 
troleum gas engine for, '506. 

-Aztecs, 18. 



B.VCON. NATHANIEL, rebel- 
lion of. 87. 
Bagelv. Worth. 306. 

r.alboa. Vasco Nunez de. in Cen- 
tral America, discovers the Pa- 
cific Ocean, 40. 

Balloon, use of in warfare. 497; at 
Battle of Santiago. 498; see also 
.\eronautics. 

Baltimore. Cecil, I^ord, 70; easy 
politics of, restoration of rights 
to, judicious conduct of, death 
of, 108. 

Baltimore, great fire at, 31S. 

Bank of the United States es- 
tablished. 193; second, war upon 
the. by the President of the U. 
S.. 223; destruction of the. 224. 

Bank. National, established, 225. 

Banking in the U. S.. 273. 

Banks suspend specie payments. 
225. 

Barbary powers, troubles with the, 
201-03. 

Barclay. Robert, in West Jersey. 

Barre', Colonel, in the British Par- 
liament, in debate, 140. 

Barrett. Colonel. James, at Coti- 
cord, 155. 



Barron. Commodore Tames, block- 
ades Tripoli, 203; commands the 
Chesapeake. 207. 

Bastile, key of. 333. 

Beaumarchais. Caron de, and the 
French government, 171. 

Bee culture. 450. 

Behring Strait.' exploration of, 465, 

Belle Isle, straits of, 47. 

Bellemont. Earl of, governor of 
New York, 94; partner with 
Captain Kidd, 94; governor of 
Massachusetts. 105. 

Bennington, battle hear, 173. 

Bellinghausen. expedition. 470. 

Bell's telephone, description of. 
514. 

Bebring Seal controversy, 394, 

Berkeley, Lord, sells West Jersey. 

Berke'ly. Sir William, goven.or of 
Virginia. 86; becomes tyrannical, 
an advocate of popular ignor- 
ance, cruelty of. 86. 

Bernard. Governor, perfidy of. 141- 
letter of, to Lord Hillsborough. 
'43-44- 

Bicycle, origin; 504. patented in 
France, in U. S. (1819). first of 
iron. 505. 

Biscoe, J., discovers Enderby's 
Land and Adelaide Island. 470. 

Black Hawk War. 224. 

P.lennerhassett. Harraan. fate of. 
204. 

Bliss. Cornelius N., 298. 

Block. .Adrain. Dutch navigator at 
Manhattan. 66. 

Bonaparte. Napoleon, victories of. 
197- 

Bonhomme Richard and Serapis. 
battle between. 350. 

Boone. Daniel. 145.' 

Boone. T.. uses balloon at battle of 
Santiago, 498. 

Booth, Wilkes. assassinates the 
President: fate of. 265. 

Boston, founded, disturbance in. 
143; action of the people of. 147: 
landing of British troops at. 143; 
massacre in, 144; Tea Party at, 
147; great town meeting in; cir- 
cular letter of committee. 143: 
port of. closed, 147; sufferings 
of inhabitants of. 148; conven- 
tion at. 149; gathering of an 
army near. 158; British soldiers 
and officers in. 159; siege of. by 
Continental .Army. 160: Bom- 
bardment of. i6i. evacuation of. 
162. 

Boston Neck, fortifications on, 149. 

Boxer outbreak in China. 314. 

Braddock. Gen. Edward, in .Amer- 
ica. 132; career of. in .America. 
i3'-34; his defeat, 322. 

Bradford. William. Governor of 
Plymouth. 65-95; visited by Hol- 
landers. 71; complains of Gov- 
ernor Winthrop. 72. 

Bradford. William, first printer in 
New A'ork. 95; first printer in 
Philadelphia. 113. 

Bradstreet. Simon, in Boston, loo- 
103. 

Bragg, General Braxton, 2';9. 

Brandywine Creek, battle at the. 
174. 326- 

Breed's Hill, naval attack upon, 
redoubts on. defences of. 161; 
British troops in. 161. 

Brewster. Elder. William, in Hol- 
land, 63; goes to .America, 64. 



II 



Bridges, early, built of wood and 
stone, modern steel bridges in 
U. S.. first suspension bridges, 
dimensions of. cantilever bridges. 
Forth bridge, 485. 

British dominion, strife for, in 

British navy, strength of. 209. 

British Royal Agricultural Society, 
448; prize for steam plow offered 
by. 451- . , - 

British troops, collision with, m 
New York, 14^; numbers of, in 
Boston, 161. conduct of, in Bos- 
ton, 162. 

Broke. Captain, commands the 
Shannon, 214. 

Brooks, Preston S., beats Sumner 
with a stick. 411. 

Brown. General Jacob, in Northern 
New York, at Buffalo, at Lundy's 
Lane, ji 5. 

Brown, John, plans raid of, in Vir- 
ginia, 248; fate of. 249. 

Bryan, Wm. J., 297-98. , 

Buchanan. James. President of the 
U. S.. his cabinet, 145. 

Buckner, S. B., at Fort Donelson, 

Buell, General D. C. moves toward 
Tennessee, 257; battle of Peny- 
ville. JS9. 

Bull's Run, battle of. retreat from, 
effect of battle, 255. 

Bunker's Hill ordered to be forti- 
fied, IS9- 

Bunker's (Breed's) Hill, battle on. 
159- 

Burgesses, boldness of Virginia 
House of, 87. 

Burgoyne. General John, 172; sur- 
render of, to Gates, 326. 

Burke, Edmund, description of 
Pitt's cabinet by, 141. 

Burnet. Governor William, admin- 
istration of. 95. 

Burnside. General A. E., 259. 

Burr. Aaron, elected Vice-President 
of the U. S., 200. Burr and 
Hamilton, 373; duel of, 374. 

Burrington, George, Governor of 
North Carolina. 118. 

Bush, Sally. 395. 

Bute. Earl of, royal favorite, i39'. 
bad advice of. 1 40. 

Butler, James, becomes wife of 
Augusl'ine Washington. 319. 

Buttons, cheap and rapid produc- 
tion of, 478. 



^ABECA DE VACA, career of. 

^ cM'e cars in the U. S., 504- 

Cables, submarine, early attempts 
at. Field organizes company, first 
trial, repeated failures of. Great 
Eastern lays cable, present ex- 
lent of. cost of, durability of, 
system used, 513. 

Cabot. John and Sebastian, dis- 
covers* North America, services 
in Spain, 38. 

Calhoun, John C. 388; his ideas, 
education, marries, his public 
career, Vice-President. 389; 
nominated for Presidency, 390; 
death of, 391. 

Calvert. Cecil. (Lord Baltimore), 
receives charter for Maryland, 
send settlers to, 70. 

Calvert. George, created Lord Balti- 
more, and goes to America, 69; 
death of, in Virginia, 70. 

Calvert, Leonard. Governor of 
Maryland, dealings with the In- 
dians, 70. 

Cambridge, volunteers at. 156. 

Camden, battle near, 179. 



Canada. British invasion of. failure 
of invasion of, 104; conquest of. 
attempted by the British, 105; 
conquest of effected; 128. 

Canals, length of Chinese, in the 
U. S., Egyptian, mentioned by 
Herodotus. 486. 

Cape Breton, British at, 47 ; sur- 
render of. 106. 

Cape Cod, discovery of, 34. 

Cape Fear, settlement on. 51. 

Cape May. purchase of. yy. 

Cape Sable Islands, settlement on, 
54. 

Capital, location of, 191 ; burned, 

215- 

Carleton, Governor Guy, on the St. 
Lawrence, at Crown Point, 17-'; 
See also, 329. 

Carlisle. John G., 292. 

Carolina, North, condition of. re- 
bellion in, 115. 

Carolinas. scheme of government 
for the. us; social condition of 
the. 116; separatipn of the, 118. 

Carpets, old and new methods in 
manufacturing. 4S2. 

Carriages and Wagons, 501. 

Carteret, Sir George, proprietor of 
New Jersey, 78. 

Carteret. Philip, Governor of New 
Jersey, en*ry of into the pro- 

Carteret County Colony estab- 
lished, 81. 

Cartier, Jacques, voyages and dis- 
coveries of. 46. 

Carver, John, first governor of 
New Plvmouth, death of, 65. 

Castle, William, in Boston harbor, 
M3- 

Catawbas, 14. 

Cervera. defeat of, 311. 

Champlain, Samuel, on the St. 
Lawrence, 54 ; makes war on 
the Iroquois, discovers a lake, 
governor of Canada, founds 
French empire in America, 55. 

Chancel's invention. 515. 

Chancellorsville, battle at, 262. 

Charleston, city of, founded, 81-115. 

Charter Oak, the, 1 10. 

Chase, Salmon P., American States- 
man, education of, marriages of, 
his compilation of **Statutes of 
Ohio," 408; feelings toward 
slavery, elected Senator, gover- 
nor of Ohio, 409; Secretary of 
the Treasury, greenbacks and 
national banking under, resigns 
as secretary, appointed chief Jus- 
tice of LT. S. Supreme Court, 
personal traits of, death of, 410. 

Chattanooga, battle at. 203. 

Cheputepec, capture of, 235. 

Cherokees. 14. 

Cherokee country, DeSoto in, 44; 
Indian. French emissaries among 
the, 138. 

Cherokees. make war on the Eng- 
lish, chastised. 138; troubles with 
the, 224. 

Chesapeake and Leopard, encounter 
between the, 206. 

Chickamauga, battle of, 263. 

(i'hickasaws, attack of, on De Soto, 
48. 

Chinese exclusion act of 1888, 294. 

Churubusco, capture of, 235. 

Civil War, beginning of the, 259; 
last conflict in, 264. 

Clarke. W.. with Lewis, expedition, 
rewarded by Congress, 471. 

Clay. Henry, family and early life 
of, 384; on the peace commission, 
elected speaker in Congress, his 
connection with Missouri Com- 
promise, retires from public life, 
nominated President, is defeated 
for President, illness and death 
of. 385. 



Clayborne, William, in Maryland. 

Clermont, first steamboat, soi. 

Cliff-dwellers, traditions of,' descrip- 
tion of dwellings, towns of. two 
races of, 521. 

Clinton, George, colonial governor 
of New York. 128; governor of 
State of New York, 189; Vice- 
President of the U. S., 208. 

Clinton, Commander of British 
forces, ^jy. 

Coal, 455; how many tons an- 
nually, 450-56; formation of. 457. 

Coal Gas. 516. 

Coal Mines, old and new process of 
working, 455; ventilation of, ex- 
plosions, prevented, 456. 

Colfax, Schuyler, elected Vice- 
President. 269. 

Coligni, Admiral, and Katherine 
de Medici, sends Huguenots to 
America, 47. 

Colleton, John, Governor of South 
Carolina. 116. 

Collins. Anna, carried to New Am- 
sterdam, 99. 

Colonial assemblies, action of, 139. 

Colonization, scheme of, proposed, 

Colorado, admission of. 276. 

"Colossus." Bridge over Schuylkill, 
484. 

Columbus, Christopher, early days 
— appears in Spain — influence of 
traditions upon, 25; in Portugal, 
career of, in Portugal, in Spain, 
26 ; in the Royal presence, at 
Grenada, 28; commission of, 29; 
voyage of discovery, undertaken 
by, 31 ; discovers Cuba, 32; re- 
turns to Europe, 33; another 
voyage of, discovers South Am- 
erica, sent in irons to Spain, an- 
other voyage of, 34; death of. 
monument to, 35. 

Common schools in the colonies. 
126. 

"Conciliatory Bills," fate of the, 
162. 

Concord, British troops at, stores 
received from, events at, retreat 
of British from. 155. 

Congo, explored, 474. 

Congo Free State, founded, 474. 

Congress, a general, proposed, 148. 

Congress, Continental, choice of 
delegates to, approved, meeting 
of, 149; proceedings in, letter ol, 
to Gage, State papers of, 150; 
the second. 159; determines to 
invade Canada, 162. 

Conkling, J. S., Lincoln's letter to, 
401. 

Connecticut, valley of. the Dutch 
in, coveted possession, 71 ; Eng- 
lish settlers in, emigrants to, 
founding the colony of. colonists 
of, 72 ; excited by war rumors, 
73; charter obtained by, 139. 

Constellation, the frigate, captures 
L'Insurgente, 199. 

Constitution, the National adopted, 
signed, and ratified, 187. 

Constitution, the frigate, at sea, 
202; captures the Guerriere. 311. 

Constitution, the fundamental, for 
the Carolinas, 81. 

Constitutional Convention, 330. 

Continental army, adopted, generals 
of, 1 59 ; retreats into New Jer- 
sey, 173; discontents in, 185. 

Continental Congress, first, 323. 

"Conways Cabal," 174. 

Coode, William, foments Civil War 
in Marvland, Governor of Mary- 
land. 108. 

Cool Harbor, battle at, 428. 

Copley, Sir Lionel. Royal Governor 
of Maryland. 108. 

Cooper's locomotive. 503. 

Cooper's telautograph, 512. 



INDEX 



Copp*s Hill, Boston, battery on. 
1 60. 

Cordite, rival of gun powder. 496; 
advantages of, destructiveness, 
497- 

Cornwallis, Colonel, in Acadie, 132. 

Cornwallis, Lord, pursues Wash- 
ington, disappointment of, in 
New Jersey, 173; attempts to re- 
capture Trenton, driven north- 
ward by Greene. 3js; Yorktown. 
surrender of. 328. 

Cortereal, Caspar, voyages of, to 
America. 38- 

Cosby, Governor William, disputes 
of. with Van Dam, 95; death of. 
96; 

"Cradle of Liberty," the, 143. 

Cotton factory, modern processes 
in. 476. 

(. otton industry, growth of, 476. 

'Couch's rock drill. 485. 

Court martial trials, decrease in 
army.^ 499. 

( ow per's high pressure engine, 489. 

"Crime against Kansas," Sumner's. 
411. 

Crooke's tube, 519. 

Crown Point, expedition against, 
r?;9; sufferings of troops at, 166. 

Ciilia, insurrection of, Garcia, Go- 
mez, and Maceo, 299; independ- 
ent republic. 317. 

Currency, printing of, 410. 

Cutlerv. industry, 482. 



D 



DAGUERRE. L., his photo- 
graphic process, 519, 
Dagworthy, Capt., 322, 

Dairy farming, 450. 

Dakotahs, 17. 

Dale. Sir Thomas, marshal of Vir- 
ginia, 61. 

Dalzell's safety, 505. 

Danbury burnt, incident at, 52. 

Dandridge, Dorthea, marries Pat- 
rick Henry, 359. 

Dandridge, Martha, marries George 
Washington, 322. 

Dare. Virginia, born at Roanoke 
Island, fate of, 150. 

Dartmouth, colonial secretary, 342. 

Davenport, Rev. John. founds 
New Haven. 74. 

Dami. Marshal, compared to Wash- 
ington, 319. 

Davie, William R., envoy to 
France, 198. 

Davis. Jefferson, President of the 
Confederacy, 252. 

Davy, Humphrey, discovers elec- 
tric light. 517. 

Daw, safety lamp, 4^6, 

Day. Wm. R.. 310. 

Dayton, Wm., 195. 

Deane. Silas, sent to Europe, 171. 

Debt, at close of war, 266. 

Decatur, S., at Tripoli, 202. 

Declaration of Independence, 356; 
action on, 169. 

Delft Haven. Embarkation Act, O4. 

Deerfield. desolation of, 105. 

De la Ware. Lord, Governor ot 
Virginia, 60; arrival of, 61. 

De Long's Polar expedition, 467. 

De Lome letter, 290. 

De Monte, visits America, plants a 
colony in Canada, 54. 

D'Estaing's fleet, 347. 

Dewey. George, at Manila, 309. 

Diamonds, African mines, 464; 
improved methods of cutting. 
465- 

Dieskau. Baron, leads French 
troops. 1 33 ; wounded, 1 3 s. 

Digges, North's envoy, Franklin's 
opinion of him, 348. 

Dingley, Nelson, 312. 

Dingley, Bill, 312. 



Dinwiddie, governor of Virginia, 
sends Washington to French 
posts, 128; appeal of, to other 

Dix, General John A.. 252. 
Dobereiner platinum lamp. 515, 
Don estic animals, 449. 
Dongan, Thomas, governor, 93. 
Dorchester Heights, 159- 
Douglas, Stephen A., 248-395. 
Dover, New Hampshire, sufferings 

at. 103. 
Drainage, 448. 
Drais, Baron von, 505. 
Drills, multiple, two, three, four. 

six, eight spindle; Wm. Sellers 

& Co., 482. 
Du Coudray, jealousy of, 102. 
Dunmore, F.ord, Governor of Va., 

323; conduct of, is8. 
Dutch, intercourse of. with the 

English, visit New Plymouth. 71. 
Dynamite, invention of, 496. 



EAKER. G. J.. & Hamilton. 374. 
Earth, 435- 
Eaton, Wm., Consul at Tunis, 
203. 
East India Company, the Dutch, 67; 
send ships with tea to America, 
1 46 ; tea of. to be paid for, 1 47. 
East Jersey settlers, 1 1 1. 
Edison, Th. A., his incandescent 
lamp, his kinetoscope, cinemato- 
graph, 51S. 
Eitfel Tower. 48S. 
Electric Railways, in the U. S., 504. 
Electricity, for heating, for cook- 
ing, 518. 
Elizabeth, Queen of England, 
Huguenots before, 47 ; promotes 
voyage and discovery, 49. 
Elizabeth Islands, discovered by 

Gosnold, 53. 
Elizabethtown, origin of name of. 78. 
Elkswatawa, Indian chief, 209. 
Elliott. Obadiah, patents, spring 

vehicles, 501. 
Elliott, Commodore Jesse E., re- 
inforces Perry, 364 ; exploit of, 
near Fort Erie. 363. 
Ellsworth, Oliver, envoy to France, 

198. _ 
Emancipation, proclamation of the, 

of the slaves, 260. 
Endicott, Governor John, at Salem. 

97- 
English-American colonists, 125. 
Engineering, civil, power of, rail- 
roading, stone vs. steel, 483; 
bridges, tunneling, 485 ; caisson 
for sinking piers, rock-drill, 486. 
Era of good feeling, 218. 
Eric the Red, 22. 
Ericsson, launches screw frigate 
"Princeton." 492 ; conceives idea 
of "Monitor." 493; builds it, 494; 
his propeller, 497. 
Erie Canal, 222. 

Europe, political and social changes 
in. Western merchants of, state 
of society in, 24. 
Exploration. 465; opening of 
Africa, 472; Livingstone. 473; 
discovery of source of Nile. 473; 
polar expedition, 465; De Long 
expedition, 467; Greely, Peary, 
468; Nansen, 469; Andree, South 
Pole expeditions, 470; Australia, 
474- 
Explosives, improvement in, smoke- 
less ijowder, gun cotton, nitro- 
glycerine, dynamite, cordite, 496. 
Eyre, J., explores Australia, 474. 



FAIRFAX. GEORGE, accom- 
panies Washington on sur- 
veying expedition, 320. 

Fairfax, W.. 320. 

Faneuil Hall, meeting in, 143. 

Farming, scientific, 447 ; compared 
with earlier methods, 448. 

Farragut, Admiral, an expedition 
of, 264. 

"Federalist," Hamilton's, 373. 

Federalists, in John Adams* ad- 
ministration. 355; in Thomas 
TetTerson's administration, 200. 

Fendall, Governor fosiah, of Mary- 
land, 108. 

Ferris Wheel, dimensions of, 448. 

Field. C, organizes cable company, 
repeated failures of, sends first 
message. 513. 

Fillmore, Millard. Vice-President. 
2,^7; Acting President. 23S. 

Fire, history of. 5 1 5. 

First Inhabitants, 11'. 

Fletcher, Governor Benjamin, 94; 



Fletcher. Grace, married to Daniel 

Webster. 380. 
Flint and Steel process, s'S- 
Floridians, j 5. 

Florida, discovery of and naming. 
39; Huguenots in. 47; purchase 
of, 376. 
Flying Camp, Mercer's, 169. 
Flying machines, 509. 
Folsom, Colonel, leads New Hamp- 
shire troops, 157. 
Fort Carolina, in Florida, attacked 

by Spaniards, 48. 
Fort Charles, South Carolina. 47. 
Fort Christiana, Delaware, 77. 
Fort Donelson, siege and capture 

of, 2S7. 
Fort Edward, on the Hudson, 136. 
Fort Henry, capture of, 421. 
Fort Le Boeuf. 128. 
Fort Niagara, expedition against, 

132; capture of, 137. 
Fort Sullivan. 167. 
Fort Washington, 171. 
Fort William Henry, events at, 135. 
"Fowey." Dunmore takes refuge in 

the, 158. 
Fourth Bridge, principle of, dimen- 
sions of, cost of, 485. 
Fourdrinier's paper making ma- 
chine, 479. 
Fox. George, founder of the So- 
ciety of Friends or Quakers, 78. 
Fox-Talbot, IT., his method in pro- 
ducing positive pictures in photo- 
graphy, 518. 
Franklin. B., 333; youth of, 334; 
"Poor Richard's Almanac," tirst 
public services, 335; in French 
Indian wars, 336; mission to 
England. 338 ; signs Declaration 
of Independence. 345 ; goes to 
France, his negotiations. 346; re- 
turns home, 349; his death, 350. 
Franklin, James, 333. 
Franklin, William. 334; last royal 

governor of New Jersey. 112. 
Free Delivery, in Europe, 509. 
Free soil party, 409. 
Fremont. "The path-finder," 471; 
explores California, terrible ex- 
perience of, 472. 
French, the, in America, 123; ex- 
tension of dominion of the, 129; 
in the Ohio country, 130; emis- 
saries among the Indians. 131; 
lose their dominion in America, 
138; government and the Ameri- 
cans, 142. 
Friese-Greene, W., his hammer, 519. 
Frobisher, Martin, seeks Northwest 



Frontenac. Governor of Canada, 94. 
Fulton, Robert, 506. 



IV 



GADSDEN, CHRISTOPHER, 
doubts of. patriotism ot. 

Gage, General, Governor of Mon- 
treal, 138; Governor of Massa- 
chusetts, 149; letter of, to Dart- 
mouth, succeeded by General 
Howe, 152. 

Gage, Lyman J., 298. 

Gail, Professor, Morses partner. 

Ga'Uatin, Albert, secretary of treas 



Galton. .African explorer, 472, 
Gama. Vasco D., discoveries of, 33- 



(iates. General, 324; ambition of. 

Catling gun, 496. 

Gauss' telegraphic Inie. 511. 

General Congress, proposed, 148. 

Genet, Citizen, embassador from 
France, 194-33'- . , 

Genoa and Venice, rivals, 25. 

George III, of England, accession 
of, 139. 

Georgia, founding of colony, 82; 
condition of settlers in, Morav- 
ians and Methodists in, social 
condition of, slavery prohibited 
in; 119; slavery introduced in. 
becomes a Royal province, I2i; 
end ot Royal rule in, 165. 

Gerard, French Embassador, 346. 

Germantown, battle at, 326. 

Giffard's propelling balloon, 509. 

Girard, Stephen, and U. S. Treas- 
ury, 260, 

Gettysburg, battle at, Lee's retreat 
from, decisive character of battle 
at, 262. 

Gilbert, Sir Humphrey, patent 
granted to, sails for America, 50. 

Gist, Christopher, in the Ohio 
country, 128. 

Glassford, W.. perfects heliographic 
communication, 497. 

Goffe and Wahlley, in New Eng- 
land, 100. ^ ,.r 

Gold, first found in California, 
other discoveries, 461; output of. 
crude and improved methods of 
extracting. 462. 
Gorges. Ferdinando, plan of coloni- 
zation, governor general over 
New England. 69. 
Gosnold, Bartholomew, on the Am- 
erican coast, in Virginia, 53'. 
death of, 58. , ,, - 

Gotzen. von, his Central African 

expedition, 474. 
Grant. African explorer, 473. 
Grant, General U. S., youth of, 
418; in Mexican War, marries, 
419: Forts Henry and Donaldson, 
421: Vicksburg, 424; Wilderness 
Campaign, 425; Richmond sur- 
render, 430; elected President, 
tour of the world, death, 432. 
Grasse, Count de, on American 
shores, honored by Congress, 183. 
Graves, Admiral, at Boston, 159. 
Great Bridge, battle at the, 163. 
"Great Britain." first iron ship, 507. 
.'Great Eastern," largest vessel 

built, lavs Atlantic cable, 513- 
Greely, A.. Arctic explorer, 467. 
Greene, General Nathaniel, leads 
Rhode Island troops, 157; com- 
mands troops in the South, fa- 
mous retreat of. battle at Guil- 
ford C. H.. 182. 
Granville. Sir Richard, commands 
Raleigh's ships, 50; at Roanoke 
Island, 52. , .^ 

Granville. Prime Minister of Eng- 
land, and Franklin, 339. 



INDEX 

Gridley. and John Adams. 351. 
Griffin. General, 324. 
Guam, taken by the Americans, 305. 
Guerriere. capture of the frigate. 

Guilford Court House, battle at. 



H 



H. 

\LE, CAPT. NATHAN, 
story of. 170. 
Half-king, Indian chief. 129; 
sends message to Washington, 

Half-moon. Hudson's exploring 
ship. 55- , , , 

Halifax, town of. planted, 132. 

Hall, C. M., his process of manu- 
facturing aluminum, 460. 

Hall. David. Franklin's partner. 

Hall, Lyman, representative of 
Georgia, 165. 

Hamilton, A., his education, enters 
Army. marries, 371; becomes 
member of Congress, work in the 
Constitutional Convention, his 
plan, 372; becomes secretary of 
the Treasury, 373; on the Alien 
and Sedition laws, 200; contest 
with Burr, and John Adams. 374; 
shot by Burr. 204, 374. 

Hamilton, Philip, 374- 

Hammond. George, embassador 
from England, 197. 

Hancock, John, slooj) of, seized, re- 
sentment of, 143; in peril at Lex- 
ington, 152. 

Handloom, old, 476. 

Handwheel, single spindle, 476. 

"Hard Cider" campaign, the, 228. 

Harriott, Thomas, account of Vir- 
ginia by, 50. 

Harrison, Benjamin, elected Presi- 
dent, 292; his administration, 

Harrison, Wm. Henry, 228. 

Hartford convention, the, 214, 379. 
386. 

Harvard, Rev. John, founds a col- 
lege. 126. 

Harvesting machines. 451. 

Hats, process of making, 479. 

Hawaii, 296. 

Hayes, Rutherford B., elected 
President, 278; inauguration and 
cabinet of, action of. order of. 
concerning the Civil Service, 279. 

Hayne-Webster debate. 387. 

Havti. conduct of Spaniards at, 32. 

Heliograph, in Modern Warfare, 

Hennepin, Father, on the Missis- 
sippi, 123. 

Henry, John, disclosures of, 140. 

Henry, Patrick, marries, defeats 
"Parsons' cause," elected to 
House of Burgess, his great 
speech. 356: made commander nf 
Virginia troops, second marriage. 
359; elected governor, his legal 
triumph. 369; opens the business 
of Congress, in convention at 
Richmond. 1S7; death of. 362. 

Henry VII. of England, gives a 
charter to the Cabots, commis- 
sions Sebastian Cabot. 37. 

Henry VIII, of England, sends out 
exploring ships, 46. 

Henry, Prince, of Portugal, 24. 

Herbert. Hilary A., secretary of 
the Navy, 295. 

Herndon, Wm. H., 39' 

Heyes. Peter, on Delaware Bay, 77. 

Hill, R., advocates penny postage, 
509, 

Hillsborough. N. C, convention. 
.64. 



■ceeds 



Hobson. Richmond P.. his exploit, 

Hog industry of V. S., 4.S0. 

Holland submarine boat. 509. 

Holt. John, printing office of. des- 
troyed. 163. 

Hood. General, J. I 
Johnson, 259. 

Hooker. Joseph. 259. 

Hopkins. Esek. Commodore, career 
of. 175- 

Hornblower s steam engine. 489. 

Hotchkiss gun. 496. 

Howe, assumes command in 4'.oston. 
323; battles with Washington, re- 
turns to New York, 324. 

Howe, E., 475. 

Howe, truss bridge, 484. 

Hudson. Henry, voyages, discover- 
ies, and fate of. 55. 

Hudson Bay. how named, s^'- 

Hudson River, 56. 

Hughes' telephone, description. 514. 

Huguenots, in South Carolina, in 
Florida, 47; massacre of, notice 
'of, 48. 

Hulsemann. .Austrian diplomat, 388. 

Hunt's sewing machine, 425. 

Hunt, Captain, kidnaps Indians. 63. 

Hunter. Governor Robert. and 
"Palatines;" political contests 
with. 94- , . 

Hutchinson. .Anne, career of, in 
Massachusetts, 76: banishment 
of, fate of. 99. 

Hutchinson, chief justice, house of, 
attacked, 146; acting governor, 
petition for removal of. 147. 

Hyde. Sir Edward (Lord Corn- 
bury), in New York. 94. 

Hydraulic machines for tunneling, 
486. 

I 

ILLUMINATION, improvement 
in methods of, 51 t. 
Inaugural Day, i88. 

Incandescent lamps, 518. 

India, commerce of, contended 
for, 25. 

Indians, the, considered, 12; geo- 
graphical distribution of the, 
tribes and nations of, 13: mas- 
sacre by, in Virginia. 8=;; troub- 
les with, in New Netherland. 68; 
on the Mississippi. 118: treat- 
ment of. in Nova Scotia. 118. 

Internal revenue. 408. 

Inter-State commerce. 408. 

Iron and Steel, 458. 

Ironclads, value of established. 494, 

Iroquois (Indian), Confederacy, 
13, 66. , ., 

Irrigation, ancient and modern, 
449- 

Isabella and Ferdinand, of Spain, 
27. 28. 

Island No. 10. Johnson at, 422. 

J. 

JACKSON. ANDREW, birth of, 
marriage, 377; elected U. S. 
Senator, 378; Aaron Burr 
and, 205; at New Orleans, 215; 
his duel with Dickinson, 378: 
military record of, popularity of, 
379; presidential campaigns of. 
his wife's death, 380; elec-ie.l 
President. 22s also 380; opposed 
to financial power, parties under, 
retirement of, character and 
death of, 381. 

Jackson, Harmsworth, polar expedi 
tion, determines Franz Joseph 
Land coast, rescues Nansen, 4(18 

Jackson, Thomas J., education ot. 

' in Mexican War, 432; in the 
Civil War, 433; '" the Shenan 
doah Valley. 262; his title ot 
Stonewall. 433; death of, 262 and 
434- 



INDEX 



Jamp«; I.. of England, grants 
diallers for settlements, action 
of, folly of, 57- 

Jamestown, founding of, abandon- 
ment of, 58; rejoicing at, settle- 
ment at. saved, 59; destroyed by 
Bacon, 88. 

Jay, John, 184. 354- 

Jefferson, Martha, 366. 

Jefferson, Peter, 365. 

Jefferson, Thomas, education, 

elected to house of Burgesses, 
3(15; writes Declaration of In- 
dependence. 170 and 367; mar- 
ries, 366; President of the U. S., 
joo; personal appearance of, 
policy of. death of. 368. 

Jesuits, order of, 103-05, 122. 

John I., of Portugal, and Colum- 
bus. 27. 

"John Bull." locomotive, imported 
"to America, 1831, 503. 

Johnson. Andrew, elected Vice- 
President, 266; acting President, 
cabinet of, 267; impeachment of, 
j68. 

Johnson, Reverdv, in England, 270. 

Johnston. General Jos. E.. in the 
Shenandoah Valley. 263; forces 
of, surrenders his army, 264. 

Johnstown flood. 294. 

joncaire. French commander, 129. 

Jones. John Paul. American Naval 
officef. earlv life, military career 
of. daring 'deeds, his report of 
battle, appointed rear admiral. 
350; in Russian service, death, 
personal traits, 351. 

Jupiter, 445. 



KAI.R. P..\RON DE, sent to 
America, arrival of. 142. 
Kane relief expedition, medals 
awarded to. 466. 
Kansas, admission of, 244. 
Keith, Sir W., 334; aids Franklin. 

Kidd." Capt. William, career and 
fate of, 94. 

Kieft, Governor William, 89; policy 
of. toward the Indians, 90; re- 
called. 91. 

Kilsby tunnel, 486. 

King George's War, 106. 

King William's War, 103. 

Kinnison. David, survivor of Bos- 
ton *'Tea Party," 147. 

Klondike, discovery of gold in, 462. 

Knowlton, Colonel, on Breed's Hill, 
■ 59. 

Kossuth. J-ouis. visits America, 240. 

L. 

LABRADOR, visited by Cortor- 
eal. I^adrone Islands, taken by 
America, 307- 
Lafayette, 327; joins the American 
Army, in the battle at the 
Brandy wine. 174; visit to Am- 
erica. 376 
"La Gloire, first sea-going iron- 
clad. 494. 
Lake Erie, battle on, 213, 363. 
Lamont, Daniel, secretary of war. 

Lamps, various kinds of, 5i(>. 

Lane. Ralph. Governor of Virginia, 
the Indians and, 51. 

Langdon. Dr. prayer of, 159- 

Lands. the public. 193. 

Laplace, his suggestion, 510. 

La Salle, Robert de. In the Wilder- 
ness, vovage of. on the Missis- 
sippi, names Louisiana. 123; at- 
tempts to colonize Louisiana, ad- 
ventures of. in Texas and New 
Mexico, and death of, 124. 

Laudonniere, sails for America, 47. 



Lawrence. Captain Tames. 213; 
death of, J14. 

Le Moyne. Jacob. artist and 
geographer, 48. 

Lee, Arthur, and Beaumarchais, 
171. 

Lee, General Charles, at Charles- 
ton, 171 ; conduct of, capture of, 
173; court-martialed, 327. 

Lee, Robert E.. education, assumes 
command of army of Virginia. 
412; in Mexican War, in Civil 
War. invades Maryland, at Get- 
tysburg, death of. 413. 

Lee, Richard Henry, offers resolu- 
tion for independence, 189. 

Leichardt, explores Queensland, 
474- 

Lief. (Eric's son), 22. 

Leisler, Jacob, made Governor of 
New York by the people, conduct 
of, 93 ; execution of, 94. 

Lev/is and Clark, explorations of, 
204; World's Fair in honor of. 
318. 

Lewis. Wm.. 380. 

Lexingtoti and Concord, news of 
skirmishes at, in America and 
England. 153 and 154. 

Liberty, Sons of. in New York, 142. 

Liberty party, 409. 

Light, revolution in production, in 
Nineteenth century, 51 5. 

Lincoln. Abraham, his youth, rivalry 
with Douglas. 391; character, ap- 
pearance. 392 ; nomination for 
President. 253; elected, 253 and 
397: administration. 398; issues 
Emancipation Proclamation. 260 
and 401; re-elected, 264 and 402; 
assassination. 404, funeral ser- 
vices, 405. 

Lincoln, Douglas, debates, 248. 

Livingstone. Robert, partner of 
Capt. Kidd. 94. 

Livingston, Edward, minister to 
France. 203. 

Lockwood. J., with Greely expedi- 
tion. 467. 

Logan, John A,, 291. 

Logan, Stephen T.. 391. 

Lome, completes his La Gloire. 403. 

London Company, charter of, do- 
main of the. 54; members of the. 
send settlers to America. 57; de- 
mands of the. 59 ; new charter, 
60; written constitution given by. 
84; patent of the. cancelled, 85. 

Long Island, incidents of battle on, 

IhS. 

Long. John D., 298. 

Louisburg. expedition against, 106: 

seige of, 136. 
Louisiana, purchase of, from 

France, 203. 
Lovlace, Governor of Nev- York. 

Ludwell, Philip. Governor, 116. 
Lundy's Lane, battle at, 215. 
Lyman. General Phineas, builds 

Fort Edward; in battle at Lake 

George, 135. 

M. 

MARS. 445. 
McClellan. George B.. in 
West Virginia, report of. 
254 ; made Commander-in-chief. 
255; President Lincoln's re- 
proof of, 258; organizes balloon 
corps, 497: candidate for the 
Presidency, 264. 
McCIintock. expedition, ascertains 

Franklin's fate. 4''6. 
McCormick. C. his harvesting ma- 

MacDonalri^. Donald, in North Car- 
olina. 164. 

MacDonald, Flora, story of, 164. 

MacDowell. General, leads troops 
to Bull's Run, 254. 



McLaue. Lonis, in Jackson's 
cabinet, 2^3. 

McKinley, Wm., elected President, 
his cabinet. 298; his administra- 
tion, 299; assassination oi, 317. 

McKinley Bill, 293. 

McKinley expedition. South Aus- 
tralia, 474. 

Machines, boring, punching, shear- 
ing, riveting, planing, milling, 
stamping, bending, straightening, 
forging, grinding. 483. 

Machine guns. 4.96. 

Mackau's belief in armored vessels, 
493. 

McNaught s high pressure engine, 
489. 

Madison, James, education, 368; 
delegate to Virginia convention, 
his part in formation of the 
L^nion, 369; becomes secretary of 
State, elected President, adminis- 
tration, 370; re-elected. 210; on 
battle-field near Washington, 215; 
retires to Montpelier, death of, 
370. 

Madoc, story of Pruice. 23. 

Mafia, crimes of, in New Orleans. 
293. 

Magnetic pole, located by Ross, 
465. 

Maine, squatters in, first govern- 
ment, 69. 

'■Maine," destruction of the. 495. 

Malvern Hill, battle at, 258. 

Manassas, Confederate army at, 



--55- 



red by 
dimen- 



Manhattan 
Hudson. 56. 

Manhattan Life building, 
sions of. 488. 

Manilla, battle at. 306. 

Manteo, chief. 51. 

Marchena, Friar, helps Columbus, 
28. 

Marconi's sys^'-m, 512. 

Marion. Francis. 179. 

Marquette. Father, on the Missis- 
sippi, 122; labors and death, 123. 

Maryland, origin of name, voyage 
of emigrants. Indian Emperor in. 
movements in. 70; representative 
government in, war in. Tolera- 
tion act. 107; popular government 
in, political convention in, loS. 

Massachusetts, commonwealth of, 
founded, 63; charter for, repre- 
sentative government in, theo- 
logical dsputes in. 97. 

Massasoit, a friend of the white 
people. 65. 

Mason, John, grant of territory to, 
69. 

Mason, Capt. John, fights the Pe- 
quods, exploits of. 74. 

Mason and Slidell. capture of, ac- 
tion of U. S. and British govern- 
ments concerning, 2fio. 

Matches, invented by Chancel. 5i5- 

Mauser bullet, wound made by, 500. 

Maxim, H.. his gun, 496. 

May, Cornelius J., sails for New 
Netherland. 67. 

Mayflower, sails for America, chief 
passengers in the. landing of the 
passengers of the. 64. 
Meade. General, George G.. suc- 
ceeds Hooker, pursues Lee in 
Virginia, at Gettysburg. ^62. 
Mecklenberg, declaration of Inde- 
pendence. 158. 
Mendoza. Cardinal, favors Colum- 
bus. 20. 

" ' Pedro, in Florida, death 



of. 48. 
Mercer, G 

169. 
Mercury, 444. 
Merrimac, battle ■ 

493- 
Metals, precious, 

baser metals, 4 



1 I'., flying 



np of. 



VI 



Mexico, war with. 238. 

Milborne. Jacob, at Albany, q.^ ; 
cbarges against, execution. 04. 

Miles. Nelson A., in Spanish-Am- 
erican War, 308. 

Minuit. Peter. Governor of New 
Netherlands, 68. 

Minute Men. 158. 

Mirabeau. his eulogy of Franklin. 
358. 

ilississippi River, discovery of, by 
De Soto, 45; navigation of, free, 

Missouri, admission of, 376; Mis- 
souri Compromise, 220; 385. 

Mobilians. is. 

Modoc. Indians, war with the, 27s. 

Money Order, introduced into Eng- 
land, in U. S., 510. 

Monitor, victory of the, in Hamp- 
ton Roads. 261, 493. 

Montcalm. Marquis de. Governor 
of Canada, at Ticonderoga and 
Fort William Henry, at Quebec, 
136. 

Monroe. James, public career of, 
marriage of, U. S. Senator, his 
administration. 375; his cabinet, 
Monroe Doctrine. 376; retires 
from public life, death of, 377. 

Monroe Doctrine, the. 221. 

Monteil, African explorer, 473. 

Monterey, capture of, by Taylor, 
-35- 

Montgomery, John, Governor of 
New York, 95. 

Montgomery, General Richard, 
commands an expedition into 
Canada, besieges Quebec, death 
of, 1 6 J. 

Montgolfier, Brothers, their fire bal- 



509. 



Montreal, captured by Montgom- 
ery. 162. 

Moon, The, 440. 

Moore, governor James, of South 
Carolina, 117. 

Morris, Robert, ' 1 86. 

Morse. F. B., his telegraph. 511. 

Motley, J. Lothrop, in England. 
270. 

Moultrie. William, chosen Colonel, 
ordered to build Fort Sullivan. 
165. 

Morton, Levi P., elected Vice- 
President, 292. 

Mound Builders, their mounds. 
5^0. 

Mowing and reaping machines, 451. 

Muhlenberg. Frederick A., 194. 

^Inle. spinning machine, modern, 
4;"- 

Murfreesboro. battle at, 261. 



N. 



NANSEN. F., expedition of. at- 
tempts sledge journey 
Northward, 469; rescued 
by Jackson-Harmsworth expedi- 
tion. 4f)8. 

Narragansetts, the» assist King 
I'hilip, 43. 

Xasmyth's forgehammer, 490. 

Natchez, 14. 

National Army, disbanding of the. 
number of troops in the. 264. 

National banking system, 410. 

National bankruptcy law, 312. 

National debt, the U. S., 191. 222. 

National Greenback party, 410. 

National Republican party, 406. 

National Government, plan of, 190. 

National Gas, development of. 3 1 7, 
464. 

Necessity, Fort, events at, 131. 

Neptune, 466. 



Netherland, New. territory of set- 
tlers in, 06; granted to Duke of 
York. change of name, 92; 
change in policy of, first popular 
Assembly in, government ()f, 
changed. 9 1 ; republicans in. 
conquered by the English. 92. 

Neutrality laws, violation of. 227. 

New England, confederacy of. 9g; 
towns burnt in, 103; desolation 
in, by French and Indians. 105. 

New Englanders, encroachments, of 
the. 190. 

Newfoundland, English suffer at. 
47- 

New^ Hampshire founded, Massa- 
chusetts and, 69. 

New Haven founded, 74. 

New Tersev, first settlers in. 
foundations of the State, of. 78; 
settlements in, iii. 

New Orleans, battle at, 215. taken 
by Farragut, 264. 

Newport, Captain, sent to Virginia, 
57. 59. 60. 

Newport, tower at, 22. 

New York. commonwealth of, 
founded. 68; government of. re- 
captured bv the Dutch, restored 
to the English, (General Assem- 
bly of, "Charter of Liberties" 
for, 93. 

Ngani Lake, discovered, 473. 

"Niagara." U. S.. frigate, lays first 
cable, 513. 

Nicholson, Colonel, in Acadie and 
Canada, 105. 

Nicholson, Francis, Governor of 
South Carolina, 118. 

Nicholls, Richard, Governor of New 
York. Colonel in New Nether- 
lands, 78, 92 ! commissioner of 
New England, 100. 

Nicola's letter to Washington. 320. 

Nicpce. J., inventor of photography, 
collaborates with Daguerre, 51 8. 

Nile. Upper, explored. Burton and 
Spike. Grant, and Raker, outlet 
at Ripon Falls discovered, Gor- 
don Pasha. Stanley. 473. 

Nitro-glycerine. manufactured with 
safety, dynamite produced from 
it. Noble. A., experiments with. 
496. 

North Carolina, settlements in. 80; 
character of proprietors of, 81 ; 
emigration to. 114; first paper 
money isssiied in. 117; insurrec- 
tion in, ravages on the coasts of. 
164. 

North, Lord, premier, 144; on the 
Tea Act. 14s. 

North Pole, discovery of. 470. 

North Sea Canal, 487. 

Norwegian discoveries. 22. 

Nullifiers in South Carolina. 224. 

Nullification, 390. 

Nyassa, Lake, discovered. 473. 

O. 

OGLETHORPE. TAMES ED- 
WARD, benevolent plan 
of, leads settlers to Geor- 
gia, 82; return of. to Georgia 
with, troops, dealings of. with 
Spaniards. military movements 
of. in Florida, 119. 

Ohio, organized as a State, 127. 

Ohio slavery cases, 408. 

Oil pools, discovered, si?. 

Old town (South Carolina), settle- 
ment at, 81. 

Oliver, Andrew, property of, de- 
stroyed, 141. 

Olnev, Richard, secretary of State. 
296. 

Omnibus Bill, the, 237. 

Opechancanough, and Captain 
Smith. 59. 

Ordnance, naval tests of, 40^; ma- 
chine guns, description of, 49(j. 



Oregon, disputes concerning hnun 
dary of. 232. 

Osceola, career of, 225. 

Oswego, Army at. expedition 
against. 135. 

Otis, James, opposes Writs of As- 
sistance, 139, 

Otto gas engine, 480. 

Owen's survey of Western Africa. 
472. 

P. 

PACIFIC OCEAN, discovery of 
the, 4-'. 
Page's discovery, si4- 

Paine. Thomas, writes^ "Common 
Sense," 162. 

Paint, new process for the manu 
facture of, 4(13. 

Painting machine, operated by com- 
pressed air. description of, 482. 

Pakenham, Henry, 215. 

Palo Alto, battle of, 30. 

Panic of 1857. ^47. 

Panic of 1893, 296. 

Parcel post, in Europe. 510. 

Park, a public, set apart, 274. 

Parker, Admiral Sir Peter, off the 
Carolina coast. 168. 

Paper, manufacture of, 479. 

l^aper trade, growth of American. 
479- 

Parkyns, M., explores Abyssinia. 
47.:;. 

Parliament of Religions. 296. 

Parry, E., discoveries of, his peril- 
ous journey, 465. 

* Parsons' cause, ' defeated by 
Patrick Henry, 356. 

Patroons, privileges and possessions 
of, 76; ambition of the. 80. 

Pearson, Captain, of the Serapis. 
177. 

Peace conference. 309. 

Peary, R. E.. sent by Academy of 
Sciences, other expeditions. 468; 
discovers North Pole. 470. 

Pendelton, Hamilton's second. 374. 

Penn. Wm.. early career of. 78; 
and others buy East Jersey. lays 
out Philadelphia, house built for. 
gives good laws. 112; persecution 
of, in England, 113; sails tn 
America, death of. 114. 

Pennsylvania, colonized by Quakers, 
origin of name of, 79. 

Penny postage, greatest achieve- 
ment of century, first advocated, 
success of, 510. 

Pequods, troubles with, 73 ; de- 
struction of the, 74. 

Perry. Oliver H., Commodore, per- 
sonal traits of, family of. in the 
war with Barbary States, military 
career of, 362 ; marriage of. in 
the War of 1812. on Lake Erie. 
363; his victory, famous report 
of, 364; goes to Venezuela, 
death of, 365. 

Perryville. National victory at, 259, 

Peru, conquest of, 42. 

Petersburg, fall of, 429. 

Pethrick, African explorer, 305. 

Petroleum engines, 489. 

Philadelphia founded, 80: origin 
and growth of, 113. 

"Philadelphia.'* capture and de- 
struction of the, 202. 

Philip, King, patriotism of. the 
English War with, 100; death of, 

Philip, King of Spain, orders of. 
to Menendez. demands the head 
of Gorges, 48. 

Philippines, Americans in. 302, 312. 

Phillips, A. D., patent for phos- 
phorous match, S15. 

Phipps. Sir William, expedition 
against Port Royal and Quebec. 
Governor of Massachusetts, 103; 
sails for England, 1 04. 



VII 



Pierce. Franklin, President. ^40. 
Pierre, M. de, French commander. 

ijo; letter of. to Dinwiddie. i.^o. 
Pigot. General, at Charlestown, 157. 
"Pilgrims." embark for America. 

government of the. 64; snfferings 

of the, mode of worship of the. 

bs ; London merchants and the. 

enterprise of the, 66. 
Pinckney, Charles C, envoy to 



Fr 



Martin A., and Columbus. 



Pirates, dispersion of, 217. 
Phosphorus, discovered by Brand, 

5>5- 
Photo-block printing, 519. 
Photography, uses of, in printing. 

518. 
Pike. R., commander Peary expedi- 



of in U. S.. and Great Britai 
479- 

Pitcairn. Major, at Lexington, 153. 

Pitt. Wm.. and American colonies, 
338; uise conduct of, scheme of. 
for conquest, 136; proposes re- 
peal of Stamp Act, 141. 

Pittsburg Landing, Battle at, 423. 

Pizarro, Francisco. sails from 
Hayti, 4-. 

Planets, the, 443. 

Plowden, C., explores Abyssinia, 
472. 

Plows, primitive, improvements of. 
450. 451. 

Plymouth Company, charter of. do- 
main of, members of the, 54. 

Plymouth, New, founded, 64; ap- 
pearance of, 65. 

Pneumatic dispatch tubes, 510. 

Pocohontas saves Captain Smith. 
59; saves the Jamestown colony, 
60; kidnapped, 61 ; baptized, 
married, in England. 62. 

Point Pleasant, battle at. 154. 

Polk. James K., President. 232; 
administration of, 236. 

Polo Marco, journey of. 24. 

Ponce de Leon, voyage, discover- 
ies and death of, 38, 39. 

Pontiac, conspiracy and death of, 
138. 

"Poor Richard's Almanac," 335. 

Pope. General John, 257. 

Port Royal, S. C, Huguenots at, 
47; settlements at. 118. 

Port Royal, Nova Scotia, founded, 
54. 

Porto Rico, taken by the Ameri- 
cans, 309. 

Postal savings banks, in Europe, 

Post office, development of, in Eng- 
land, evading charges. Hill's in- 
vestigation, proposes penny post- 
age, various functions of. par- 
cel post, free delivery, universal 
postal union. 509, 510. 

Poultry industry, 450. 

Powder, smokeless, its superiority, 
496. 

Power looms, 476. 

Preece, W., tests Marconi system. 
Si 2. 

President, and the electro college. 
187. 

Poutrincourt in Acadie, =;4. 

Powhatan and the English. Captain 
Smith and. =;o. 

Preble. Commodore, in the Medit- 
erranean, before Tripoli, 202. 

President, the frigate, fights the 
Little Belt, 208. 

Press, freedom of the, vindicated. 

Prideaux, General, at Fort Niagara. 

137- 
Priestley. J., and Franklin, 343. 
Pring. Martin, on the coast of 

New England, 53, 



Princeton, battle of, 173. 
Prison ships, the British, 172. 
Privateering, history of, method of, 

abolished. 498; maintained by 

U. S.. during Spanish Americ"n 

War. 499. 
Projectile, modern, description of, 

velocity of, destructiveness of. 
496. 
Price. R., Franklin's letter to. 345- 
Protection. early debates on, 190. 
Protestants and Romanists. in 

Maryland, 107. 
Providence, founding the colony of. 

76. 
Punishments, military, abolition of. 

flogging, court-martials, statistics 

of, 499. 
Puritans, in England, immigrate to 

Holland, and to America, 63. 
Putnam, leads Connecticut troops. 

157; on Bunker's Hill, 159; be- 
fore Boston, 160. 

Q- 

QUAKERS." or Friends, ori- 
gin of name of. 78; in the 
Revolution, 329. 
Quay, M. .S.. 293- 
Quebec, Cartier at, s-,\ Ursuline 
convent at, 122; strength of, 
second seige of, 127, 
Quebec Act, 150. 



RAILRO.\DS, steam, Trevith- 
ick's locomotive, iirst in 
England, formal opening 
of "Experiment," description of, 
early opposition of. locomotive 
and cow, introduced on conti- 
nent, into the United States, 501; 
"Jolin Bull" imported, swivel 
truck, other improvements, Trans- 
Siberian, 502. 

Railroading, evolution of, evolu- 
tion of steel rail, climbing grades, 
483. 

Rails, steel, improvement of, 485. 

Randolph, Edward, in New Eng- 
land. 102. 

Randolph, John, and Patrick Henry, 
356. 

Randolph, John, of Roanoke, 361. 

Raleigh. Walter, in France, char- 
acter of, 48; gallantry of, 'fits 
out vessels for America, secures 
a charter, 50. 

Ratcliffe, President of Virginia 
Colony, 58. 

Reconstruction, period of, 432. 

Reed, Thomas E., 293. 

"Regulators," doings of the, 144. 

Reid. Whitelaw, 295. 

Reis, P., experiments with tele- 
phone, 514. 

Republican party, 409. 

Revere. Paul, sent to New York, 
distributes copies of the Port 
Bill, 143; vigilance of, 153. 

Rhode Island, society in, charter 
for. troubles in, no. 

Ribault, John, in America, 47. 

Richardson, explorer. 472. 

Richmond, operations before, at- 
tempts to capture frustrated, 258; 
l^nion troops take possession of. 
264. 

Rillieux. vacuum-process pan, 481. 

Roanoke Island. discovered. by 
Amidas and Barlow, 50; settlers 
on, return to England, 51. 

Robert. Louis, his paper making 
machine, 479. 

Robertson. Donald. Madison's 
teacher, ^68. 

Robinson, Tohn, emigrates to Hol- 
land, 64; his coming to America 
opposed, 97. 

Rochambeau. disagrees with Wash- 
ington, 328, 



Roche, De la, expedition of. 54. 
Rock-drills, worked by compressed 

air, delicacy of. power of, pneu- - 

matic breast-drill, 485. 
"Rocket." .Stephenson's prize en- 



Rodgers, Commodore John, and 
Little Belt. 208. 

Roebling's suspension bridge, 484. 

Roentgen rays, in surgery, 519. 

Rohlfs, G., his explorations, terri- 
ble experience of, oasis of Tual, 
474- 

Rolfe, John, marries Pocohontas. 
Thomas, son of, Thomas, son of, 
in Virginia, 62. 

Koque, Francis de la, Viceroy of 
Canada, 47. 

Roosevelt. Theodore. in Cuban 
War, 304; Governor of New 
York, 311; Vice-President and 
succeeds as President, 317; 
elected President. 318. 

Ross, General, British commander, 
215. 

Ross expedition, 465. 

Ruling machine in Johns Hopkins' 
University, constructed by Theo- 
dore Schneider. designed hy 
Henry A. Rowland, 48(3. 

Rusk, J. M., secretary of agricult- 
ure, 293. 

Rutledge, Anna. 391. 



SACO, Maine, government es- 
tablished at, 60. 
Sadi-Carnot's efficiency theory, 
489. 

.Safety bicycle, 505. 

Safety match, invented, 51^, (by 
Lundstrom). 

St. Augustine, founding of. 48. 

St. Blaisen's turbine. 491. 

St. Clair. General, in Northwestern 
Territory, defeated by the In- 
dians, blamed by Washington. 
192. 

St. Clair River tunnel. 486. 

St. Gothard tunnel, 485. 

St. Louis, World's Fair in, 317. 

St. Lawrence, Gulf of. River of. 
discovered, 47. 

St. Mary's, first settlement in 
Maryland at, 71. 

St. Pierre. M. de. notices of. 129. 

Saint's sewing machine. 47=;. 

" " action of Council of. 



"Sam Adams' Regiments." 352. 
Saraoset, welcomes the English, 65. 
Sampson, Wm. T.. 300. 
Sampson-Schley controversy, 311. 
-San Francisco, great eathquake at. 



San Tuan, claims to the Island of. 
settled, 273. 

San Juan Hill, capture of, 308. 

San Salvador, first landing place of 
Columbus, 3r. 

Sandys' Sir Edwin, and the Plym- 
outh Company's charter, bene- 
factor of Virginia, 84. 

Santa -Xnna. defeated by Scott, 275. 

Santa Maria, shipwreck of. ^j, 

Saratoga, battle at, 174, 326. 

Sassacus. war with, 74- 

Saturn, 445. 

Savannah, steamer, crosses the At- 
lantic. 506-07. 

Saybrook, Fort at. 74. 

Savle and West, in South Carolina. 
81. 

Schenectady, attack on, 1 03. 

Schilling's telegraphic system, 510. 

Schley. W. S., relieves Greely ex- 
pedition. 468. 

Schuyler. Major Peter, beats back 
the Indians. 94; leads troops to 
Canada. 10^. 

Scott, Dred, 246. 



VIII 



Scott. Winfield, in Mexican War. 

235; in Civ>l War, ^54- 
Scoresby, W., first Arctic explorer. 

465. 
Serpent Mound, 5 jo. 
Settlements West of the Mountains. 

Seward. William H., abolitionist. 
405; youth, friend of Weed, de- 
scription of, visits Lafayette, gov- 
ernor of N. Y., 406; secretary of 
State, attempted assassination of, 
407, J65. 

Sewing machines, manufacture of, 
in U. S., date of invention, first 
patented in England, 475. 

Shafter, at Santiago. 307. 

Sharpe, Governor of Maryland, 
132; Genera!, 3^1. 

Sheldon, Sarah, marries Patrick 
Henry, 356. 

Shenandoah Valley, troops in, 263. 

Sherman, W. T., education, mar- 
riage, beginning of Civil War, 
414; with Grant, 415. his march 
to Atlanta, 416; after the war 
and death of, 417. 

Sherman Act, passed, 293. 

Shoemaking, use of machines in. 
476. 

Sigsbee, Cbas. D., 299. 

Silver, output of. compared with 
gold, 4^2. 

Silver coinage authorized. 275. 

Simplon tunnel, 4S6. 

Singer sewing machine. 475. 

Sioux, 17; war with the, 275. 

Six Nations, power of the, 131; 
warriors of the, 137; French 
emmissaries among, 138. 

Skelton. Martha, iSf'. 

Slot machines, various kinds of, 
480. 

Slidell. Tohn. with Mason. 260. 

Sloughter. Governor of New York, 
and Leisler, 93, 

Smith, Caleb, secretary of the in- 
terior, 253- 

Smith. Hoke, secretary of the in- 
terior. 295- 

Smith. John, career of, in Virginia, 
59; explores New England, 63; 
made Admiral of New England. 
63. 

Smith's cantilever bridge, 484. 

Sons of IJberty, 352. 

South Carolina, settlers in, com- 
monwealth of. founded. 81; first 
popular assembly in. 11=;: repulse 
of the Spaniards at Charleston. 
117; becomes a royal province, 
doings in. 165, ordinance of se- 
cession. 251. 

South Sea exploring expedition, 
230, 

Spanish- American War. prepara- 
tions, 301; battle of Manila. 306; 
Santiago, destruction of Cervera's 
fleet. 308; torpedo boats in. naval 
battles of. 495; smokeless powder 
tested. 4q6; peace declared, 309; 
results, 310. 

'"Specie circular," the, 226. 

Speke, African explorer, discovers 
Muta Nzige. 473. 

Spencer, Colonel, leads Connecticut 
troops. 157. 

Spy, of Sir Henry Clinton, hanged. 
182. 

Stamp Act, proposed and adopted, 
^39 ; opposition and resistance to 
the, 141; repeal of the, 144; cele- 
bration of the repeal of the, 145. 

Stamp Act Congress, meeting of, 
141. 

Standish, Captain Miles, at Plym- 
outh, wooes and looses a maiden. 
65; chastises the Indians, 68. 

Stanley, H.. sent by New York 
Herald, finds Livingston, re- 
lieves Emin Pachiu his Congo 



expedition, results of, 473. 

Stanton, Edwin M,, secretary of 
War, General Lorenzo Thomas 
and, 268. 

Star Spangled Banner, origin of 
the song of the, 215. 

Stark, Major John, exploits of, 
137; Colonel leads New Hamp- 
shire troops. 157; General, vic- 
tory of, near Bennington, 178. 

"Starving Time," the, in Virginia, 

States general of Holland, action 
of the, by. 

Steam engine, saving fuel of, in- 
vention of, high pressure, triple 
expansion, 488, 489. 

Steam hammer, 405. 

Steam power, increase in use of, 
488, 489. 

Steamships, Fitch's claim, Fulton's 
Clermont, first trial of, dimen- 
sions of, infiuence of on inland 
transportation, first steamer on 
Allegheny River, first Atlantic, 
screw propeller, '"Great Britain," 
built of iron, water tight com- 
partments, increase of speed, 
size, improvements in, 506. 

Steele, Richard, 334. 

Steinheil's telegraphic line, 511. 

Stephens, Alexander, 400. 

Stepiienson, G., his first locomo- 
tive, 501. 

Stevens, advocates screw vessels, 
492; build armor plated vessels 
493. 

Stevenson, Alai E., 295. 

Steuben, Baron de, inspector gen- 
eral, 174; drills American troops, 

Stock breeding, its good results, 
extraordinary prices follow, value 
of milch cow in the U. S., other 
domestic animals improved by 
breeding, 449. 

Stone, Governor of Maryland, loS. 

Stone lifting crane, Peternead. 

Scotland, 481. 

Stones, precious, discoveries of in 
America, 465. 

Stony Point, events at, 174. 

Stormont, Lord, and Franklin. 345. 

Stoughton, Governor, administra- 
tion of, 104. 

Street's engine, 489. 

Street railways, early horse cars, 
cable cars, electric cars, 503. 

Stuart, John T., 391. 

Stuyvesant, Peter, Governor of 
New Netherlands, 91; disputes of, 
with the Indians and republicans, 
wrath and stubbornness, goes to 
Holland, 92; death of, 93. 

Submarine navigation, 509. 

Suez Canal. Lesseps Canal, saving 
in time by history of, dimensions, 
487. 

Sugar making, old and new, use of 
centrifugal in, 481. 

Sumner, Charles, birth and educa- 
tion, 410; description of. his 
stay abroad, anti-slavery fight of, 
joins free soilers. elected L^ S. 
Senator, 411; attacked in Senate, 
sufferings of, his theory of State 
suicide, death of, 41-'. 

Swayne's turbine, 491. 

Swedes on the Delaware, 91; sub- 
jection of the, 92. 

Swedish colny in America, 77. 

Swept, Leonard, 399. 

T. 

TACTICS, military. improve- 
ment in, skirmish line, ma- 
chine guns, 496. 
Taney, Chief Justice, extra-judicial 

opinion of, 246. 
Tariff bill of 1824. 386. 
Tarleton, Lieutenant Colonel, 179: 



defeated at Cowpens, 182. 
Taxation of the Americans, 139. 
Taylor, Zachary, in Texas and 

Mexico, 234; reinforces Scott in 

Mexico, 235; elected President, 

236; death of. 238. 
Tea Act, the, 145; how regarded 

in America, 147. 
Tea ships, landing of, opposed, 147. 

Telautograph, description of, 512. 

Telegraph, iirst experiments with. 
510; Gauss establishes a line, 
Morse experiments, rapid move- 
ment in, multiple transmission, 
511; wireless, Marconi system," 
used in navigation, 5 1 2. 

Telephone, a wonderful achieve- 
ment, Reis' experiment, develop- 
ment of. Bell's telephone, exhi- 
bited at Philadelphia centennial, 
principle of, description of, mi- 
crophone, switch-board, extension 
of service, long distance -tele- 
phone, 514. 

Telford's Bridge, 484. 

Tenure of Office Act, 208. 

Texas, declares her independence, 
390. 

Textile industry, evolution of. 47b. 

Thomas. General John, at Cam- 

Thimonnier's sewing machine, 475. 
bridge, 168. 

Thomas, Lorenzo, appointed secre- 

_ tary of War, 268. 

I, Charles, 357. 

Charles, secretary of 
Congress, seconi^s the vote for 
independence, 136. 

Threshing machinCi 452. 

Tilden, S. J., nominated for Presi- 
dent, zyy. 

Tilden-Hayes contest, 277. 

Tin plate industry, how affected by 
tariff, 464. 

Tippecanoe, battle at. 209. 

Tobacco, cultivation of, in Vir- 
ginia, 51. 

Todd, Dorothea, becomes "Dolly 
Madison." 370. 

Todd, Mary, married to Lincoln. 
391- 

Toleration act in Maryland, the, 
107. 

To-mo-chi-chi, and the English. 82; 
in England. 83. 

Tools, cheapened by improved ma- 
chinery, primitive, 482. 

Torches, what made of. 516. 

Tories in the revolution, and 
George Washington. 324. 

Torpedoes, development of. White- 
head, description of, defensive. 
Torpedo boats. 494. 

Torpedo boats, in Spanish -Ameri- 
can War, qualifications nf, de- 
scription of. 494. 49S. 

1 own meeting. New Englanrl. 340. 

Townshend. Charles, proposes a 
Stamp Act, 139. 

Townshend Acts, 341. 

Trafalgar, battle of, 492. 

Transportation, 501. 

Treaty of Paris. 138. 310. 

Treaty of Alliance with France. 

Treaty of Portsmouth. 318. 

Trent affair. 260. 

Trevithick's locomotive, 501. 

Triana, de, first discovers land. 31. 

Trenton. Battle of, taken by Wash- 
ington. 324. 

Trolley line, trolley car, 504. 

Trotting horse, 449. 

Trusts in America, 312. 

Tuckey, explores Congo, 472. 

Tunneling, simplified by modern 
engineering, Mont Cenis tunnel. 
Couch's rock drill. statistics, 
rock boring machines, hydraulic 
machines, danger of flooding, 487. 

Turbines, 491. 



IX 



V 



Tufgot. minister of France, on 

Franklin. 345. 
Tryon. (jovernor William, tyranny 

of. conduct of. in North Carolina. 

Tuscaloosa. and the Spaniards, 
death of. 45. 

Tuscaroras, in North Carolina; 
joins the five nations, 46. 

Tyler, Tohn, 360; his administra- 
tion, 387. 

U. 

UCHEES, 14. 
Uncas, the Mohegan, rebel-- 
lion of. 74. 
Underhill. Captain rolin. ys- 
Union Pacific Railroad. 270; scan- 
dals connected with. J71; cost of, 
272. 
Universal postal nnion, established. 

extension of. 5 ro. 
University of Pennsylvania, 335. 
Uranus. 446. 

V. 

AIL, ALFRED. Morses's part- 
ner, 511. 
Van Braam, J., teaches 
Washington military tactics, 3^1. 

Van Buren. Martin, President, 22(1; 
chief events of administration, 
227, 409. 

Van Dan, Rip, acting Governor of 
New York. 95. 

Van Ness, W. P.. and the Hamil- 
ton-Biirr controversy. 374. 

Van TwiUer, Wouter. Governor of 
New Netherland, wrath of. 89. 

Vane, Sir Henry. Governor of 
Massachusetts, notice of, execu- 
tion of, 94. 

Venus, 443. 

Vera Cruz, capture of, 275. 

Vergennes, C. French Minister, 
outwitted by Franklin, 346, 348. 

Vergennes. C. G., Statesman, and 
John Adams. 324. 

Vernon, Admiral. 320. 

Verplanck's Point. 46. 

Vicksburg, SeJge of, 424. 

Vineland, discovery of, settlement 
of. 22. 23. 

Virginia, origin of name of, settlers 
in. 57; sufferings in, emigrants 
in, 58; colonization of. introduc- 
tion of slavery in, marriages in. 
education in, new government 
for 84; sufferings in. 85: parlia- 
mentary forces in. Charles, 
Prince, invited to he King of, 
republicans and society in, in- 
vaded by Indians, 86; important 
events in, end of Royal rule in. 
163. 

"Virginia resolves," moved by 
Patrick Henry, 357. 

Voelter's improvement of paper in- 
dustry, 479. 

Volkman. W., experiments with 
heliograph. 497. 

W. 

WALKER, T.. Cbemist, in- 
ventor of fire getting 
implement (congreve) . 62. 
Walloons in New Netherland, (.7- 
Wampole, H., and Franklin, 344. 



Wanton, gov., acts of, concerning 
the "Gaspe," 146. 

Wanamaker. John, 293. 

War, evolution of science of, 491; 
in the middle ages, 494; Naval, 
iron-clads, torpedoes, 495 ; army 
ordnance, explosives, heliography. 
496; privateering, military pun- 
ishment. 497 ; destructiveness of 
modern. 498; abolition of, laws 
of, 499. 500. 

Ward. General Artemas. at Cam- 
bidge. 158. 

Washington City, in 1800. 191; de- 
struction of property at. 215. 

Washington, Augustine, father of 
George Washington, marries 
Mary Ball, death of, 319. 

\\'ashington, George, his greatness, 
319; parentage, schooling, 320 ; 
appointed adjutant general, 321 ; 
131 ; leads troops to the Ohio, 
leaves the army, 132; accompan- 
ies Braddock, 322. 133; com- 
mands a stockade, 134; captures 
Fort Duquesne. in the Virginia 
Assembly. 135; marries Martha 
Dandridge, 322 ; takes command 
of American troops, 159. 323; 
besieges Boston, on Dorchester 
Heights, drives Howe from Bos- 
ton, 162; in New York and Phila- 
delphia, plot to murder. the 
battle on Long Island. 168; aided 
bv the French, 327; at Yorktown. 
183; surrender of Cornwallis, 
328; resigns his commission, 329; 
elected President, his administra- 
tion, 330; death of. 333; his per 
sonal appearance, 325. 

Washington. Lawrence, half-brother 
of George, leaves Mount Vernon 
to him. marries Miss Fairfax. 
320; death of, 3-'i. 

Washington, Mary, mother of 
George, death of. 189. 

Washington, John, opposes the" In- 
dians, 87. 

Water-power, utilization of, 491. 

Watson, Thomas, nominated for 
Vice-President, 298. 

Watt. James, 489. 

Wayne, General, captures Stony 
Point, 174. 

Weather-bureau, importance of to 
farmers, established in U. S., 
stations sorting under. 454. 

Webb, General, at Fort Edward. 
136. 

Weber's telegraphic line. 51 1. 

Webster. Daniel, his youth, mar- 
ries, early practice, in Congress. 
386; debate with Hayne, Secre- 
tary of State, 387; death of. 388. 

Webster. Ezekiel, 387. 

Webster, Fletcher, 386. 

Wedderburn, solicitor general, 343. 

Weed, Thurlow, 397, 406. 

Wernberg's "CoUosus" bridge over 
Schuylkill, 484. 

Wesley, Charles and John, in Geor- 
gia, 83. 118. 

West Cambridge, fight at. 67. 

Western continent, 11. 



West India Company. Dutch, sends 

settlers to New Netherlands, 67. 
West Jersey, purchaser of, i 1 1 ; 

Friends or Quakers settle in. 

Penn assignee of, 112, 
Westminster, first blood of the 

Revolution shed at, 155. 
Weston, colony of, in Massachu- 
setts, 90. 
Weymouth. Captain George, on the 

coast of New England, 53. 
Wheatstone's telegraph, 511. 
Whig party and Tyler, course of. 

406, 409. 
Whipple, Abraham. and the 

"Gaspe," at Charleston, 17^. 
Whiskey Rebellion. 331. 
White, John. attempts of, to 

found a colony. 52. 
Wilderness, battle of the. 21,2. 
Wilkes, C, his expedition, sight 

Antarctic continent, 470. 
William of Orange, marriage of. 

93- 
W illiam and Mary, sovereigns, ac- 

W'illiam and 'Mary, college of, 84. 
Williams. Roger, conduct of, at 

Salem, banishment. 75; founds a 

colony, honors to, 7O. 
Williams, Washington's teacher. 

320. 
Williston's button machine, 478. 
Wilson, Robert L., 398. 
Windom, William, 393. 
Wingfield, Edward, president of 

Virginia council, conduct of, 58. 
Winslow, Captain Josiah, expedi- 

Winthrop, John, message of. to 
Governor Van Twiller, 72; gov- 
ernor of Massachusetts, 97 ; 
founds Boston, 98. 

Winthrop, John, Governor of Con- 
necticut Territory, 72; in com- 
mand of an invading army. 103; 
obtains a charter for Connecti- 
cut, 109. 

W^olfe, General James, at Louis- 
burg, 136; before Quebec, 138. 

Women, first European, in Vir- 
ginia, 62. 

Wool weaving industry, improve- 
ments, 477. 

Woolf's steam engine. 489. 

Wright, Governor of Georgia, op 
position to, 165. 

Wyatt. Governor, Sir Francis, 85. 



YALE, ELIHU. founds Yale 
College. 126. 
Yeardley. Governor George. 62. 
Veamans, Governor Sir John, 81. 
York. Duke of. is presented with 
New Netherland, 78; new charter 
to. 89. 
^'o^ktown, siec of, 183. 



^ENGER. J. P.. 
trial of, 95. 



■Journal" of 



^' J^^ p ^ 



'-\>^ .>^., 



^ 


<^'' 










% 


\. 










"^ 


V'. 




v^^ 


**^l 






^' 


x^ 


q. 




' « 


t - " ' 


V 
























■'•••v>'. 



^,<^' 



t/> \' 






"ti- -vV 



A^ "<^^_ 






^ .0- 












"^.^ 






■^% 






> » •• ° » / 



.^-'>. 




,'^^^r 












ly- n ft ., ^ <0r oi ', ^ -1 






^^"^/. 






,0 .""^ ' «^ -*i. 









c 






•^, .•=.-^ 



.^^ 






v,'^' 






.&^ 



VV, .a'.'^' 



.0 O^ 






^^>^^ 



,."\ -r, 















..^^' 



^^> 






X"^ % 



'^.. v^^ 



"^y^ cv 






.^^^•% 












.^^- 



-i'' -i-. 



^^,.V>' 



